[ottbmare]

I disagree with your statement that a single (intentional) mother can model ideal female behavior-—wrong. She is modeling selfish, immature behavior.

I was not referring to the women who deliberately get themselves pregnant, but to the women who are forced to raise their kids alone--the widows and unwilling divorcees. Many a man (like Abraham Lincoln) will speak or write with reverence about the noble spirit of his lonely mother. My point was that no matter how wonderful a mother is, she can't be a father.

[savagesusie]

I agree. But Tom Lincoln spent quite a bit of time with Abe. His mother and stepmother were wonderful.