Yes, I said 'sexist' father, and he is many more other things, but no mention of them right now.
I live with a male figure, who gave me (his daughter), 50 percent of the DNA in my body. Naturally, I would assume my father to be caring, open-minded, self-less, regards everyone as human beings, and thinks of women as men's equal. I was downright wrong.
Do not think I am insulting my dad; I am only telling my experience of how it is living with someone who has a narrow mind and can easily frustrate others with such ease.
My father has shown his disdain for women when I was a child. He often called my mother 'stupid', 'buffalo', 'hard headed', and 'someone with no sympathy.' Growing up, I noticed that he was wrong. My dad only says this because he thinks women are inferior to men, should be kept in a leash, shut up, always under the control of a man, never independent, and has low intelligence. How does his attitude affect me? Well, in numerous ways that I will now list:
His refusal to let me be independent impedes me from being that: independent. When I move out, it is going to be a bit hard for me to accommodate myself as a single person. I would have to constantly nag my parents about what to do when this happens, and who to call when that happens. Even now, my dad refuses to let me out on my own, despite me having a driver's license, will not let me on the road alone. If this is going to go on, then what is the explanation for me driving to university alone? There is no way my dad's boss will allow him to take part of the day off, and follow me around on the road. Every day, I have to listen to my father complain about my driving, and him worrying about how I will come home. Why? According to him, I am not smart enough to be on the road. His attitude with my brother? Very little to no worries about him, even though my brother speeds on the road a bit more than me. If you are thinking that my dad's logic is speed > life when driving a car, then you are correct. The thought of me being an independent, strong woman terrifies him.
He cannot stand women who are smarter than him, or call out his faults. When my mom asks my dad why he shouted at her just because the fan was on, he immediately told her to 'shut up.' Backstory: my mom often keeps the fan on in the garage kitchen if there is food on the table. Since there is no A/C in the garage, a fan has to be on to keep the food from spoiling too quickly. Unfortunately, that logic has yet to sink into my dad's head. There is no reason for difficulty in understanding such an easy concept. You can tell that he becomes scared at the thought of a female having more intelligence than him. In front of me, he called my Art professor 'stupid', when she was anything but. Today, I found out how ironic it was for him to think how dumb women are. Today, I came home with library books, and he asked me how much the total cost was for the books. *facepalm*
Also today, he said, "Good thing I am not a female." What does that mean? Well, what I just stated in the above paragraphs. My dad is glad that he is not stupid, narrow-minded, and a motor-mouth. He is actually all of the above, but does not want to admit it. It is quite frustrating to live with someone who has such a negative perspective of the opposite sex. Majority of the time, I feel as if I am not a female human; I am just a piece of property brought out into the world for the sole purpose of cleaning up after men. In my home, my mother and I are solely responsible for things that happen in the house. My dad refuses to do anything, and if he does, he will complain about it until our ears hurt.
If either my mom or I respond to him a little later than usual, he will go into a fit of rage about how women are disobedient and have no manners for men, whatsoever. I always wonder how women manage to survive with these type of men in their home. Do they not become frustrated, have this urge to rebel against his wills, or do something outrageous in order bring his attitude into control? I am beyond amazed that there are men out there who have this mindset about females. What sin have females committed for such a negative perspective to be brought upon them? I know some people will say it is because of "Eve being created from the rib of Adam", but that is such a poor excuse. Even Eve has a functioning brain and beating heart. Nothing is different between man and woman (except for reproduction systems), so what is this immature attitude of disliking a group of people because of their gender?
As for me, I will just have to think of some way to get out of my dad's wrath, but without him becoming angry at me. Well, I do not actually care if he gets angry with me because I am living my life the way I want to. I see no excuses to be under the control of a man at all times. I was born with a brain and brought up with rational thinking, so I look forward to not having any issues with making my own decisions for my own life. Oh, and my faith heavily emphasizes in treating women as an equal to men. There is no such thing as 'superior gender' in the faith we believe in. Have fun, Dad, with letting this fact sink into your brain.
