Obama Disappoints on Father's Day

[hoo]

Two years in a row looks like a trend, here's President Obama's father's day message for 2009 :

That is why we need fathers to step up, to realize that their job does not end at conception; that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child but the courage to raise one

Comments

[bramblekite]

Well, he's definitely projecting his own issues onto the national screen, so to speak

[hoo]

Society makes it easier for dads to just walk away, and nobody really says they're a bad person for leaving the products of their loins out to dry, whereas women who have little to no parental feeling are practically sub-human in the eyes of society. Dad's a selfish jerk for leaving, but a Mom who left would be a veritable monster.

... and for Dad to get full custody, Mom really has to be a verifiable monster.

You can say it 'society makes it easier for dads to just walk away' or you can say it 'society makes it easier for moms to make dads go away'. It comes down to the same thing. To be a father requires two things, the willingness to do so and the choice of the mother to allow it. We back up Mom's choice with the force of law. Obama focuses entirely on the father's choice, and doesn't comment on the mother's.

Of course in much the way Obama is projecting his parents split into his speeches, I'm projecting my parents split in my response.

[bramblekite]

It's very chicken/eggy and not anything I think can or should be legislated

[whuffle]

Agreed; he's projecting a lot of his own issues onto the subject. And yes, a woman who abandons her kids is seen as a monster whereas a man who does so is simply a slacker. There's a double standard at work that I don't like one bit. Neither one should be considered acceptable. Money shouldn't be the only thing required of a separated parent. You MADE the child. You chose to bring that person into the world. That child is now your responsibility whether you like it or not and whether or not you choose to stay with your co-parent. Maybe if more people were held accountable for their procreative choices there would be fewer kids born into uncaring or abusive homes. On the other hand, for that to happen it has to first become acceptable to choose to have sex for enjoyment WITHOUT procreating.