It’s the 21st century. We have made remarkable advancements not only in tech but also socially. These days, it’s not uncommon to find women who earn more than men and the number of men who choose to be stay-at-home dads is on the rise.
Yet, in spite of this, dad stereotypes and misconceptions about fatherhood persist. It beats me why we continue spreading or believing them as some are downright sexist and denote backward thinking. They need to die out. Starting with these:
Misconception #1: Dads are messy.
I find this stereotype insulting. It implies that women have inherent superpowers when it comes to housework and neatness while men are hapless creatures who are totally lost when dealing with things like laundry and cleaning up after themselves. Why this persists is beyond me. Granted, some men do need pointers on how to be neat and organized but so do some women. As it turns out, I happen to have the neatness gene. While I’m not a neat freak, I prefer living in clean surroundings. Messiness is more of a personality issue so let’s stop turning it into a gender one.
Misconception #2: Dads can’t cook.
There’s a misconception that dads don’t know their way around the kitchen. Some insist on believing this even though a good number of the world’s top chefs are men. Worst of all, this stereotype devalues the efforts men put into caring for their families and also strengthens the sexist idea that women who can’t cook are no good.
Personally, I like spending time in the kitchen whipping up a nutritious meal for my family. Not to brag but I love baking and I’ve gotten pretty good at it too. In my family, I’m known for making the tastiest homemade bread and cookies. And I’m a dad!
Misconception #3: Dads are all or nothing with discipline.
This line of thinking paints fathers either as absolute disciplinarians who shoulder all the responsibility of disciplining their kids or as passive participants who prefer to clown around with the kids and leave the heavy lifting to mom. I personally feel that this is one of those things that parents should discuss and decide among themselves. The disciplinarian role has more to do with a parent’s character than their gender so they need to get on the same page if they’re to make any headway with their kids.
Misconception #4: Dads don’t have much time to spend with kids.
Maybe this was true in the past when men were the primary breadwinners and women were left home to tend to housework and the kids. Things have changed though and these days, men like me deliberately choose to work fewer hours so we can spend more time with our kids. I always look forward to the personal one-on-one bonding time I have with my children every week and I know many men who are heavily involved in their kids’ lives.
While some of these stereotypes might hold true for some dads, they certainly don’t apply to all of us.
Instead of hanging on to outdated misconceptions, we should focus more on giving fathers all the encouragement and support they need to play their part in raising happy families.
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