This came up on another thread and it was suggested that it might make an interesting discussion. How has having opposite sex children shifted your view on things?
I have two sons and no daughters, so while of course I see things through the lens of a woman I'm also very concerned about things that will affect my boys. So of course issue that are important to men are important to me too. I think about what they will face as they grow up and some of it I don't like. Just a quick example, but I don't wish to see my boys get screwed by family court any more then any guy on here wants to be screwed by family court.
I think having only daughters shifted my father's world view as well. He was a little sexist in the roles he saw for men and women.....it's not that he thought women shouldn't be able to do whatever they wanted, but he was somewhat rigid in his view of gender roles. I remember one time he tried to tell me that men can't support their families anymore because women have taken all the jobs. I laughed at him and pointed out that the jobs he was referring to were the blue collar and manufacturing jobs that were common go to's in his day as you didn't need a ton of education. These jobs have all been outsources to cheap labor, not taken by women.
There is pretty much no job that a guy wants that he can't get because women took them all. The fields that women gravitate toward are not necessarily male desired fields, and I know in the actuarial world all men who want to work are working. Maybe there's a guy that didn't get my specific position because I got it but those are the breaks.....another guy could just as easily have beat him out for my job. But there are plenty of actuary jobs.
But my father did shift his views on some things because he wanted the best for his daughters, and he may not have had these shifts if he'd had sons. And I don't think I'd likely give quite as much thought to issues that affect men if I didn't have sons.
Many of us have been accused of hating the opposite gender, but with a few exceptions how can that be true? We all have opposite sex people that are dear to us....and of course our children are the dearest of all. I would take a bullet for either one of my boys, so how could I not be concerned about issues that will affect them?
So how has having opposite sex kids changed your world view?
I have two sons and no daughters, so while of course I see things through the lens of a woman I'm also very concerned about things that will affect my boys. So of course issue that are important to men are important to me too. I think about what they will face as they grow up and some of it I don't like. Just a quick example, but I don't wish to see my boys get screwed by family court any more then any guy on here wants to be screwed by family court.
I think having only daughters shifted my father's world view as well. He was a little sexist in the roles he saw for men and women.....it's not that he thought women shouldn't be able to do whatever they wanted, but he was somewhat rigid in his view of gender roles. I remember one time he tried to tell me that men can't support their families anymore because women have taken all the jobs. I laughed at him and pointed out that the jobs he was referring to were the blue collar and manufacturing jobs that were common go to's in his day as you didn't need a ton of education. These jobs have all been outsources to cheap labor, not taken by women.
There is pretty much no job that a guy wants that he can't get because women took them all. The fields that women gravitate toward are not necessarily male desired fields, and I know in the actuarial world all men who want to work are working. Maybe there's a guy that didn't get my specific position because I got it but those are the breaks.....another guy could just as easily have beat him out for my job. But there are plenty of actuary jobs.
But my father did shift his views on some things because he wanted the best for his daughters, and he may not have had these shifts if he'd had sons. And I don't think I'd likely give quite as much thought to issues that affect men if I didn't have sons.
Many of us have been accused of hating the opposite gender, but with a few exceptions how can that be true? We all have opposite sex people that are dear to us....and of course our children are the dearest of all. I would take a bullet for either one of my boys, so how could I not be concerned about issues that will affect them?
So how has having opposite sex kids changed your world view?