You Might Wish He Was Your Dad

It's not too frequently that we get to see Stephen Colbert in the absence of his Colbert Report character, but in Rookie's "Ask A Grown Man" video, Colbert not only sheds said persona, but he gives some really sound advice to young women. His words prove how pro-woman he is, how much he supports and believes in young females, and also that his kids must get some pretty great parenting.

It's awesome that he decided to do a feature for Rookie, a website for young women, but the fact that his advice is really genuine and thoughtful is what makes this video really special. While men may speak out for women's rights, we don't always hear men speaking out for girls who are in the formative periods of their lives, as is much of Rookie's audience. When Colbert tackles verbal harassment, relationships (both romantic and family), and how young women should be respected, you know that these are not pre-planned answers. These are honest, real answers — answers, I imagine, that he would likely give to his daughter.

In the first of four questions, when Colbert is discussing street harassment and why men make such nasty and abrasive comments, Colbert mentions that boys need to be educated, and that while society doesn't inform boys to be misogynistic, he says that:

[...] It doesn't value girls and women as much as it should [...] boys see that as a signal they can get away with it.

It's clear from this answer that Colbert believes that society should value young women more; now that's a cause to get behind!

He later gives advice to a young girl who wants to talk to her dad about sleeping over at her boyfriends' house, since her dad, who approves of her boyfriend, does not approve of sleepovers. Colbert gets real fatherly here, and he makes the question not about the boyfriend — or sex — but about her relationship with her parents. He gives advice that a teen girl may not want to hear, but it's important. He discusses — in a moment that particularly touched me as an adult — if, as a teen (or anyone, really) you feel comfortable asking your parents for financial help, then you should feel comfortable asking them for help with relationships, too.

You can see that and more when you watch the video below. His kids are quite lucky — they have a pretty cool dad.