The feminist movement has been able to achieve incredible results. Changing the status quo, as I think all of us recognize around the table, is rarely easy. There is almost always tension and opposition, and there are days where for every step forward there are four steps back. It is the people, and many of them are women, within the feminist movement who have kept this work alive. They're the reason we find ourselves in 2017 with a feminist budget. This is a direct result of their relentless and creative advocacy.
We know that the feminist movement can be strengthened further by ensuring that men and boys are part of this conversation. Growing up, I was surrounded by a lot of other single mothers, and these single mothers had sons and daughters, and those sons were just as important a part of their mothers' lives as their daughters were. Those sons were just as much affected by the struggles of their single parent as their sisters were.
That's one reason we need to include boys in this conversation, and we need to do it at a young age. Young people today are brilliant, and in many ways they're growing up faster than they ought to. I've seen in front of me boys grow up to be strong boys who respect and appreciate the work of their mothers. These boys grow up to be respectful partners and effective fathers. What's better than that?