Congrats Jessica in guessing the Anagram!, it was just WORD FILLED WEDNESDAY! I know I thought I was being tricky! Just shoot an email my way blokthoughts@gmail.com and tell me where to send your well deserved prize! Wow, you are good! I'm going to have to be more difficult next time!
And thanks everyone who voted on my pole poll, it made me feel better that I wasn't the only person that felt that way about yellow teeth! 85% of you agreed with me! Ha!
I was reading in my newly found google reader and came upon this article: "Advertisers: Men are Not Idiots" through one of the feeds I subscribe to called, "A Soft Answer". It's a good read. I love the fact that men are actually noticing, and have been for some time, that they are frequently shown as lazy, no good, dumb dads, because even though it might be the case for some fathers out there, it is definitely not the case for a lot of Dads that I know. (Yes, Yes, I know women have had their fair share of negative propaganda...but this article is about Dads, so let us step outside the box, which I rarely do...I like being inside the box, it agrees with me... but let's stop that and feel for them for the next minute while we discuss...then back inside the box as fast as we can!)
I studied this issue in a class at college. Even back then advertisers, TV shows, and movies, depicted fathers as something we can do without...that they weren't necessary to raise a child. I don't really agree with that...I do agree and acknowledge that there are husbands and fathers who are not good, who are how they are depicted in the commercialized world, but I don't think they are the majority.
I feel the Dad/Father is incredibly important to keeping a family together, and in my case an integral part of my family. I nurture and love my children which is extremely important to a well rounded child, but my husband has fun and is really active with them daily...when I am too tired after work and lay down curl up and try to fall asleep, the first thing MountainSport Man wants to do when he gets home from work is take the kids outside to play or go on a bike ride (this can be totally annoying when he insist I come with them, but I still look up to him for his energy).
I feel that as a partnership with my husband we both have a big responsibility in raising our kids and each of us has a definite role to play. No longer do we have the stereo types of mom's staying at home and dad's going to work barely involved with their kids, not because they didn't want to, but because it was a time issue and was more taboo.
My own Dad spent a lot of time outside the home working and providing for our family, but even though he didn't have a lot of time to spend with us, it was the quality of time spent that really mattered, my Dad and I had some great talks that helped me through my adolescent years while driving to the local grocery store together. I feel I know my Dad as well as I know my Mom, we have a great relationship!
Now we have Dad's staying at home because the Mom is able to earn more or works better with the schedule...these guys are a great example of how that can work!!!
Directly from the "Soft Answer" Post article it states:
- While the advertising industry’s negative depiction of fathers certainly isn’t the cause of fatherlessness, it is part of the problem. In a TV culture like ours, the fact that the only fathers one can see on TV are buffoonish (at best) does influence young people’s perceptions of fathers."
Directly from the "Advertisers: Men are not Idiots" it states:
- "For young men, it makes it less likely they’ll aspire to be fathers, see their own value as fathers or, as Mr. Pitts explains, want to do the “hard but crucial work of being Dad.” For young women, it means they’ll be more likely to be misled into thinking that their children’s fathers aren’t important, that divorce or separation from them is no big deal, or that they should, as is the increasing trend, simply dispense with dad altogether and have children on their own."
So sign me up for the picket line, where I can hold my sign that says, "Down with Negative Dad Propoganda". When they offend Dad's in general, in my mind, they are offending my man and I just can't have that...(I'm the only one that is allowed that pleasure! ha!)
"By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families."-The Family: A Proclamation to the World
