On Men and Respect for Women

Everyone seems to be talking about Miley Cyrus and her twerktastic performance on stage with Robin Thicke at the recent VMAs. Most people agree it was a little—if not entirely—disturbing. In the wake of that, a mom posted an article in the form of a letter to her daughter about how not to be like Miley. It's a good read.

But it was this piece by Matt Walsh that really got me thinking. It's basically the same letter, but from Walsh to his son and how boys shouldn't be like Robin Thicke. Here's the clincher though:

See, son, you don’t have to be big and strong to be a man, although I think you will be one day. You don’t have to be “cool” or athletic. You don’t have to play guitar or fix cars. These are all fine things, but they don’t define a man. A man is defined by how he treats women, by how he keeps his promises, and by how he protects and serves the ones he loves. That’s what makes a man a man. 

I truly believe that God created men and women to be together, to love and cherish one another, to support and complement one another, to be two individuals who agree to come together and become two smaller pieces of a greater God-ordained whole. As men, we are to respect, protect and honour women. 

Even if I am unable to be with a woman I love and cherish, I should still honour the women in my life—my mom, my aunts and cousins, my friends. Being gay doesn't absolve me of that responsibility.