Let me begin this post by admitting that I did not vote for Kamala Harris for President. More importantly, I did not vote for Donald Trump either. And though I’ve been told that it’s a very old-fashioned notion, I still believe that my vote is between me, the ballot box, and God, so I have no intention of sharing to whom my vote went. What I want to share is how our children are in trouble, and we may be the only ones who can save them.
I bring up my vote first so there is no mistake that I am not a Trump supporter. Right now, I’m not a supporter of any political party or politician. But I am a supporter of my daughters and granddaughter and all future generations, and we have an opportunity before us to save our children before it’s too late.
MORE Important than Abortion
I do not believe in or support abortion. Never have and never will. That is not where this is going. I bring that up only because the abortion issue is being used as a weapon right now by both parties along with many other issues, and that’s disgusting, but it’s not the most important issue, contrary to what people on both sides of the aisle will tell you.
What matters most is what is going on across this nation and throughout the world on college campuses, on the streets of big cities, in bars and nightclubs, but predominately on social media.
The election showed us that there is a very large silent majority. That majority went for Trump, but silence about your vote or political support is just the tip of the iceberg. We have become silent on so much more, and it’s hurting our daughters mentally, emotionally, and physically. We need to act now if we are going to save our children and restore hope and faith in our country, our system, and in us as parents.
Blind to the Truth
Mothers, do you actually know what your daughters are seeing and hearing on social media? I did not. Do you know about the hatred and threats that are being served to them on a daily basis, virtual balls being slammed in their faces from many directions, aimed at hurting them in all the ways that hurt most? I did not.
Fathers, do you know that your daughters, especially young, single women, live every day with the very real fear of being assaulted, raped, physically and verbally abused, or treated as somebody’s property? My husband did not.
There are lies they are being told over and over, all day, every day, and it is being ignored, swept under the rug, even hailed in some circles. That is what the silent majority is allowing. I am guilty of it, and so are many of you.
A Lot of Blame to Go Around
And while Donald Trump may not be the one posting these haunting messages, his own silence and refusal to speak against it is deafening. But let’s understand this, I found journal articles about this beginning in 2013, before Trump was on the political scene. So we need to look beyond our own politics in order to stop this.
I place a great deal of the blame on our modern media that ignores what is happening on social media unless it’s something that makes a nice sound bite for people over a certain age or within a certain demographic. Our sons and daughters are not part of that age group or demographic. If they were, these posts, reels, tweets, etc would have taken over the news cycle.
There are young men out there doing these things:
– Inciting and rallying other young men to rape and commit assault on women. This is not an exaggeration. It is a fact. I will not name names or give social media accounts simply because I will not allow them the coverage in this post. But you can find them. Ask your children. They know who they are. They are inflicted with this garbage every day.
– They are spreading lies about world and political events they have zero real knowledge about (and yes, women do this, too, and all ages, races, and religions do it). These men, however, are doing it just to prove how superior they are to everyone else and to convince the world that they are knowledgeable. They are not.
– There are young men out there (a scary growing number of them), predominantly Christian men, who believe in and enforce the Manosphere. My friend, Emily perfectly defines what this is.
This goes against everything we are taught as Catholics and should be preached against in every Christian church everywhere. This imbalance of love and respect is not waht st. Paul taught in his letter to the Ephesians. This is not what God wants. This believe isn’t love or respect.
Blind to the Truth for a Reason
These (and much, much more) are the things our adult children (and some not-yet adult children) are seeing in their social media feeds every single day. My husband always says that our children’s feeds and ours must be very different, and you know what? They are. They are designed that way. We, as parents, aren’t supposed to see what our children are being bombarded with because this secretive social media society that has been created is aimed at keeping us from knowing what men are being taught and women are being told. Our men and women, our children.
We have an opportunity in front of us to make major changes. We cannot allow these things to continue. We must stand up for our daughters and for our sons! We have an obligation to speak out, to stop being a silent majority when it comes to any of these issues, and to stop this snowball that is becoming an avalanche.
We Cannot Wait
I want my daughters to be able to find and marry good men, men who will love and cherish them but also respect and honor them and believe that men and women are meant to compliment each other, not rule over or cower to one another. I want my daughters to be able date or JUST WALK DOWN THE STREET without fear of assault. I want them to know men who respect them not men who want to rape or dominate them.
Parents, I don’t care who you voted for. The election is over. What I do care about is that you sit down with your children and have a serious talk with them. Ask them if they are afraid to go out on dates or meet people or just live their lives. Ask them to share with you the hatred that is being forced on them. Ask them to start talking about why this is wrong, not just with each other but with teachers, colleagues, family members, and everyone whose generation isn’t seeing these disgusting proclamations!
The media isn’t watching out for our children. The politicians (on either side) are not watching out for our children. Even the churches are not watching out for our children. They are failing us and failing the future.
We can end this hate. We can end this fear. We can pull aside our young men and tell them what is right and wrong and how to stand up to it! Because if you aren’t part of the problem, you are part of the solution. It’s time to stop being quiet. Rather than fearing for the future, we must work to top this culture of fear among young women and the fear mongering by these young men who fan these fires.
I failed to listen. Please don’t make the same mistake.