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Why do we keep leaving men out of the working parent equation?

I love the sentiment of this article to ask all successful women to show who works in the background of their lives to allow them to reach such great heights, but..

Why are we constantly leaving men out of this working parent equation?

Umm. Everyone?

Aren’t men working parents as well?

Why don’t male CEOs thank their nannies, their stay-at-home wives, and all of the people in the background of their lives for allowing them to work?

zooborns-black-swan-cygnets-baby-mommy-animals-cute

Men get the free pass from ALL OF US that assumes that they work, and do not stay at home so therefore, need never be counted as part of the working parent equation when it comes to fighting for:

  • affordable childcare
  • changing tables in bathrooms (both men & women)
  • equal pay to be able to provide for your family (heaven forbid you ask for more money)
  • mobility around the city (e.g. elevators/escalators for strollers)
  • evenly split duties at home consisting of cooking, cleaning & other chores
  • flexibility in working hours to pick up & drop off children at daycare/school
  • working-at-home options for days when your child is sick

When men do any of the above, they are celebrated with rainbows and glitter (okay maybe not the glitter), but it is just accepted that women have to do all of the above, suck it up, and go to work to boot.

We are still, in our discourse in society ONLY mentioning, asking about, and prodding women who have to try and “make it work” and “do it all”, while holding down a full-time job.

Why do we only question female celebrities and icons how they make it?

Would we ever ask a male CEO the way we do female CEOs?

“So how do you manage to balance your at-home duties with your career aspirations?”

NO.

We DON’T.

What we do ask male CEOs, are more serious, business-minded questions that talk about his ability to lead a company successfully because he is not part of the working parent equation that women are grilled under:

“So where do you see yourself taking this company in the future?”

It’s as if women are the only ones who have any skin in the game when it comes to childcare.

What about the men?

zooborns-capybra-mommy-and-baby-parenting-animals-cute

We should start censoring ourselves, and the way we talk.

Language is everything, it shapes how you see the world.

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