Mom's Viral TikTok on Raising Her Son Says Girls Aren't More Important, and the Internet Is Cheering

A TikTok creator named Mayson (@mayson_yaps) went viral with a parenting take that most people didn’t see coming: she will not raise her son to believe girls matter more than he does. In her video, she explains she wants him to see girls as equals, not“helpless creatures”he has to serve and protect, and that his safety, feelings, and future matter just as much as any girl’s. The line that sealed it:“If saying that sounds offensive to you, you never wanted equality.”

Commenters largely praised her, calling the take“real feminism,”even though Mayson said she expected backlash. The article ties her argument to research on“benevolent sexism,”a term from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology describing how putting women on a pedestal can still reinforce rigid gender roles. It also cites CDC data showing roughly 1 in 4 to 1 in 5 men experience intimate partner violence, sexual violence, or stalking, and that about half to two-thirds of men who sought help said available resources didn’t help them.

So the real conversation here isn’t just about one mom’s video. It’s about whether teaching boys to respect girls has to come with teaching them that their own needs come last, and whether the systems meant to help male victims are actually doing the job. The answer matters for every kid in the room.

We want to hear from you: how were you taught to treat the opposite gender growing up, and would you change anything? Sound off in the comments.