I can't imagine how difficult it is to explain the concept of love to your children. I'm not there yet, as my kid is just a toddler, but I'm actually looking forward to the challenge. While I'm not above admitting that I'm still navigating the complex and multifaceted avenues of love myself, the idea of love, and the very real struggles of loving someone else (or even myself), I look forward to teaching my son about love, especially because I'm a proud feminist mom who believes that feminism is going to help me with that conversation when the time to have it eventually rolls around.
There's no denying that feminist mothers do parenthood differently; whether it's teaching your children to be sex-positive, highlighting the importance of gender equality, denouncing gender stereotypes, or simply adhering to gentle parenting practices, feminist mothers are changing the social expectations of motherhood. We're no longer adhering to age-old, often patriarchal-in-nature parenting tropes that promote an unrealistic picture of what it means to be in love. Instead of building up the importance of marriage, of one gender's power over the other in the name of a relationship, or denouncing the importance of self-love, feminist parents are being realistic about relationships, especially the romantic ones.
Which is why there are these nine things that feminist moms refuse to say to their kids about love. Relationships are evolving, as is the way we talk about them to our children, and feminist parents are at the forefront of that change.