Welcome to The Pixel Project’s “30 For 30″ Father’s Day Campaign 2016! In honour of Father’s Day, we created this campaign:
- To acknowledge the vital role dads play in families, cultures and communities worldwide.
- To showcase men from different walks of life who are fabulous positive non-violent and non-sexist male role models.
- To provide dads worldwide a positive platform to share ideas about stopping sexism, misogyny, and violence against women and girls.
This is our 5th annual 30 For 30 campaign and through it we will be publishing a short interview with a different Dad on each day of the month of June.
Our twenty eighth “30 For 30″ 2016 Dad is M.S. Mohanan from India.
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The Dad Bio
I am a retired District Project Officer for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in Kerala, India with 36 years of experience in the teaching profession. I have always advocated for and believed in the concept of gender parity. My main hobbies include taking part in various social and cultural activities, reading, and agriculture. As a proud father of two (a boy and a girl), I believe that I have given equal consideration to both of them without any discrimination. I also want to inculcate these values in my dear grandchildren.
1. What is the best thing about being a dad?
The best thing about being a dad is caring and loving your children and being loved by them.
Being a dad makes you a better person. As a dad you have to respect your children, consider their feelings and their interests, and it’s the ultimate opportunity you get to mentor the lives.
2. A dad is usually the first male role model in a person’s life and fathers do have a significant impact on their sons’ attitude towards women and girls. How has your father influenced the way you see and treat women and girls?
A father is a role model for the family. He has to nurture a positive attitude among boys towards girls and vice versa. Parents should be gender neutral in their parenting. Children should be given equal opportunities in all fields in life and at no point should a boy or girl be taught to feel that their gender is superior or inferior to the other.
I am fortunate to learn these lessons from my father. He was a role model for me in many ways. He has always treated my sister without any gender bias and respect. He has always respected my mother as an individual and has always valued her opinions. His approach has influenced and helped me become the father I am today.
3. Communities and activists worldwide are starting to recognise that violence against women is not a “women’s issue” but a human rights issue and that men play a role in stopping the violence. How do you think fathers and other male role models can help get young men and boys to take an interest in and step up to help prevent and stop violence against women?
Violence against women is not an independent issue that exists in a vacuum. It is fuelled by the existing pseudo-moral values of patriarchal society where family, society and educational institutions mould an individual’s perspective on gender issues and are responsible for the attitude which a child develops towards women and girls.
Considering our culture and diverse population, there is a long way to go for society to truly have gender parity but it’s not impossible. We (including men) need to start from scratch by treating each individual in our own families fairly and without gender bias. We should also teach our kids that boys and men should never make a girl or woman cry.