In an interesting bit of reporting, a Christian Science Monitor journalist went to Wellesley -- the setting for the new Julia Robert's vehicle "Mona Lisa Smile" -- to find out what had changed for the women of the college in the 50 years between now and when the movie was set. The answer was not entirely encouraging: one professor sums up the current state of work/family balance responsibilities as still the domain of women. "'The burden of all of this is still on women.'" said Elayne Rapping, professor of women's and media studies at the University of Buffalo, N.Y.

One way out of that dilemma that current shooting-for-the-moon college women identified was increasing the number of at-home dads. "'The concept of stay-at-home dads is a solution and a very interesting one,' Ms. [Rosanna ] Hertz [, chair of the women's studies department] says."

I think that's heartening. I think that more at-home dads is indeed a wonderful solution to much of what ails families today, but I don't know of any easy way about boosting our numbers. Clearly, young women demanding a men with progressive views on gender roles is a good start, and I'll be curious to see how the lawyer-to-be quoted in the story does in her quest to find a boyfriend who is cool with being the at-home parent.

And a thanks to Evan of Dad's On the Couch fame for bringing this ABC News story from last month to my attention. It's a good, solid (if formulaic) story that takes the effort to track down Gill, Baylies, Frank and Massey.