FATHER’S Day is one of the best days of the year I reckon, either better than my birthday or Christmas Day.
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Why? Well it seems to be the one day of the year when dads receive the recognition they deserve.
The Princess Legend and The D-Mac will still give me a hard time but it will lack the hard edge I usually cop.
And although I’m not her dad – even if I look old enough to be – The Lioness will forgive me my faults, for the day only mind you, and will make every effort to make my day a memorable one.
That will include letting me loose from my usual food regime and giving me a big breakfast in bed, with a hug to match (we’re past all that other silly nonsense that couples younger than us will engage in).
So recent claims that Father’s Day is not seen as important as Mother’s Day make me sad. Again, why? Well apparently that is because mums are more nurturing, hold the family together and play a greater role in their children’s lives.
Wrong – although that may have been true 30 years or so ago.
Today’s dad is far more involved with raising the kids and I know my two rug rats do not hesitate to show me real affection in public, with The D-Mac not concerned in the least at the ribbing some of his peers might give him.
But there is little doubt that dads, and men in particular, are undervalued in modern, western society.
In an article in Thursday’s The Border Mail Workplace Gender Equality Agency acting director Louise McSorley argued that if we fight for greater reward and recognition for women in the workplace we should also be doing the same and supporting men as carers and all-round human beings and that we’d all be better off for it.
Well I reckon I’m already an all-round human being but the article also contained some interesting facts.
Apparently men have 10 times the rate of imprisonment as women, significantly higher death rates from cancer and heart disease, higher rates of obesity and alcohol consumption (don’t agree with the last two) and triple the suicide rate.
She goes on to say that men work more, with higher labour participation rates, longer hours and significantly higher full-time work rates. And here’s the killer. McSorley said that men may desire more balance in their lives but their requests for flexible work are knocked back at higher rates than women.
Remember in the 1970s when women reckoned it was their right to go to work and “find themselves” and the men should stay home and look after the kids because they were capable of being just as nurturing. You don’t seem to hear that call as much these days since the introduction of paid “parental” leave and the activism for cheaper day care subsidies.
And why is the federal government so keen to get mums out of the home and working. What jobs are they to go to?
We hear all the time that women are underpaid in comparison to men and there is a need to re-introduce affirmative action in this regard.
But I have never been paid more than a woman for doing the same job and certainly have been the victim of affirmative action where a job was given to a woman over me although I was more deserving.
So this Father’s Day all most of us want is to be recognised for having a go at being good parents and that it is just as hard for dads as it is for mums – and no socks and jocks.