Real Talk

What Moms Can Teach Their Sons About Women for Women’s Month 2025

by Kevyn Gohu
March 21, 2025

As Women’s Month 2025 is in full swing, here are some things moms can teach their sons about women

As moms, teaching our daughters about women and Women’s Month this 2025 isn’t too much of a struggle. After all, what we experience may be something they will albeit in a different way. But how does a mom explain the lived experience of women to men and their sons when some experiences are exclusive this Women’s Month 2025? Sure, there are gadgets that simulate period cramps to change the minds of men who think they can handle it but, some things are just so hardwired that it’ll take lifestyle changes to teach them.

So what can moms teach their sons about women and Women’s Month 2025? Here are some ideas:

As Women's Month 2025 is in full swing, here are some things moms can teach their sons about women

Women were the creators of some of their favorite things

Star Wars, Gundam, Star Trek, and all their favorite sci-fi franchises would not have existed had Mary Wollstone Shelley not written Frankenstein in 1818. Fun fact: the editing of Star Wars episodes 4, 5, and 6 were allegedly reviewed by Maria Lucas, George Lucas’ wife, before its release which is why the cinematics may feel different from episodes 1, 2, and 3. By then, the two had divorced.

The concept of computers may have been invented by Charles Babbage but, the first programmer was Ada of Lovelace. Without her, nobody would have understood the limitations of the computer or created a baseline for an operating system.

Their names more often than not were often overshadowed by their male counterparts only because of conversation. Men were literally louder than women and would openly declare their thoughts for everyone to know since social media didn’t exist back then. Why didn’t women do the same? Some say it’s an etiquette thing; others say women did the same by passing messages through the maids and women in their network. Only the women of that time would know the answer.

Women do not condone abuse, regardless if it’s a man or a woman

Unfortunately, popular culture has depicted the power play and perverse need for control in abusive relationships by having the man as the abused and the woman, as the abused. After all, physical wounds are far harder to ignore since men are usually physiologically more built.

But for this Women’s Month 2025, teach them that women can be just as abusive. The wounds are just not physically obvious. It’s psychological warfare; dismissing one’s achievements, playing the gender card (especially when it’s not even related to the issue), crying to other people while flipping the narrative, withdrawing affection or respect with the motive of forcing the other to believe their worldview, backhanded compliments — these are just some of the techniques they use.

But abuse is abuse. It was never about gender; it was about control. Sex and gender just served as ways to concretize the motive.

Women are celebrated every March because history hasn’t kept account

Their history books are concrete proof. There’s little to no content about women’s role in the history books, lest they somehow doomed a civilization. Helen of Troy, Empress Wu Zetian, Queen Mary of Scots, Cleopatra, Empress Cixi — all these names only pop up in history books because they were considered either the cruelest or the reason why a civilization nearly collapsed.

But women have made their moves in history. Pharoah Hatshepsut was hailed as one of the greatest pharoahs because she sponsored one of Egypt’s most successful trading expeditions. The late Queen Elizabeth II modernized the monarchy and was the longest-serving monarch. Marie Curie discovered Radium, building the foundation for today’s X-ray.

Just like men, women love it when someone “matches their freak”

The phrase “match their freak” became famous via TikTok, often used to describe a partner who has or at least accepts the weirdness of the other. We’re not talking about just food preferences but hobbies too!

Yes, women, ever since girlhood, learned the art of style, elegance, and make-up. But what women of today really want is a man who will let her be the caffeine-dependent, animal-loving, messy, fanfiction-obsessed, book goblin she is and still loves her. For years, women have been shamed for having tastes that don’t look the least bit feminine, and knowing that someone is completely okay with their weirdness is just so liberating.

Women express neurodivergence differently

While it’s more common for men to show signs of autism and Down Syndrome, women are just as susceptible. But because women are more emotionally and socially wired, they’re better at “masking” their neurodivergence (Lockwood, Milner, Spain, Happé, and Colvert, 2021). Social aikido, as psychologists call it, is ingrained in every woman which makes it difficult for even professionals to distinguish if a woman is neurodivergent or not (Dell’Osso and Carpita, 2023). Most of the time, it only becomes obvious when the traits are more drastic such as being “non-verbal” or slowed speech (Cumin, Pelaez, and Mottron, 2022).

Diseases also affect women differently

Although diseases have common patterns, some of them have symptoms that are more common in women. Strokes, for example, usually show more nausea, hallucinations, fatigue, and chest pain and are more damaging in women (Holroyd-Leduc, Kapral, Austin, and Tu, 2000; Caso et. al, 2010; Wang et. al, 2022). Because of the hormones and women having longer average lifespans, women’s rehabilitation and therapy after stroke can look more severe and drastic than those of men.

Osteoporosis, or the loss of bone strength and density over time, is more common in women because of estrogen levels (Lorentzon, Johansson, Harvey, Liu, Candenput, McCloskey, and Kanis, 2022). Because estrogen plays a role in absorbing calcium, menopause makes us more prone to bone breakage. It’s why we hear stories of older women breaking their ankles or hips even after tripping over two steps on the stairs. It’s also why we’re so paranoid about our lolas and grandmothers.

Women’s Month 2025: Teaching About Lived Experiences

Every man’s idea of a woman doesn’t just come from the movies and series he watches. It also comes from moms! As mothers, we are our sons’ and husbands’ representation of the entire collective of women. We are the translators and media when they encounter other women out there. Granted, we are not accountable for what other women do unless we’re directly involved. But, we do have the power to help them process why we women do the things we do. Consider it a challenge for us ladies on Women’s Month 2025.

References

Caso, V., Paciaroni, M., Agnelli, G., Corea, F., Ageno, W., Alberti, A., Lanari, A., Micheli, S., Bertolani, L., Venti, M., Palmerini, F., Billeci, A. MR., Comi, G., Previdi, P. & Silvestrelli, G. (2010). Gender differences in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Women’s Health, 6(1), 51-57.

Cumin, J., Pelaez, S., & Mottron, L. (2022). Positive and differential diagnosis of autism in verbal women of typical intelligence: A Delphi study. Autism, 26(5), 1153-1164.

Dell’Osso, L., & Carpita, B. (2023). What misdiagnoses do women with autism spectrum disorder receive in the DSM-5?. CNS spectrums, 28(3), 269-270.

Holroyd-Leduc, J. M., Kapral, M. K., Austin, P. C., & Tu, J. V. (2000). Sex differences and similarities in the management and outcome of stroke patients. Stroke, 31(8), 1833-1837.

Lockwood Estrin, G., Milner, V., Spain, D., Happé, F., & Colvert, E. (2021). Barriers to autism spectrum disorder diagnosis for young women and girls: A systematic review. Review journal of autism and developmental disorders, 8(4), 454-470.

Lorentzon, M., Johansson, H., Harvey, N. C., Liu, E., Vandenput, L., McCloskey, E. V., & Kanis, J. A. (2022). Osteoporosis and fractures in women: the burden of disease. Climacteric, 25(1), 4-10.

Wang, M., Wang, C. J., Gu, H. Q., Meng, X., Jiang, Y., Yang, X., Zhang, J., Xiong, Y.Y, Zhao, X.Q., Liu, L.P., Wang, Y.L., Wang, Y.J., & Li, Z. X. (2022). Sex differences in short-term and long-term outcomes among patients with acute ischemic stroke in China. Stroke, 53(7), 2268-2275.