Everything Tagged with 'fatherhood'
Supreme Court’s Ruling Sexist Against Fathers
The Supreme Court recent ruled, in a vote of 4-4, to uphold a law which makes it difficult for fathers to extend citizenship in immigration cases to their out-of-wedlock children.
The New York Times’s editorial board:
Children born outside the country to an unmarried American parent are considered American citizens at birth if the parent lived in the United States before the child was born. For a mother, the required period of residence is one year. For a father, it is 10 years, five of them after he turns 14. Fathers must also prove parenthood and pledge to support the child.
In a decision based on an outmoded stereotype that fathers are less committed parents, the Supreme Court let this obvious discrimination stand last week when it affirmed a ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Flores-Villar v. the United States.
Martha Davis, in an op-ed for The Boston Globe:
Surprisingly, this issue of sex discrimination in citizenship has deeply divided the Supreme Court for more than a decade. Yet there shouldn’t be a controversy here: the law at issue in the Flores-Villar case is one of the few sex-specific laws still remaining in the federal statute books. It clearly discriminates against men who want to extend US citizenship to their out-of-wedlock children. The residency requirements upheld in the Flores-Villar case have nothing to do with the aspects of childbirth in which mothers and fathers might have distinct circumstances thanks to basic biology. Moreover, this distinction violates both international human rights law and well-established domestic constitutional principles of sex equality.
It’s a shame that our judicial system is still mired in such outdated, sexist and stereotypical thinking about fathers. This decision basically sends the message that fathers play no important role in children’s lives, and are somehow the “lesser” parent – despite the reality to the contrary. The Supreme Court’s ruling in Flores-Villar v. the United States isn’t just a setback for immigration advocates; it’s a setback for families and children across the nation.
Parental Leave and Masculinity
Sweden’s progressive parental leave laws – extended in equal and generous parts to both mothers and fathers – have been slowly redefining the country’s own cultural concepts of masculinity since their inception almost a decade and a half ago.
The New York Times takes a fascinating look:
Companies have come to expect employees to take leave irrespective of gender, and not to penalize fathers at promotion time. Women’s paychecks are benefiting and the shift in fathers’ roles is perceived as playing a part in lower divorce rates and increasing joint custody of children.
In perhaps the most striking example of social engineering, a new definition of masculinity is emerging.
“Many men no longer want to be identified just by their jobs,” said Bengt Westerberg, who long opposed quotas but as deputy prime minister phased in a first month of paternity leave in 1995. “Many women now expect their husbands to take at least some time off with the children.”
Birgitta Ohlsson, European affairs minister, put it this way: “Machos with dinosaur values don’t make the top-10 lists of attractive men in women’s magazines anymore.”
As Jason Kottke comments, Sweden’s governmental policies show how their society has “Actual family values.”
Tangentially, this gives me an opportunity to mention a great new documentary about society’s changing concepts of masculinity and fatherhood: it’s called The Evolution of Dad, from director Dana Glazer. It’s a truly touching and insightful film; I found it a fond reminder of my own dad and growing up, as well as a gentle challenge for us all to reconsider our notions of masculinity and fatherhood. The film is now available for purchase on DVD, and, I do have to say, it’s tagline is completely true: “You’ll never look at your father the same way again.”