“Yes, I kick like a girl. And I swim like a girl. I walk like a girl and I wake up in the morning like a girl. Because I am a girl.” (watch the embedded video above if you want to cry) Every eight-year-old girl believes in herself. By the time she’s fourteen her confidence has been broken. Girls should be proud of who they are, not embarrassed because some dipshit’s dipshit father taught him that girls are inadequate. Because she’ll meet plenty of those guys at frat parties and on the street and in her office. And if you don’t teach her who she is, that she is capable, and strong and worthy of respect, then she’ll end up having sex with the same pieces of shit who belittle her.
Teach your daughters how to cast a fishing line. Encourage them to get dirty and play rough and run hard. Teach them how to handle themselves in the face of adversity, to sweat and to strive. Teach them not to apologize for being strong, being creative, or saying what’s on her mind. Teach them how to change a tire and build a fire and, screw it, how to tie a tie. Women can wear ties.
And please, above all else, teach her how to throw a fucking ball.