Perspective: Why I don’t want my daughters to be called 'guys'
By Jason Basa Nemec May 13 In the fall of last year, my wife and I signed our 3-year-old daughter up for an indoor soccer skills class. And right away, she loved it. We loved it, too. It was fun to watch EJ work on fundamentals like dribbling and kicking — her game face would emerge, her little tongue would come poking through her lips as she concentrated — but it was even more fun to see her laughing as the coach incorporated silly games like Red Light Green Light Black Light.
Before we knew it, the holidays were upon us and the 10-week soccer camp was finished. Come January, we signed EJ up in the same soccer program. She had the same coach, who was, once again, kind, energetic and motivational. And she was still calling everyone “guys.” By the end of the next week’s soccer class, she appeared to have forgotten all about it. I can’t blame her; there was an obstacle course at soccer that day, and it was awesome. EJ came running over to her baby sister and me on the sidelines. After we high-fived, I asked whether she still wanted to talk to Coach. “Oh yeah!” she said, her eyes lighting up. Then she did a 180 and ran right back toward the goal, where the coach was busy putting away equipment.
Coach listened, then said that she could try calling everyone “soccer friends” instead. “What do you think? Would that work?” It wasn’t enough. What else could I have said? Maybe that I want my daughter to know that her words have power and can make a real impact on people’s behavior.
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