Number one — I could argue biology all day. I personally do not believe that females are inclined towards childrearing, nor are they naturally adept at it. If that were true, I must be a freak of nature — I possess no maternal urges whatsoever, and if you tried to argue that I’m tender and nurturing because I’m a woman, everyone who’s ever had the misfortune of knowing me would quickly shut you down.

In my mind, there is absolutely no reason why there can’t be more “stay-at-home-dads”. The argument that the woman “should” be the one to take care of the child is weak at best, not to mention highly insulting to fathers who happen to take parenthood seriously. Babies attach to the primary caretaker, whoever that may be. It won’t know any different if its father is the one to take care of it. As for breastfeeding, that’s a non-issue if there ever was one. Many women choose not to and that’s their business.

Plus, if I remember my Animal Planet correctly, it’s the lionesses who do the hunting; the lions protect the boundaries of the pride, that sort of thing. I recently read an article in New Scientist that said the same thing about women during hunter-gatherer days.

This is why I dislike using words like “roles”. It attempts to reinforce gender stereotypes and that does not sit well with me.

All things considered, I reckon it boils down to social conditioning. Even today, though people may be more open to the idea of a significant female presence in the workforce, the attitude is exactly the same: women have the babies and men wear the pants. While I hate to make an example of the other commenters, I do believe they prove my point. :\ (And then there was that media shitstorm about Leading Seaman Faye Turney… did you hear about that? I wanted to throttle someone after reading about it.)

It scares me, honestly. I really feel like we’re going backwards sometimes.

So I don’t think that it will ever change because its more or less just how we are. Yeah. That comment had a good idea with zero continuity or anything. Oh well.

Besides, just because women are stay at home wives doesn’t mean they’re not equal to their husbands. Running a house by yourself is not easy, especially with little kids making the messes. As my mom once told me, the man builds the foundation of a house, but the woman provides the lights. Although that would probably make more sense in Filipino. :P

She is now a school principal, so she earns even more, and my father is retired, as I said. She still pays for more than he does, simply because she has more money. They are conservative on many aspects, but it has always been normal for them that my mother earned more. I believe my father is a little ashamed but it is not because he doesn’t want a woman to earn more money than his; it’s rather because he hates depending on someone else’s income (family pride).

I consider my mother an accomplished woman. She has had success with her family and her work.

That said, I have to agree with Jem a little. I believe women must have the right to choose to study, have a job, etc., but it is a natural thing that the woman has to take care of the baby. Breastfeeding, for example, is very beneficial for the baby, even more than feeding on a bottle. It wouldn’t be very practical to breastfeed at work…

Men are able to change diapers, and so on, but they can’t produce milk on their own.

I’m among those who believe that at least one parent should stay with the child until he or she reaches about two of age (or at the very least, one. It angers me to think of having your baby sent to the babysitter every day when he or she is only a few months old).

That’s not to say that Daddies can’t do it child-rearing, or that Mummies are useless in the workplace, but surely the fact that we take to these roles so naturally means something?

As for what Chans said, there are practical reasons for why mothers usually get more time with the children… mainly based on the fact that most fathers are the breadwinners (of course, in the situations where that’s not the case, the ruling is usually reversed). I don’t think for the sake of equality, kids should have equal time with parents if one parent are at work for the majority of the day anyway and don’t have time to care and supervise for the child.

As you can see there is a long way to go in both ways.

I don’t think I could sit at home all day doing nothing, I need to have something to do.

However I think if both parties are feeling fine under the circumstances they’re in there’s nothing for us to worry about. They obviously like it that way.

We still have a long way to go when it comes to equal salary etc in high places within the working industry but Rome wasn’t build in a day. As long as there are still people standing up for equal rights in all fields…

Offtopic: I hate your add the numbers box why did you do that?

Reply: Spam filter. :S I’m not closing comments on some of my older posts (reviews, articles, etc.), so I need something to catch the spam.