My Late Father Never Put up with Any Disrespect for Women
My mother, to whom he was married for 75 years, was someone he absolutely adored. Any disrespect me or my brother showed to her or to any woman meant getting into serious trouble immediately. The same applied to my sister, who was one year younger than I was.
That was the modeling I grew up with. That was the model I followed. So did my brother.
How you are raised is how you will be, pretty much.
I learned pretty early that not everyone had such a model to follow. I had more friend who were girls during my school days than boys. That sometimes led to crude comments about me from some of the boys. I ignored those. As I grew older and went through puberty, my male friends were all guys who had similar models to my own. My girlfriends and early romantic alliances were often quiet girls, smart girls, and independent girls, who probably also had similar adult models.
I treated them like my father treated my mother. That worked out very well. Really, I could do nothing else. Childhood modeling is very powerful. I remember when I started dating, my father sat me down and said, "Son, never take advantage of any of your girlfriends. Let them guide you as you start exploring adult things. You'll never be sorry if you do that."
He was right, of course. He was almost always right. He was a gentle, but strong man who knew that every relationship needed to be between equals. He taught me that, and I'll forever be grateful that he did.
I was very lucky to be born into my family, I think.