Toilet Education

It was almost a year ago. I was coming back from a conference in San Diego. Before the flight, I went to use the ladies room. A mother and her small son entered the stall next to me. The boy asked something along the lines of whether girls had the same body parts as his. I could not help hearing how this mother was going to teach the differences to her son. "No" she said. "God created man in his own image, and then he created the woman for him, so you should remember to be kind to your wife when you grow up". She then went on emphasizing how the woman's body is not perfect like his. The message was to be kind and nice to women when he grew up, but not for the right reasons. It was patronizing. You have the perfect body, you are the image of God, and she is not. She was made for you, so the least you can do is be kind to her. In a restroom in San Diego's international airport, a boy learned from his mother he is the image of God and perfect, and women are created for him and are not perfect. In fact, he must have already felt superior to his own mom! I was puzzled during my whole flight.