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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

??!! WE HAVE A WORD FOR THAT

Posted by Jen Graves on Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 12:42 PM

I do not want to hear a man called Mr. Mom one more time ever. I do not want to hear this because we have a word for that. THE WORD IS DAD.

Comments (37) RSS

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But "Mrs. Dad" is still cool, right?

Posted by seandr on October 12, 2011 at 12:44 PM

Who actually says that?

Posted by wingedkat on October 12, 2011 at 12:44 PM

The cat's in the cradle with the silver spoon, little boy blue, and the man in the moon...

Posted by evilvolus on October 12, 2011 at 12:47 PM

Teri Garr didn't actually say it.

Posted by derek_erdman

on October 12, 2011 at 12:48 PM

I so agree.
Another one that drives me nuts is when my wife goes out and I stay home with the kids and people say, "Oh, you're babysitting tonight?"
I'm not babysitting. They're my damn kids.

Posted by Indy on October 12, 2011 at 12:54 PM

Rolling Stone current issue, descrip of Tom Morello.

Posted by Jen Graves on October 12, 2011 at 12:54 PM

That prevert does WOMEN'S WORK. LET'S ATTEMPT TO SHAME HIM FOR BEING RESPONSIBLE AND POSSESSING USEFUL DOMESTIC SKILLS.

... asshats.

Posted by tired and true on October 12, 2011 at 12:55 PM

YES! Thank you, Jen. And yes, I still get called that, and still get unsolicited "advice" from old ladies at the store even though I've been successfully taking care of my kids for the past ten years. Ugh.

Posted by Paul Merrill

on October 12, 2011 at 12:59 PM

WORD. Thanks, Jen.

Posted by Garfield on October 12, 2011 at 1:01 PM

A-fucking-men

Posted by Rotten666 on October 12, 2011 at 1:07 PM

Jen - Thank you!

@5 - Agreed. When I take my kids some place, I hear, "Oh. Giving mom the day off?" or "Did mommy pick out those cute outfits?"

No. Daddy or Papa did because there is no mother. Contrary to popular opinion OVUM (ovary, vagina, uterus, or menopause) is not required for good parenting.

Posted by divalentdaddy

on October 12, 2011 at 1:12 PM

Ok, fine, but that means people are going to start confusing this movie:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097142/
with this movie:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085970/

Are you sure you want that?

Posted by longball on October 12, 2011 at 1:13 PM

Yes, yes, yes, a THOUSAND TIMES yes. I just had this conversation last week. Believe it or not, there ARE some people who still say it. GAH!!

Posted by mr. herriman on October 12, 2011 at 1:21 PM

Thank you Jen.

Posted by Bean on October 12, 2011 at 1:22 PM

When my husband takes the kids out without me, people will ask him if he's giving me a break. As if a dad wouldn't want to spend time with his kids, but only to please the wife?

Posted by Allyn on October 12, 2011 at 1:22 PM

My husband gets encomiums every time he signs a thank-you note with his own name and writes, "Thanks," on it, even though I'm the one who bought it, addressed it, wrote out a paragraph or so of gratitude, and left it on our desk for him to affix his amazing three-letter name to. But he's the fucking hero.

And don't get me started on how much praise he gets for changing diapers. You'd think he walks on water.

Posted by TVDinner

on October 12, 2011 at 1:24 PM

I wonder when it will become fashionable again to be sexist/racist etc.? or will it just continue in a linear progression? All the youngsters seem to be embracing the whole idea of the left and right sucking equally. [Maybe they're just emulating artists who don't want to limit their fan base]

Posted by porchedge on October 12, 2011 at 1:41 PM

This is great- Now can we stop calling people who own pets parents?

Posted by Chris Jury

on October 12, 2011 at 1:41 PM

Dear Person-I-Just-Fucking-Met,

Thanks anyway but I don't need your sympathetic reassurance that being a househusband is an okay thing to do with my life.

Most Sincerely,
Person-You-Just-Fucking-Met

Posted by Mr. J on October 12, 2011 at 1:45 PM

Tom Morello? God, Rolling Stone is sad. They need to listen to Jon Lajoie's "Stay at Home Dad" a few times, paying particular attention to the refrain:

http://tinyurl.com/5ecggn

Posted by Irena on October 12, 2011 at 1:51 PM

Thank you, Jen.

Posted by Matt from Denver on October 12, 2011 at 1:53 PM

@18 yes please.

Posted by wingedkat on October 12, 2011 at 1:54 PM

(wtf, the repeated part at the end, I mean)

Posted by Irena on October 12, 2011 at 1:57 PM

The problem with feminist-dominated equality is that it isn't. It stopped at the part of "women can do what men do" and didn't follow through with "men can do what women do." As a result, instead of a mixture of man-career and woman-career households, we ended up with everyone having man-and-woman-career households. (And this imbalance jacked up households' standard of living like whoa, btw.) Because even to most women, a man who doesn't have a proper career is an unattractive broke-ass loser, while a woman without a proper career is within her rights at best, oppressed by her man at worst.

Proper gender equality would mean men can be house-husbands, wear skirts, makeup, jewelry, purses, etc. if they want, get help carrying groceries, care for children, get bar and nightclub discounts on Tuesdays, etc., etc -- and not just be free to do so, but be *socially accepted* -- or more to the point, still be *considered a man*. I'm all for it. But it didn't happen. It didn't even bother to try to get to that side of the equation.

A woman who wears pants and holds down a career and likes hunting and so forth is still considered "a woman", but a man who wears skirts or makeup or carries a purse or doesn't enjoy football or boxing, etc., etc. is *not* still considered "a man". Not even by most of those supposedly for equality.

(tl;dr: "me2.")

Posted by K on October 12, 2011 at 2:21 PM

Tell it!

Posted by Linda on October 12, 2011 at 2:26 PM

Can we get rid of "baby daddy" while we're at it?

Posted by Fnarf

on October 12, 2011 at 2:28 PM

I would also like to eliminate the use of "daddy daycare" for "parenting while male".

Posted by Jude Fawley on October 12, 2011 at 2:31 PM

or "mannies", nannies don't have to be female..

Posted by kaitlin on October 12, 2011 at 2:37 PM

Still, you have to admit that it's cute when a manly man looks after the kids, folds laundry, packs the kids' lunches, sweeps, writes thank you cards, etc.

Posted by seandr on October 12, 2011 at 2:59 PM

@26-28 - Yes!

I'd also like to nominate "murse", which is either a male nurse or a man-purse, neither of which is a needed term.

Posted by MacCrocodile on October 12, 2011 at 3:03 PM

@ seandr,

No sexy and edible. Compassion, responsibility, integrity, and attention to details are all debilitating traits. Especially if he's smiling. Le sigh.

Posted by kim in portland

on October 12, 2011 at 3:24 PM

"mits" – man-tits.

Posted by paulus on October 12, 2011 at 4:52 PM

I agree, but I still think Mr. Mom is a great movie.

Posted by Soupytwist

on October 12, 2011 at 5:08 PM

@24, that wasn't exactly a failure of contemporary feminists so much as a reflection of how fucked up Patriarchy really is. When it comes down to it, the whole system is about gender essentialism to enforce male power. A dude who watches kids or wears a skirt is fucking it up for men because he's showing that masculinity is a farce. A woman who wears pants, whatever, is re enforcing the idea of guy=great, whereas a man being feminine is shattering the boundary altogether. The (predominantly female) feminists couldn't do that for them, because it requires a recognition and subsequent internal dismantling of unfair "masculine" privilege.
I get the feeling I'm not arguing against you, actually, just for you.

Posted by zobot

on October 12, 2011 at 5:22 PM

220, 221, whatever it takes.

Posted by chucklingmonkey on October 12, 2011 at 5:39 PM

Look, if I want to identify as Mr Mom what right do you have to tell me I have to be called Dad you insensitive fucker? Don't hate on me because I don't fit your definitions of cis-mom or cis-dad.

Posted by beef rallard on October 12, 2011 at 6:04 PM