Sunday, May 11, 2003

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

As we shift ever so subtly from Newsweek to Daddy Day Care, it's worth pointing out an LA Times story that talks to (and about) male child care workers. It's a nice bit, I think, giving the movie credit where credit is due while giving the day care folks room for their point of view.

Among the highlights: "What sets "Daddy Day Care" apart from its predecessors, according to film critic Leonard Maltin, is that Murphy hatches the idea himself and embraces it. 'Ultimately, he realizes this is not a last resort,' Maltin said. 'It's a good idea to get closer to his son. That's a totally new spin on all of this.'"

"For another, role reversal is still funny because the perception of gender roles has remained more rigid than the reality, [script author] Berenson said."

The movie launched this look at at-home dadism, talking to Peter Baylies, one of the great Rebel Dads of our times, and flagging two new books by at-home dads that I've yet to read.

Other things on the radar (there's lots of news -- bookmark this page if you need to come back. I don't expect you to read all of these links. There will be no quiz): for starters, an at-home dad talks about Mother's Day. Sweet column.

Big props to the New Jersey Star-Ledger for covering what became a "virtual" Mother's Day march by M.O.T.H.E.R.. The march became a letter-writing campaign to Congress focusing on the need to give caregivers a Social Security credit. Great coverage of a great issue.

And I'll include almost without comment a USA Today piece on Gen-X moms. The little bit of comment? I read lots about how free today's young women are to make work/family balance work for them, on their terms. Why don't Gen-X guys have the same freedom (trust me, we don't. If we did, I wouldn't have to call myself Rebel Dad)?

An interesting study of military folks found that men are far more attuned to work/family balance than they're usually given credit for.

Old story -- but useful -- on the financial math behind becoming an at-home parent.

I swore off Newsweek comments, but I'll simply link to exerpts from letters the mag received on this week's cover story. A sample comment? "[The story was] 'the worst researched, predetermined-hypothesis driven piece of drivel I’ve read in a long time.'" Ouch.

And I should note this Newsweek-inspired op-ed in Newsday last week. The argument: Rebel Dads are no match for a continue macho-ization of the country.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home