56. What Are We Doing To Our Women

From First Crushes to Consent: The Conversations Our Kids Need From Us It started with a pretty innocent conversation about first boyfriends, school dances and the very different ways kids navigate crushes these days. And then, as these conversations tend to do, it got a whole lot deeper. Because underneath the giggles about junior high crushes and kids walking around in circles at school dances is a much bigger question: What are we actually teaching our kids about relationships, respect, sex, consent and the value of women? In this episode, Patty and Megan head into some uncomfortable territory, but it's territory we think is too important to avoid. They talk about the conversations many families don't have until something has already gone wrong, the influence of music, movies, celebrities and public figures, the culture of bystanding, women's healthcare and safety, and why boys and men have an important role to play in changing the conversation. It's a heavier episode, but it's also a really important one. Because our kids are learning all the time. The question is, who are they learning from? In this episode, we talk about: 💕 First crushes, first boyfriends and the surprisingly hilarious world of junior high dating. 💃 How school dances have changed, and why Patty has some very strong opinions about slow dancing. 🗣️ Why conversations about sex, relationships, consent and feelings shouldn't only happen after something goes wrong. 📱 How social media can quickly turn harmless crushes into something much more inappropriate. 👀 The power of modelling, and what kids absorb from music, movies, celebrities, politicians and the adults around them. 🚨 Why bystander culture matters, and why staying silent when something isn't right can have serious consequences. 👩‍⚕️ Women's healthcare, reproductive rights and the difficult position doctors can find themselves in when legislation conflicts with medical care. 🔑 The exhausting reality of the safety precautions women are taught from a young age. 🙋‍♂️ Why boys and men need to be part of the solution, including learning about enthusiastic consent and calling out inappropriate behaviour. ❤️ The difference between genuine faith, love and compassion, and using religion or culture as a tool to control or divide people. One thing we'd love you to take away Our kids don't just learn from the conversations we deliberately sit down and have with them. They learn from what they see. They learn from what we laugh at. They learn from what we ignore. They learn from how we talk about women, relationships, bodies, consent and power. So maybe the conversation doesn't need to wait until there's a problem. Maybe it starts now. Grab your coffee, your comfy pants, or whatever gets you through the day, and come have the conversation with us. And as always, we welcome respectful discussion. These are big topics, and none of us has every answer. Listen to the episode now and tell us what you think.