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Originally Posted by SecretMethod70
Oh I don't doubt that this is the case most of the time. The thing is, I think it's the case because we allow it to be the case. When a kid is 14 and wants to earn money, what do they do around the neighborhood? If it's a girl, she's encouraged to babysit. If it's a boy, he's encouraged to do something like mow lawns. Just one example.
I think if we, as a culture, put more effort towards teaching boys to also care for children, more fathers would not only be interested in it, but not be so far behind their wives in knowing what to do.
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That's an evolutionary process that will take decades to accomplish. Think about how and when your own parents were raised. June Cleaver come to mind? Dad worked outside the home, mom stayed home, maybe getting a part time job during school hours for 'grocery money'. Clear definitions of what each was 'supposed' to do and the idea, whether or not it was taught or simply implied, becomes set into the next generation's head, albeit with a 'I won't be like that' thought. I know it took years to change the mindset of my own spouse, who'd ask if his shirts were washed(the machinations of a washer are too complicated?) or wake me up when the babies cried(can't hold a bottle? Don't know which end to stick a diaper on?). This occured because he grew up with it. But he married someone who played football with her dad, whose father was the one to tuck us in at night, who got involved as a father with his kids. And, while my mother was more June Cleaver than Yoko Ono, she expected the cooperation that comes with being a parent. And not having a dad around growing up, my father was just more than happy to do his fair share.