Some very random thoughts about the roles of fathers/husbands at home
Father's day is just 6 days away. Is it just me, or do dads tend to get the short end of the stick when it comes to celebrations, compared to mother's day? I'm not saying that it's wrong this way. Traditionally, of course, moms have always been way more involved in the lives of their children/family than fathers have. (Certainly true in my family). However, our generation may stand to be different.
For one thing, girls are smarter than boys. Yes, it's true; girls are excelling in higher ed and graduating at a higher rate than boys, to the point that some universities are starting to affirmative action-in boys just to make the #s look good, while we (the XY's) sit on the couch and eat potato chips. As these educated females win a greater share of the prestigious, higher-paying/longer-day careers, the possibility of men taking on a higher % of 'domesticated labor' should increase. There's still a huge stigma associated with being a stay-at-home dad (I don't actually know of any), but as women's liberation enters another generation, there lies impetus for democratization of home chores.
As for myself, I love watching sports, the outdoors, cars, playing football/basketball etc just as much as the next guy, but I can't lie; I do have a soft spot for kids (a recent gift from the Lord, perhaps bc I'm still one at heart ;), cooking (def hasn't gotten old yet), and on rare occasion, cleaning. Sure there's a lot more to it than this, but it's a start.
I wonder what our past generations were like. How much of the 'work-at-home burden' was assumed to be the responsibility of the wife? Was the typical guy going into marriage thinking that his job was just to bring home the paycheck and then sit with his feet up after 5pm? And what were a husband's attitudes towards that work which needed to be done at home?
I'm not even sure why I'm asking these questions. I'm about as far away from marriage as a guy could be, yet they just randomly pop into my mind from time to time. Not knowing a thing about what my future wife's work sched and domestic proclivities will be, it's hard to know what part of that will I bear. As a team game, I sure hope I "draft" an awesome teammate.
Here's a neat Kirk Franklin video that I recently found... hope you enjoy. God bless you today.
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