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KERA Commentary: Stay At Home Dads

From: KERA
Length: 03:04

Commentary about how some people have yet to adjust the idea of a man as a stay-at-home dad Read the full description.

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Playing: KERA Commentary: Stay At Home Dads
From: KERA

Default-piece-image-2 Writer and musician Matthew Broyles writes about his experiences with ongoing stereotypes some people continue to have about men, parenting and the idea of "house husbands" or "stay at home dads". Broyles describes the odd looks and annoying comments from friends and strangers alike and what he's learned in the process.

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Piece Description

Writer and musician Matthew Broyles writes about his experiences with ongoing stereotypes some people continue to have about men, parenting and the idea of "house husbands" or "stay at home dads". Broyles describes the odd looks and annoying comments from friends and strangers alike and what he's learned in the process.

Broadcast History

"Stay At Home Dads" aired July 17, 2007 during "Morning Edition" on KERA 90.1 FM.

Transcript

Hardly a week goes by that I don?t hear or read a story about how stay-at-home-dads are running rampant all over post-Reagan America, challenging gender stereotypes and redefining the meaning of what it is to be a man.

Not in Texas, they?re not.

At even the most liberal-minded playgroups I attend with my one-year-old son, the arrival of the only male adult is cause for raised eyebrows and dubious and doubtful glances. Even worse, though, is when I get a pat on the back and a ?good for you!? as though I were an elementary school child who?s just done something particularly clever.

Of course, this is exactly the sort of treatment that women have gotten in the workplace for decades. That patronizing pat on the back is really a kick in the teeth, make no mistake.

Parenting, at least the part that used to fall under the category motherhood, has seldom gotten any respect from m...
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