Daughters Are Different Part II

This is the second part of Daughters Are Different. I have been thinking about this quite a bit lately, especially in light of the Polanski and Elizabeth Smart cases. I haven't written about Smart, but I have been reading the articles in which she details how this animal repeatedly raped her.

I should add Jaycee Dugard to the list as well.

There have been far too many of these stories lately. Far too many tales of innocence lost and lives cruelly interrupted by menaces to society. Far too many tears have been shed because animals who look like humans have savaged children.

When people ask me if I am afraid of pedophiles and rapists I tell them no. I am concerned, but statistically speaking I am not real concerned. It doesn't mean that I am unaware or that I ignore the possibility. It doesn't mean that these stories don't make my blood boil and my head hurt.

They do.

We do everything we can to protect our children. Teach them to be wary of strangers and how to handle various situations. We watch them like hawks and monitor what they do because sometimes the dice come up snake eyes.

I worry about all of my children, but my concerns for my daughter are different because she warrants them. There are different challenges facing boys and girls. My daughter is being taught to be smart, strong and independent. She is being taught that she controls her self worth. She is being taught to take care of herself as best we can.

But none of that changes the reality that her gender presents different challenges. And if it makes me a chauvinist to say that then I wear the title with pride. When I say that she can't date until the boy can defeat me in single combat it is for a good reason.

Again this doesn't mean that I don't love or worry about her brother. I do. I love them equally, but I worry about them differently. Not sure if this is making sense, so I'll end this now.

Let's just say that I take my job as their knight protector very seriously.