Tuesday, May 05, 2009

"Even the Most Enlightened, Feminist Males Struggle" With At-Home Role, Says ABC

Somewhere, an engineer at Google is developing an algorithm that allows a computer to write the in-vogue working-man-loses-job-and-starts-doing-the-kid-thing story without any human intervention. All the computer would have to do is find a guy, automatically insert a generic harmless quote about adjusting to the role. There would be a quote from the spouse expressing support for her mate -- and concern about being the sole breakwinner. And there would be some expert commentary on how this is a trend that may or may not be here to last.

I don't think that a computer program assembled last night's ABC News piece on layoffs and at-home dads, but it's certainly possible. The only element of the story that caught my eye was the "expert" quote:
'Even the most enlightened, feminist males struggle when they can no longer be the primary earner,' said Deborah Carr, professor of sociology at Rutgers University.
Now, I don't want to claim that the transition to at-home fatherhood is all chocolate and roses, but for most guys who make the decision (or have the decision thrust on them), losing the primary earner status is not a huge deal. It's like any other transition in life: scary, kind of weird, certainly an adjustment. But not a struggle.

Sheesh.

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