December 19, 2006, - 12:54 pm

Missing Testicles?: Fathers Buying the Hype That They’re Not Necessary?

By Debbie Schlussel
Is it a case of male Stockholm Syndrome? Are fathers finally believing the hype that they are not necessary in children’s lives? The way the press, like USA Today, have been covering it, it’s a story Rosie O’Donnell and Kelly and “Baby Momma” Fantasia Barrino would love.
But, wait–not so fast.
USA Today (print edition) and other media sources reported that a survey by the National Fatherhood Initiative, “Pop’s Culture: A National Survey of Dads’ Attitudes on Fathering,” a majority of fathers think they are replaceable. Specifically (and sadly):

fatherandson.jpg

* 53% of fathers surveyed agreed that, absent an involved father,

a mother can be just as effective in preparing a child to be a well-adjusted and productive adult.

* 57% of fathers surveyed agreed that

a male role model, such as a teacher or family friend, can be an adequate substitute.

The survey was conducted among 701 men 18 or older with at least one biological or adopted child.
USA Today’s print edition even featured the headline “Fathers Say Their Roles Can Be Filled.”
That’s interesting. But looking at the 30-page study, itself, tells a different story than the Mainstream Media claims. But a breakdown of responses by age and education shows that the younger, Kevin Federline-style idiots without a high school diploma (or with just a HS diploma) comprised the bulk of the absurd responses to every question:

* 91% of the respondents agreed that there is a father-absence crisis in the country, but strong agreement varied considerably among the different kinds of respondents, being relatively low among the very young, the less religious, and those in high-income households.
* 81% of the surveyed fathers agreed that men generally perform better as fathers if they are married to the mothers of their children. Fifty-seven percent “strongly agreed” and only eight percent “strongly disagreed.” The respondents less inclined to support the importance of marriage to good fathering include those low in religiosity, the youngest respondents, and those not married to the mothers of their child or children. The relatively low support for marriage among the youngest respondents is consistent with results from other surveys that suggest a decline in pro-marriage attitudes.

The good news: America’s fathers don’t buy Rosie O’Donnell’s arguments. The bad news: The younger and less educated they are (the growing segment of America’s fathers), the more they buy into it.
Are fathers replaceable? No way. And it figures that the Justin Timberlake style idiots of the world believe otherwise.




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14 Responses

Of COURSE fathers are replacable!!!
Can’t wait to knock YOU up my Debbiekins [HURRY…the ol’ bio-clock is ticking] then leave you to raise OUR little mulatto bastard chile to grow up with rocket scientists like Terrell Owens and the homies on the Knicks and Nuggets as role models and father figures…
Hey, all you’ll need is a Dr. Spock book to raze a REAL winner…wink/wtf/wink

EminemsRevenge on December 19, 2006 at 1:35 pm

Eminem, your posts are largely incoherent and sometimes frighting. WTF did you just say?

ConservativesLovePuns(descent) on December 19, 2006 at 2:04 pm

Debbie: your are correct. That is why Pursuit of Happyness is such a big hit. The message resonates.

sonomaca on December 19, 2006 at 2:13 pm

BTW: off-topic, but Stuck Mojo’s anti-jihad video is undergoing major manipulation at YouTube, where views and ratings are mysteriously disappearing and it’s being left of “top” lists despite heavy numbers. Fortunately, FOX is on the case:
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=64033

sonomaca on December 19, 2006 at 2:16 pm

Might have something do with the fact that their music is terrible.

ConservativesLovePuns(descent) on December 19, 2006 at 2:37 pm

Debbie, you are freaking me out!!
I’m checking on my testicles every 5 minutes to make sure they’re still there.
Damn girl! That’s not fair!

Independent Conservative on December 19, 2006 at 3:18 pm

A kid needs a father to kick their ass when they need it! I’m glad my dad was there to do that when I needed it. I am productive, well-adjusted, and I don’t believe for a minute that a father can be replaced by a “significant other”, a role model, or some other fill-in father figure. They must have surveyed a bunch of pansies.

Yiddish Steel on December 19, 2006 at 5:01 pm

I wouldn’t panic too much yet. Young people are always the ones with the dumbest opinions, they’re the ones right out of college, they’re the ones least likely to have seen the long-term effects of their and other people’s child-rearing efforts, etc. Eventually they’ll grow up, change their opinions, and a whole new generation of idiots will come to replace them.
Except when it comes to EminemsRevenge. He’ll be razing both villages and children ’til the day he dies (we can only hope).

Dan on December 19, 2006 at 5:39 pm

Hey, I’m 24 years old….and I’m a uncle of three boys. Whenever they come over here, they gotta play by my rules. My sister seems to know that now, and they don’t come over as much anymore…
Did my father kick my ass when I deserved it? Yes. He taught me how to behaive and learn right from wrong.
Dan, this is mostly directed at you…since you say all young people are the ones with the dumbest opinions.
Eminem is a classic example of those among my generation that gives me a bad image in society.

Squirrel3D on December 19, 2006 at 5:49 pm

Take a visit to any men’s prison you want to check out–and you will find the most common trait among the prisoners is not:
*a poor houselhold for one’s upbringing
*or a mean or absent mother—
Rather it is –the lack of an interested and involved father during the prisoner’s childhood.
The neglect of this reality is the main reason our society is largely going to hell. Much to say on this—but I agree with you DS–(and so far mine are still intact).

BB on December 19, 2006 at 5:53 pm

I rather suspect that 60% of “fathers” could easily be replaced by a Chia Pet so the survey is directionally correct. Unfortunately, the survey omitted the critical question of “Does fatherhood constitute something more than contributing sperm?” – to which the above 60% would have replied “No”.

Curly Smith on December 19, 2006 at 7:49 pm

In response to Squirrel3D:
I completely agree with you. I happen to be about your age (25), and I don’t like it any more than I’m assuming you do when people express surprise at how “mature” I act, as if I should be some jerk wasting my life, going to bars every night, getting drunk, whatever (Thankfully, I don’t get this as often anymore since I turned 25. Something about reaching that age seems to make people consider you a full adult).
In my original post I never said “all young people” have the dumbest opinions. I just wrote “Young people,” and omitted “in general,” because I’m tired of having to qualify all my statements like that. I’m of the opinion that decent people having an intelligent conversation should recognize a generalization when they see one.
My use of “always” was meant to indicate that regardless of the time and place, the general societal group known as “young people” will have the dumbest opinions. I can see how this is ambiguous and how it would be easy to interpret what I was writing to mean what you interpreted it as, and for that I apologize.
But to the point itself, I don’t think it’s wrong to say that *in general* young people lack a lot of the life experience upon which people come to base their opinions on later in life. Which is to say – people who have raised children from infancy to adulthood (or some other stage past infancy) are far more likely to realize the importance of a father than a young guy whose main duties in raising a child don’t yet include much beyond mechanical stuff like changing diapers and waking up in the middle of the night.

Dan on December 19, 2006 at 11:16 pm

Of course fathers can be replaced. This is basic biology. There are two kinds of men in the world: retarded monkeys who think “The Man Show” is funny, and real human beings.
It is the job of mothers to select the best combination of nature and nurture for her offspring. The genetic material is provided by a desirable physical specimen, while the childhood guidance is provided by a desirable psychological specimen. Given the available choices, it’s in the child’s best interest for the woman to have sex with the retarded monkey, then get a real human being to help raise the kids.
Fighting biology doesn’t make it go away. It just creates a culture of ignorance.

Caliban Darklock on December 20, 2006 at 11:30 am

Debbie, while I think your point is well-taken when it comes to fathers who totally ignore their kids purposely and that a father’s role is better than that of some other “male role model”, what you fail to address is that in addition to glorifying single moms, society has made it harder than ever to be a decent father. And while the “glorifying single moms” bit is stupidity that the far left has done, my point below is more the result of the very conservatives that would otherwise push your point above.
In the last 10-20 years, more and more people feel pushed to work extreme work weeks (55-60 hours or more) just to get by financially or because it is “expected” by your employer to keep your job secure. And this is expected much more of men than of women (when I worked for a college we did a study on this and this was 15 years ago, it’s probably more so now! Employers basically figure that even today it is women who are expected to stay home or limit her job while the man “lives to work”).
I am not advocating that a majority of dads should go part-time and/or “stay at home”, nor am I against stay-at-home if they can afford. But if you’re going to complain about fathers not being involved enough, you largely have this to blame. 50 years ago very few people other than business owners, very top executives (or top partners at law firms) and some non-unionized blue collar workers worked more than 40-45 hours/week, giving enough time to be a pretty good dad.

hairymon on December 20, 2006 at 12:30 pm

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