Michigan mom and former 16 and Pregnant star Nikkole Paulun has a controversial ritual with her six year-old son so he'll learn how to treat women right.
Every month she lets him save up his allowance then pick up the tab for their dinner out together, as explained in her viral Facebook post.
Once a month my 6 year old son takes me out on a dinner date. He opens doors for me, pulls out my chair, talks about his...
Posted by Nikkole Paulun on Friday, January 1, 2016
During their "date" Paulun teaches her son to pull out chairs and open doors for the lady of his life (currently mom) in the hopes that he will one day treat other women with the same chivalry.
So many of her lessons - turning off tech and chatting about each other's days - are basic family manners. However, the rest is informed by old-fashioned notions of how a man should behave and how a woman should behave.
It's 2016, and boys should not be expected to foot the bill when they take a woman out. So while many praised Paulun for instilling manners in her son, others called her out for also instilling in him chauvinistic values.
"Chauvinistic" may be a stretch, yet the expectation that a man pays is certainly outdated, especially when the majority of woman have their own careers and their own money. Not least of which because it doesn't exactly create a level playing field between the sexes.
To be fair, Paulun is only 22 and has suffered abusive relationships in the past so it's easy to see why she's determined to groom her son's behaviour toward the opposite sex.
Instead of teaching him to respect her, wouldn't we be better off teaching our kids that respect is a two-way street that has nothing to do with gender?
RELATED: Dear Son: I'm a feminist and you will be too.
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