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Yes, I Raised My Daughter Alone — Stop Calling Me “Noble”
How sexism and privilege manifest for a single dad
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I got married young and started a family young. There is some backstory about being indoctrinated into hardcore evangelicalism from childhood and being coerced into making life choices I had no way of fully understanding at such a young age, but it’s not a particularly interesting or unique story. My wife and I wanted the same things; we were far too young, and the church took advantage of our naivete. A year later, our daughter was born.
My wife had been an only child, and I think it’s fair to say that she was a spoiled only child. I’ll call her Dianne, but that’s not her name. I, on the other hand, came from a more complicated background. I was the oldest of five, the youngest of whom was born when I was 14. In addition to all the normal eldest-child tasks, I also spent a good chunk of high school taking care of a colicky baby while my parents were busy doing other things.
Maybe the neglect in my childhood is what made me so receptive to the church’s coercion. Maybe my messed-up family made me yearn to create the stability I never had. Maybe my years of taking care of kids gave me undue confidence in my…
