Who will stand?

A friend of mine wrote this today on her facebook wall. Although I do not have teenage sons, the impact of what she said it profound. I will stand with her and teach my daughter how she needs to be viewed, and embrace her divine heritage.

Dear Mothers of Teenage Boys:
Society has been degrading womanhood for quite some time now, teaching our daughters that it is more important to be hot than to be beautiful, more important to be desired than to be cherished, more important to look a certain way than to BE someone of value. Having raised a teenage daughter, I can tell you that these societal forces are strong, they are coercive, and... they are difficult to overcome. Now that I am raising a teenage son, I recognize that he has a huge responsibility to shun these societal messages and show his (girl)friends that he will respect them, even when they do not respect themselves. Yet this is not something that society is teaching him to do. It must be ME who teaches him this. He does not understand how much power he has to influence the mind and countenance of his young (girl)friends; I have to help him learn this. I have to be willing to say the hard things, correct the wrong comments and actions, teach him over and over how he SHOULD be treating these young women. Unless I tell him what is appropriate, he will never know, because EVERYWHERE ELSE he goes, he is receiving a different message. Young women should be recognized for their beauty, both inside and out; 13 year old girls are never hot, sexy, or fine--no matter how much they may WANT to be those things. Our young men need to help our young women recognize what is of REAL value inside of them. They need to compliment their (girl)friends on their intelligence, their creativity, their compassion, NOT their bodies. They need to help these young women recognize that they are so much more important than the way they clothe (or don't clothe) themselves. Young men are naturally drawn to all the physical things about young women. That is the way they were created, and it is a strong force. The rest of it MUST BE LEARNED, and if we aren't willing to stand up and teach our sons...who will? So to the mothers of teenage boys, will you stand with me? Will you teach your sons of the power they hold, the power to influence young women? Will you teach them to respect and honor the virtue of women? Will you monitor their facebook accounts and their cell phones, holding them accountable to a higher standard? Will you hold MY son accountable when you hear him saying things he shouldn't be saying? Will you stand with me so that MY son will not be the ONLY ONE who is trying to do what is right? Will you teach, over and over and over, the RIGHT way to compliment a young woman, thus allowing our young women to learn to believe in themselves? Can we begin today to instill in this growing generation just how amazing they can truly be, so that when they reach the age to marry they won't have allowed Satan and the world to degrade them? Who will stand with me and shout the world down? Will you?