Sunday, March 28, 2010

Does it Take One to Raise One?

Does it Take One to Raise One?




The other day I was listening to the Steve Harvey Morning Show, while driving to work, and the strawberry letter was read. I’m not going to go into detail about the strawberry letter, but while Steve was giving his commentary on the letter, he made a comment saying that it takes a man to teach a boy how to be, act, and be responsible like a man. He was attempting to make a point that women, not matter how hard they try, cannot teach a young boy how to be a man. His rational for this was that young boys need a man (father or father like figure) in their life to emulate, in order to understand the true meaning of being a man. This got me thinking a lot about myself as well as a lot of other brothers that grew up in single parent households where the mother was the sole provider and disciplinarian. Have we somehow been deprived the teaching of becoming a man since we were raised by our mothers and how has this affected us during our adult years?

First off I have to give praise to my mother, because she raised me to the best of her ability and I think I turned out to be okay. Don’t get me wrong, I think I still have a long ways to go, but everything in life is a continuous work in progress.

To get back to my point, I wonder how not having a father figure constant throughout my adolescence has affected me during my adult years. Has it affected me in a negative way that my continuous growth into manhood has been some way stunted? Has my lack of a father in my life affected my views on marriage and raising kids? I’ve always wondered if I have a good reference point for being a good husband or father. Does it really take a man to teach boy how to be a man?