Are Fathers Important

This is a good question. So many babies are now being born without a father at home to greet them and love them that politicians can get into trouble by even suggesting that men have any value to a child. Many of us remember that hue and cry that arose from the Progressive Wing of American Politics when Dan Quayle criticized a popular TV show for indicating that a single mother could easily rear a new daughter.

The feminist movement in the Western Democracies have fought hard to bring the value of women out of the dark ages into equal opportunity. Women certainly have rights equal to or superior to men. Since men cannot bring new people into the world by carrying them in a womb for nine months, we need to honor and elevate the importance of females.

Unfortunately, one of the casualties of the feminist movements has been the importance of have two parents not only produce a child but rear it. Today men often feel like a sperm bank and little more. Many government policies make men in the home a liability not a positive. But the government is wrong and the worth of men in the home is actually priceless.

Several years ago I was studying the impact of parenting on the physical health of disabled children. There was not much research written at that time, or now, on the impact of a father and mother on the well being of a chronically ill child. However, I did find one study about the impact of dads on the symptoms of a child with Muscular Dystrophy. It was astounding.

If a father joined with the mother to take their MD child to the Doctor, the symptoms of the child saw more relief than if the dad did NOT join with mom on the trip.

Just imagine that data. All dad had to do was drive them to the Doctor and the child was more likely to get better. That is not much but that shows how important it is for dad to be around for the little things.

Not long ago an article in the Wall Street Journal reported that dad's and moms have very different styles of parenting. Moms tend to be calm and dads tend to be wild and wooly. Traditionally, moms have attempted to get dads to be more like them and calm down. In other words, be more feminine. Unfortunately, they have been very successful to the detriment of the kids. The "feminization" of America has been detrimental to the children. This is especially bad when we see that men are largely absent from the home and kids grow up without a father.

so, dads, be with your kids and do not let mom feminize you into being effete and calm when you play with the kids. Be rough and tough and have fun. And, ladies, you do need a man around. More importantly, the kids need a man around.