Men's Group

Some Moms are a mess. Some Dads are. I think in particular the move in society to become broader and more accepting of different family arrangements- like LGBT parents- has been a good thing in breaking loose some of these, as you put it, patriarchal social norms* regarding expectations and who does what.

[font size=1]*yes, as I've noted before, Western Civilization (in fact, much of global civilization, sadly) has had a Patriarchal orientation, particularly driven by religion, and that is an obvious historical fact although one which fortunately we are moving beyond. Acceptance of this- to my mind- quite obvious fact is not the same thing as believing in "The Patriarchy" as a spooky penis conspiracy that plots to create platoons of transgender infiltrators to attack the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival.[/font]

I do think that the thread in question potentially contains some extenuating circumstances just due to the breastfeeding a 4 mo. old angle, but none of that should be construed as diminishing the importance of fathers or any parent. Parents are parents and the freedom to define roles or redefine them is a good thing. As I alluded to, part of my wariness around "kids need dads" messaging isn't that I don't agree that Fatherhood should be taken more seriously and Dads should be free to and, yes, equally expected to be a part of their kids lives, but I don't believe that 2 moms are any less of a parenting unit than any other arrangement. So that's worth reiterating. Etc.