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May 9 (UPI) -- Channing Tatum voiced his hopes for his daughter in an empowering open letter published Tuesday. The 37-year-old actor encouraged Everly, his 3-year-old daughter with wife Jenna Dewan, in an essay for Cosmopolitan to embrace her "authentic self" in future relationships.
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"My highest hope for her is just that she has the fearlessness to always be her authentic self, no matter what she thinks men want her to be," he said.
Tatum was initially invited to write about the Magic Mike Live opening in Las Vegas, but changed gears after imagining Everly "reading this article someday." He said he hopes his daughter will be as open and authentic as Dewan.
"One day, Jenna just blurted out that she knew exactly what she wanted in life and she didn't have to look for it anymore because it was me. She had no idea what I'd say or how I'd react, but that was her truth," Tatum recalled. "That radical authenticity of hers was what made me fall head over heels in love."
"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," he said.
"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," the star explained. "Women, especially, are realizing that they no longer have to conform to certain standards of social and sexual behavior, and this changes what they need from men and the role of men in general."
Tatum and Dewan married in 2009 after meeting on the set of Step Up, and welcomed Everly in May 2013. Dewan shared a photo of their daughter coloring in a cardboard box in April, writing, "Simple is always best. Happy Easter everyone!"
