An interesting article that appeared in the Globe on February 29/08. An excerpt includes:
"In the early '80s, I was not alone in thinking that men and women had nearly identical brains, but that we had been socialized to take on different roles. If my husband, a doting father, could leave his scrawny newborn after two weeks at home and go to work for 10 hours a day without a backward glance or a blip in his concentration, the script dictated that this was because he had learned that his role was to be the provider. And if I felt physical distress about tearing myself away from a six-week-old baby—notwithstanding the monotony and isolation of new motherhood—I had internalized my role as maternal caregiver. Never mind that my mother and both grandmothers worked outside the home, as well as in it. Many of us thought that if only women could tame their outdated sentimentality, if only men were present and willing to offer their babies more bottles, then our parental roles could be reversed. I was amused but admiring when a male friend strapped on a device at a dinner party that allowed him to simulate breast-feeding. The vinyl reservoir lay flat and deflated against his torso like a colostomy bag. A bit sheepish, he was also proud that with four children and a working wife, he could whistle this familiar tune: "I can do anything better than you can. I can do anything better than you." At the time we assumed that men and women were equals—not just in rights and opportunities, as they should be, but also in underlying psychology and behaviour. Any differences, including physical differences, could be fixed via technology, policy or force of will. This is how social ideals clouded attitudes toward the intersection of nurturing and work, an issue as personal and often as biologically driven as sex itself."
Check out the complete article at:
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