Yesterday, I watched my nephew scream “Daddy!” and then run to his father’s embrace when he walked through the door. The little guy had painted his forehead with dust and dipped his feet in a puddle. Nonetheless, his father lifted him up and kissed him and asked him how his day was. It was the most beautiful thing. What’s even more beautiful is the fact that this is the norm. I see it everywhere. I see young fathers expressively loving their children. Why is it such a big deal? Because for the longest time, and even to this day in some places, ‘being a man’ is/was synonymous with being emotionless. Raising children was left up to the women while most men were required by society to act as distant and cold-hearted overseers of homes whose role was only to provide and instill the fear of God in the lives of their families. Children ran to the back of the house and everyone observed silence upon the return of ‘the man of the house.’ Wives walked on eggshells around their husbands. This is changing. The new generation of men has evolved into caring, compassionate, sensitive and loving beings. They tuck their children in bed at night and read them bedtime stories to soothe them to sleep. They feed them. They clean snort off their baby’s faces and wipe their butts. They teach them new and exciting things. They play silly games with them. They are full-time parents rather than being baby-sitters of their own children. The new generation of men is secure enough about their masculinity to play with dolls or do makeup if that’s what their daughters want. They are open to discussion about female reproductive health so that the monthly periods are no longer a taboo. They can walk confidently to a supermarket to buy sanitary towels if/when called upon. They are supportive of their wives. They understand that a woman is her own person and she has her own dreams. I have seen men who are happy to hold down the fort when their wives decide to advance their education or careers. They are happy to go home earlier than usual to tend to the children. They let themselves feel. They don’t pretend to have it together all the time. They are not afraid to express their emotions. They are happy to have equal partners who share costs in this increasingly capitalistic world where one salary doesn’t quite cut it. They admit to brokenness and weariness. They accept help. The young men of this generation don’t think of themselves as lords of their wives but as equal partners. So they don’t sit around waiting to be served. They share household chores. They are self-sufficient enough to make dinner and fix themselves a cup of tea. They don’t consider it a crime if their culinary skills are better than their wives’. They are passing on these good values to their sons, teaching them to be upstanding. They are giving hope for a better world for humanity. Kudos to the new generation of men.
