Breaking the stigma: Daddies handling "mommy business"

You are having lunch at a restaurant when you overhear this: A father being criticized for choosing to stay at home as the primary caregiver of his daughter. What would you do?

What would you do is a TV show hosted by John Quinones. WWYD put people into a situation that seems to happen everyday and it observes how people would react to the situation. They tackle situations about racism, violence, hate crimes and other cultural issues. With the help of hidden cameras, they are capturing how people will react and make a split second tough decision when the situation goes awry.

I have been thinking about what to write earlier and when I look at my checklist, I see this thing about what would you do and so I go directly to YouTube to watch a video about it.

Above is the situation that was given on a video. The setting is in the restaurant, there's a Dad and a cute daughter talking in there and there are two moms who will overhear the conversation between the father and the daughter. The moms taught it's so cute for a dad to take care of his daughter but when they found out that the dad doesn't have a job, the criticizing starts.

The two moms isn't holding back with their words when finally, there's a woman who reacted on the situation.

"I think it's wonderful", says the woman. She also added that she would love her father to stay at home with her.

The woman bravely talk about what she thinks. She also pointed out that there's nothing wrong by being a full time dad. We can be whatever and whoever we want to be. We're already at the 21st century.

And when the situation slightly heated, that's John's cue to finally show up and reveal that it's part of the show.

They have repeated the situation and on the second time, there's an old man as their audience. He listens to the conversation, on how the mothers criticized the dad though he didn't confront the two moms.

But surprisingly, when the two moms already left, he started talking with the dad. He reveals that he's a psychiatrist and I just love what he told the dad.

"Our manhood is not defined by what we do (period)."

"Our manhood is defined by who we are within and how we express that to others."

He also stated that the moms can't get it and they are in a cultural trap.

For the next part of the show, they switched the moms with two dads who are working outside their home.

The situation remains the same, only that, it's also guys who are criticizing the dad this time. The first one to react is an old woman who said:

"It's an honorable job... taking care of the kids."

The dads went on by saying that it's not even a real job but the woman clearly stated her point and when the dads already left, she even give the full time dad some moral support saying that it's okay to be stay at home dad.

And for the last one, there is a group of woman who actually reacted to the situation. Some of their words are:

"It's the best job in the world."

"It's a big job."

And what I love the most is that when one of the women said this:

"If you are working and then you leave your job, you will be forgotten in a minute. Take care of your kid, and she'll remember it forever." (This is not the exact words but this is the thought)

If you encountered and witnessed the same situation, what would you do?

As a realization, truly we shouldn't limit ourselves with the idea that moms should be the one taking care of their child and dads should be the one providing for their family.

Taking care of a child, taking care of their own child is a wonderful and honorable job that a father can also do. It doesn't make them less of a man, actually, they are the man for doing that.

To share some personal experience, I have witnessed some dads who's the one taking care of their children. We have this business and we often have father and daughter customers. And it's just so cute how the father accompanies his children from buying their clothes, cosmetics and even underwear. Not all can do that and I really admire those daddies who can handle mommy business so well.

Let's break the stigma. Daddies can handle mommy business too, it is something that we should be proud of and there's nothing wrong with it.

If you want to watch the video yourself, here is it:

Salute to all dads who chose to take care of their children.

Hey there folks! Feel free to share your thoughts on the comment section below or maybe you want to share your answer about what would you do if you happen to encounter the same situation.

Thank you so much for reading this far, and as always, take care! :)

#111 - Published: 07-30-2021