I’m taking this opportunity to thank all the men out there who still believe in chivalry.

Maybe chivalry isn’t the right word. I’m talking more about the men who treat women as their equals.

I’ve known so many “tough guys” in my life. Tough guys is in quotes because the “tougher” you act, the more apparent it is that you’re just a scared little boy using bravado and rudeness to hide your insecurities.

Give me a guy who will have a battle of the minds without lowering himself to mansplaining. (I know I just wrote an entire blog on annoying catch phrases and this one is borderline, but it really drives the point home.)

Don’t tell me what I ‘meant’ to say when I’m clearly telling you exactly what I mean.

Don’t treat me like I’m a dumb-dumb just because my chromosomes are Xs and not XY.

And for the love of God, if I’m going to get mansplained to and bitched out because of something we don’t agree on, please have enough of a backbone to show yourself when a MAN is out there doing something that you don’t agree with instead of being a gigantic … let me keep it clean … cat or kitten 😏

I was raised by a gentleman. My husband is a gentleman. And you can bet your life that we are raising our boys to be gentlemen.

They will never, and I mean NEVER, get away with treating females badly. Luckily I haven’t had to have one of my “sit-downs” with them because I’ve never seen them treat girls badly; and the wonderful thing about it is that it comes naturally to them – not because they feel it’s something they have to do.

I attribute it to the fact that they’ve never seen their father treat me as anything less than his equal.

They also know that their mother will not accept being treated that way anyway – from anyone – so it’s quite commonplace for them.

So for all the men out there, if you find yourself in a situation where you surely would have spoken up and put a woman “in her place”, but now the situation features a man instead, either step up, or be respectful the next time a woman has an opinion that opposes yours. Because if you don’t, you’re not a tough guy, you’re just a misogynistic kitty cat.