Primary Caregiver Fathers: THE Wave Of The Future

Christianity Today ^ | 11/99 | Kristin Komarnicki

[farmfriend]

See post #40.

I would say that women live longer for two reasons:
1. They are exposed to less hazards (working in mines, fighting on battlefileds, 60-hour work weeks).
2. They are less fortified by the warmer elements of life...like parenting.

The Death Professions' Double Standard

When mining, construction, and other death professions are discussed in feminist publications, they are portrayed as examples of the male power system, as "male-only clubs." However, when Ms. magazine profiled female miners, the emphasis was on how the woman was "forced" to take a job in the mines because it paid the best, and how taking such a job was the only way she could support her family.

Ms. could never acknowledge that the male-only clubs of hazardous occupations paid best because of their hazards and had been male-only exactly because men risked their lives for the extra pay to support their loved ones. They could not acknowledge that almost no woman worked in a mine to support a husband. Or that, if the woman they were profiling had a husband, he would have gone to the mines--not her. This double standard--of the death professions being a privilege when men did them and an oppression when women did them--has made two generations of men feel a bit unappreciated.

[farmfriend]

See post #41. I don't know why I can't get everone pinged on the thread all at once tonight.

[Woahhs]

I like to refer to the absolute frickin' boneheads that were raised by stay-at-home moms. You know. The ones that don't become useful human beings until Uncle Sam gets a hold of them.

Sometimes father does know best.

[Woahhs]

It is easier for a father to take care of a baby-toddler-elementary daughter than it is to take care of a teenaged daughter, simply because the teenaged daughter will have so many female-specific issues.

I would even question the validity of this assertion. Certainty a studious father could impart all the nuts and bolts info to his daughters.

I'm just not sure all the "articles of faith" that go along with female cultural initiation have anywhere near the value we ascribe to them.

[Z in Oregon]

I like to refer to the absolute frickin' boneheads that were raised by stay-at-home moms. You know. The ones that don't become useful human beings until Uncle Sam gets a hold of them. Sometimes father does know best.

Often.

[Z in Oregon]

Certainty a studious father could impart all the nuts and bolts info to his daughters. I'm just not sure all the "articles of faith" that go along with female cultural initiation have anywhere near the value we ascribe to them.

Good point.

[ContraryMary]

You don't get to mother your children either. Many many women I know that worked and were unable to spend much time with their children regret it very much. You don't notice how much you've missed until the children are graduating from high school. You will hear them reminisce about childhood experiences as they ready for college or to leave home, and you will not be part of them. That HURTS.

To each his own. What works for one family doesn't necessarily work for others. My kids went through the daycare experience. It worked for us. My husband and I have had our own unique challenges, but we've met and dealt with each one. You have to be flexible and adaptable.