Videos/Media to help convert family members to Feminism?

I would LOVE to hear some suggestions for this.

I have been a feminist for years before I’d ever heard the word.  However, my father has very sexist opinions of women and gender relations.  He’s a good person but he chooses not to read, only watches TV for information, and is grossly misinformed.  He used to be really macho, he’s mellowed over the years, but he still is definitely an “Alpha Male.”

Whenever this topic comes up in conversation, it’s usually him bringing it up, it always ends in a heated discussion or debate.  I’d really like to get through to him, and was hoping there were resources that would be good for either overtly or covertly showing him that not all women are what he thinks.

It was really difficult growing up with this kind of talk, and such traditional gender roles of my parents when I was really young.  It really made me not want to be a woman.  Discovering feminism made me happy to be a woman knowing I can still be myself.  But when I’m around my father, I feel like I’m not really a woman and it hurts my feelings a lot.  I feel so different, like a social outcast.  He’s not trying to change me or anything, but he doesn’t seem to understand how gender roles hurt men and women.  And that we are a product of our cultures.  And that there are people who fall outside the norms.   When he says “women want this…” or “women do that…” it makes me feel I don’t fit into the male or female category.  But I identify as a woman, not as transgender.  I need him to understand that I am a woman, I don’t fit into those labels, and so he shouldn’t keep generalizing like that because it hurts my feelings.  If I say that though, he’ll be like “That’s right, women are so sensitive, they can’t take any criticism.”

Any suggestions on how to handle this?  He really likes to watch films and videos.

Disclaimer: This post was written by a Feministing Community user and does not necessarily reflect the views of any Feministing columnist, editor, or executive director.

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