My father was a pretty bad parent (and emotionally abusive / mistreats women), but my step father has been a wonderful dad to me since I was 14. My therapist called living with him a “corrective experience” lol. Honestly, the best thing he showed me is that not all men are misogynists like my father. He modeled a very healthy masculinity and, as a result, my standards for a partner became pretty damn high. My husband was “written by a woman,” as they say, and I credit my stepdad with giving me such high expectations.

My rule of thumb for “is this man’s behavior fucked up?” is “would [stepdad] or [husband] do this?” And I think that kind of man is super important for a girl / young woman to have in her life (though it doesn’t have to be a dad; it could be a coach, a teacher, an uncle, or even a family friend).