It's time for another Fathers Day. As a father and grandfather, I appreciate the recognition and the opportunity to spend quality time with my family. But cultural changes over the years makes this holiday even more signifigant.
Look around. Check out the movies, TV shows, commercials, social attitudes. Over the years, men in general, and fathers in particular, have been reduced to second class citizens and the butt of jokes that would be considered degrading and politically incorrect were they directed at women and mothers. Men are portrayed as brainless, beer swigging, video game playing, Doritos chomping, overgrown children. Fathers are depicted as incompetent idiots incapable of raising their own children.
Example: A current commercial shops a husband and wife skyping. The woman is in a hotel room, dressed in business casual, obviously on a business trip. Dad is home with their 2 kids becasue we see them on the video screen assuring Mom that everything is fine. When the call is over, we see the kitchen in full view. It looks like a food bomb exploded, food splattered all over the ceiling, walls, floor and countertop. The message? Mom is an astute business woman. Dad is a total boob incapable of caring for his 2 kids. Could you imagine the uproar if they showed Mom as a blond airhead too ditzy to care for her children?
This type of depiction goes back decades, from sitcoms like The Life of Riley, The Jim Belushi Show, Married With Children, Two And a Half Men, etc.. The fathers are dimwitted, oafish goofballs barely able to nurture their own kids.
This degrading of men shows up in other areas of our society. For instance, 80% of births in the African American communty are out of wedlock, which translates into the majority of black children growing up without a father figure in the house. Let the crime statistics reflect the wisdom of this situation. There have been numerous actresses who have had babies fathered by undisclosed men, and who proceed to raise these kids without the aid of a father. Here, men have been reduced to mere sperm donors who are unnecessary and irrelevant in terms of raising a child. But I ask you this: Is a child better off with one loving, nurturing parent, or two loving, nurturing parents?
I, for one, am fed up with the stereotypical portrayal of men as overgrown children who do nothing but sit on their fat asses, drink beer, stuff their face with junk food, watch TV 18 hours a day (and sleep the other 6), fart, scratch and otherwise behave like they're afflicted with arrested development. And I am definetely disgusted with the portrayal of men as incompetent, neglectful and clueless fathers.Sure there are men who are morons and bad dads, but the overwhelming majority of us bust our ass to support our families, love our children, and do everything in our power to nurture and protect them; not to mention the men who chase the criminals, fight the fires, spill their blood in foreign wars, as well as those who lead quieter lives and provide a world of love and security for their families.
Yes, fathers deserve recognition. But most of all, fathers need respect.
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