It’s funny when discussions concerning politics aren’t politically correct. Take this article from The Huffinton Post (Battle Over Child Care Gets Personal for Democrats, Lisa Belkin, August 28,2012) discussing the various childcare needs of American political parties (well, the Democrats anyway) as they prepare to travel the country promoting their political agendas. It seems that those in politics, and those who make a living talking about it, still don’t grasp the fact that in 2012 childcare is a “parenting” problem, not a “mom” problem. No one gets it- not the politicians, not the lobbyists, and certainly not the feminists.
Hey people, dads exist, and we all know they vote… even the ones who stay at home and take care of the kids, or the ones who travel with their spouses and take care of business (bottle feeding, changing diapers) while their spouses work the floor. It’s an insult to us whenever you refer to something as important as caring for our offspring as a “mom” problem. But, I guess it is when society still wants to put the entire burden of raising a child on a mother’s overburdened shoulders. Dads don’t want to burden moms, we actually want to take our rightful place as equal partners in the parenting arena, but some people still don’t want to recognize our right to call ourselves primary caregivers, and that’s going to be their down fall.
The world is changing people. Dads like caring for their kids and we don’t like people telling us that we don’t even register for them when they think of things like child care. We’re an afterthought, an anecdote, a joke. Well, we’re not laughing, and neither are our wives, or the millions of other moms who feel it’s time to recognize the hard work of great dads everywhere; men who would stay at home to raise their kids, or take paternity leave, or rush home after work to feed, and bath and change their children. These are the men our society needs. These are the role models our children need. We should be embraced by society, not ignored.
Who would have ever thought that a word like “parent” would be a dirty word for some people (those who would like to discount the value of dads)? Not me. I always thought dads were making headway. I thought we were showing ourselves to be involved, and loving it. I thought we would be recognized for our efforts. I guess not- not in politics, not in society, not in our lifetime. We are second class citizens, and it’s time to accept the only way we’re going to be recognized for our efforts is to make our presence known.
So carry your baby and carry him proudly. Change a diaper on the floor! Feed your child on a park bench for all to see. Show the world dads are not to be discounted. If people don't get that we're in this for the long haul and we're parents too, f@#% 'em. If we can't sway public opinion or get people to recognize our efforts, let's focus on what really matters, the people who matter most- our kids. At the end of the day, they're confidence in us, they're recognition of our efforts is all that really matters.
And well, who cares what politicians think... they're all full of sh@3 anyway.
I'm not sure which comment you are referring to here...but the school of thought has always been that if you can make the problem a woman's problem, you can ignore it. You see, women are supposed to marry well off men who go to work. These women, also considered "proper women" stay home in their rightful place and raise children, with their mouths shut, unless spoken to or needed to further a man's career. And if you can make it a single mom's problem, you get the added titillation of wondering if she had sex inappropriately.
ReplyDeleteGiven that we have been stuck in this thought pattern for centuries, I can only imagine how long it will take us to even begin to acknowledge issues dads might have in raising children.