Shivering in anticipation for Daddy Daycare, Channel 4's new series in which nine dads are sent on a crash-course in parenting at busy nurseries. We start next week at South London's Magic Roundabout nursery, where workaholic father-of-three Garry (38), reluctant dad-of-one Jay (39) and nervous father-to-be Stefan (26) join a staff made up entirely of single mums.
There's a point behind this show - a good proportion of British women feel their partners don't do enough childcare. (Incidentally, a good proportion of British men feel the same - they want to do more at home, but everything conspires to push them towards breadwinning, especially in the early years, all-too-often leaving them feeling on the margins of family life, rather than at the centre where they belong. Still, this is light entertainment TV, so let's put that to one side).
All the same, it goes without saying that the programme's methodology looks shockingly sexist. Just imagine a male equivalent...men think women don't bring in enough money - let's put a bunch of them in all-male workplaces and watch them do stuff for which they've had little or no training. Oil Rig Honeys, anyone?
It'll be a car crash, of course...but what type? A straightforward 'let's gawp at how useless men are' pile-up? Or a more subtle prang that cleverly plays on the viewer's preconceptions, showing in the end that maybe dads aren't so useless, and women so omniscient, after all? A nation waits with bated breath...
There's a point behind this show - a good proportion of British women feel their partners don't do enough childcare. (Incidentally, a good proportion of British men feel the same - they want to do more at home, but everything conspires to push them towards breadwinning, especially in the early years, all-too-often leaving them feeling on the margins of family life, rather than at the centre where they belong. Still, this is light entertainment TV, so let's put that to one side).
All the same, it goes without saying that the programme's methodology looks shockingly sexist. Just imagine a male equivalent...men think women don't bring in enough money - let's put a bunch of them in all-male workplaces and watch them do stuff for which they've had little or no training. Oil Rig Honeys, anyone?
It'll be a car crash, of course...but what type? A straightforward 'let's gawp at how useless men are' pile-up? Or a more subtle prang that cleverly plays on the viewer's preconceptions, showing in the end that maybe dads aren't so useless, and women so omniscient, after all? A nation waits with bated breath...
Its Genuine. Let hope the real point comes across. For a well balanced family, you need both parents to get involved.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. Absolutely agree with it. Are you one of the dads, by any chance?
DeleteGreat post, and I definitely second the point that many more men want to get more involved but are constrained by expectations about breadwinning and so on. From a historical point of view, it's baffling - many men have felt this way for decades! More flexibility and more choice are needed in terms of working hours and parental roles.
ReplyDeleteThanks Laura, It IS baffling, isn't it...we seem to LOVE holding onto our gendered prejudices with a passion. And you're right, the culture will probably not shift very far until structural (and economic) changes force it to
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