More on Making Sure Dads Get Counted
Posted on 16. Apr, 2007 by Brian Reid in General
It’s nice to the see that the dismay over the government’s dads-are-really-just-a-form-of-child-care argument has gotten an airing above and beyond blogging rants: the Lexington Herald-Leader ran this nice column on why dads should be counted. It also included a study that I don’t think I saw:
A 2005 Gannon University study, for example, found that the most popular child-rearing books used mother twice as often as father when referring to parenting in general. According to the study, even when the authors used gender-neutral language, it was usually clear that they were speaking to mothers. Why else would they suggest parental stress-management techniques that included “getting one’s nails done” and “talking with a girlfriend”?
That’s enough to get my good and fuming on a Monday morning.
(Thanks to Kelly for the link.)
dayv
16. Apr, 2007
Yeah, I think that would be a problem, and probably cause more stress, if I were talking to a girlfriend….and my wife found out.
Jeff
17. Apr, 2007
We just took our daughter to a new sibling class at the hospital where we will deliver #2 and all the material, video, discussion, etc was focused on helping mommy get diapers, helping mommy by being a good listener, helping out mommy by not leaving small toys laying around and on and on. I spent the whole class thinking (as did my wife, to her credit) where is the freaking dad in all of this? I am the one who cleans the house, changes a fair amount of diapers and, you know, plays a role in the family. The dads did not get ONE single mention. Nice, just a sperm donor I guess.
Gender Bias, on kids and parents, is so evident if people open their eyes to it. Seems most people do not care or think about the subtle, yet subversive, consequences.
Rebel Dad
17. Apr, 2007
Jeff — Thanks for the comment. I have never understood why more wasn’t done with the new-parent classes at hospitals … here, you have this great, captive audience of dads … and then it gets squandered with the kind of stuff you mentioned.
Peter Hoh
22. Apr, 2007
Hey, I always find that a chat with my girlfriend helps ease my parenting stress. What’s wrong with that?