There are plenty of reasons to like Channing Tatum — his dance skills, his adoring relationship with his wife, his Beyoncé impression ...
But one of the things that he's been very public about since becoming a father to daughter Everly almost four years ago is how much he thinks about the world she'll be growing up in, and how he can help her navigate it.
In an essay he wrote for Cosmopolitan magazine to celebrate the opening of the live Magic Mike show in Las Vegas, he discussed what he hopes her approach to love and relationships will be, based on his own experiences with his wife, Jenna Dewan Tatum. Dewan Tatum, as it turns out, straight up told him that he was the guy of her dreams when they were still in the "figuring out" stage, and Tatum says it was that "authenticity" that made him fall completely in love with her.
"[That’s] what I want for my daughter — to be expectation-less with her love and not allow preconceived standards to affect her, to ask herself what she wants and feel empowered enough to act on it.
"We all know that every one of us is different and has a unique road map to our heart. We learn how to navigate it by leaping into love with both feet and giving our full selves without expecting anything in return. So I guess if there’s one thing that I think men wish women knew, it’s just that they alone are enough. When more women start to truly feel this power in themselves, the world will become so magical, it makes my head hurt.
"We live in a society that has trained men and women to play certain kinds of roles for a long time, and the beauty of this amazing moment we’re living in is that we’re finally starting to break free from those roles. Women, especially, are realizing that they no longer have to conform to certain standards of social and sexual behaviour, and this changes what they need from men and the role of men in general."
There's no question he's learned quite a few things since starring in the "Magic Mike" films, movies that have been called feminist by many prominent writers.
And obviously Tatum takes his role in his daughter's life fairly seriously.
Last year for Mother's Day, Tatum posted this photo of Dewan Tatum and Everly, writing (among other lovely things), "Saw this quote today -- 'The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother. Theodore Hesburgh' there are a lot of important things in being a father. Who knows what the most important thing is? All I know is that in my case this is pretty high on my list."
We're looking forward to what else he learns as his little girl grows up.