Children learn most from observing, so how a dad interacts with others, especially women, will be a template for what his daughter assumes is appropriate when others, eventually, interact with her. Dads, you will be her example of how a man should treat a woman and, most likely, she will look for a man like you when she is older. How a man treats all the women in and around his life, whether she is his partner or a random woman on the street, will have an impact on his daughter and how she perceives herself, as a woman, in the world.

You don't have to be a woman to know, understand and respect women, their bodies and their experiences. Dad can instill this undeniable fact by being just as involved in any reproductive conversations, or "princess playtime" or whatever society has arbitrarily decided is "just for women." He can get tampons when the house needs them. He can put on dresses and makeup for a tea party. He can be an involved parent, and not keep himself from certain activities just because he identifies as a man. I mean, conforming to gender stereotypes and what you believe to be expected by you, from society, is never a valid reason not to spend time and play with and nurture and educate your kid.

Obviously, a mother could teach this lesson just as easily as a father. However, working to combat and break down gender stereotypes should be the work of both parents, regardless of gender, and dad can take up this mantel, too. He can throw a ball with his daughter and remind her that, "throwing like a girl," is a freakin' awesome thing. He can look to his partner to do something that he can't, because she has strengths that he doesn't possess. Showing weakness is just as powerful as showing strength, especially when you're a dad and society wants you to perpetuate constant toughness.

Feminism is something men need, too, and that lesson can be one that dad can pass down to his daughter. Gender inequality hurts men, too. Gender inequality tells men that they can't be responsible for their actions or their feelings or their emotions. In fact, gender inequality tells men that they shouldn't have emotions at all. Gender inequality paints dads as incapable morons, when any parent knows that they can take care of a kid just as well as a mother can.

Dad can teach his daughter that emotions aren't bad, emotions aren't something to "hide," emotions aren't something to stifle and that they're not meant to be experienced by one specific gender. If something happens that warrants a cry, he won't hesitate. If he is excited, he won't stifle it to appear "tough." The notion that men (and, sadly, even little boys) are either not emotional or shouldn't "act" emotional, is so hurtful.

The whole "men are so oblivious when it comes to women," narrative is played out, in my humble opinion. Men can be caring and intuitive, just like women. Men are capable of realizing that women are just human beings and, as such, have very normal, human feelings and needs and thoughts. Being compassionate towards women, and cognizant of a woman's needs, isn't rocket science, and a dad is going to remind his daughter that any man can act decent towards and around a woman, by doing so himself.

Sadly, and even in 2016, women are still considered to be the primary parent, while dad ids a secondary "helper" of sorts. Yeah, no. Dads aren't babysitters. Dads aren't a "second set of hands" when mom gets tired or needs a "break" or requires some assistance. Dads are capable of parenting. They know, or can learn, how to put on diapers and feed their baby and dress them and put them to bed, just like a mother. Women aren't born with the innate knowledge necessary to take care of children; they learn, just like men, and a dad can teach his daughter that men can care for children just as adequately as women can, by taking care of his daughter the way her mother does.

Gender stereotypes insist that women stay home and take care of the kids, while men go outside of the house and provide for their family financially. Well, times are changing, folks. Today, 70% of women with children work outside of the home. In fact, many working mothers are the sole breadwinner for their family, which means that more and more dads are staying at home to take care of the kids. There's nothing wrong with this dynamic, if it works for the families that use it, and a dad can show his daughter that the '50s, and it's sexist stereotypes, are over.