Once a week I work out with a bunch of (250lb) men. Republican men. And most often, they treat me like one of the guys, which is how I like it. Occasionally, I have to remind them that “I won’t break”, but for the most part, they don’t often remember that I’m a woman. Recently, one of their sons has reached the height and weight where he can work out with us. Before we start, as we’re stretching, idle talk fills the garage, these days leaning toward recent political events. I know their views and, for the most part, don’t partake in these discussions. Recently, however, the son (my nephew) has started making Hillary jokes. They are the same Hillary jokes I made when I was politically-unaware (or at least, only aware that smart people were republicans, like my parents). i parroted the same misogynist jokes about the president’s wife (at that time): how she wears the pants, how she’s the first female president, how she’s allowed her husband to run roughshod over his female staff (interesting, that we didn’t say she was cuckolded). I’ve been there. And I look back and feel only pain for the vitriol I allowed myself to give voice to. My father has begun to recirculate the hysterical emails about Hillary that circulated when she was First Lady. And my nephew has begun to repeat them.

I ran across this article (I can’t now say who first linked me to it, sorry to whomever it was) about how anti-Hillary misogyny hurts our daughters. Well, it hurts our nephews, too. Just because he’s not a girl doesn’t mean that my nephew is untouched by the misogynistic drivel that comes out of his mouth when politics come up around him. And, just as I’m sure my parents were when I did it, his parents are proud of him.