Americans spend 30% less on Father's Day than Mother's Day

JELLY__FISTER · 2012-06-16T15:52:36+00:00

I believe that's just because flowers and cards are ridiculously overpriced.

Ididerus · 2012-06-16T16:58:00+00:00

A day about buying less and doing things like having BBQs and playing sports? I think if I was a Dad, I would approve. Men should hold this statistic up as a source of pride.

snoopyzanus · 2012-06-16T17:39:25+00:00

I don't think the raw number of money spent is the issue here; appreciation can be expressed in other ways — although I suspect that this isn't actually happening, but rather that fathers simply get less attention focused on them on their day, financially and otherwise, because in general mothers don't make as much effort to teach their kids to appreciate the other parent's contribution on Father's Day as fathers do on Mother's Day (with society's and this article's backing).

What is disturbing is that this article on Father's Day is used to argue that mothers truly do deserve more appreciation than fathers, with this assertion backed up with some dishonestly argued points.

Mothers spend more time doing hands-on child care because they are financially subsidized by the working fathers. This paid work done by fathers is an absolutely vital contribution to the family.

The point that even working mothers do slightly more childcare and housework would have been counter-balanced by the fact that working fathers do correspondingly more hours of paid work — if they had had the honesty to mention that (which they didn't).

I think there is actually a huge con going on in regard to the claim that women "sacrifice" their careers to spend more time doing child care. I think that in the majority of cases, it is actually exactly where these women want to be.

Sure, looking after young children is very tiring — so is the training required of a pro athlete, but we don't pity them — they are getting a huge emotional pay off from what they do, just as these mothers are.

In unguarded contexts you often hear mothers saying that they wouldn't have traded that time with their kids for the world.

Paid work is portrayed as being the most personally fulfilling life by feminists, which is why women have to tearfully sacrifice the joy of the working world in order to enter the grueling, dull, unfulfilling world of spending their daily lives with their children (/s), while men supposedly live their preferred lives as a matter of course.

The reality is that from the outset men are more likely to choose a career based on its financial payoff, rather than for personal fulfillment, and after marriage and kids this only intensifies, with the life they would have preferred to lead being sacrificed for one that provides the most financial security for their family.

And for this, this shitty article tells such a father that he is a less worthy parent than the mother, because he has spent less hands-on time with his children.

I also think the fathers who don't feel the need for overt appreciation miss the point. It's not about whether he feels the need for appreciation or not; just as with mothers, the whole family needs to acknowledge and respect what each parent brings to the table, in order for the family — and on a wider level — society at large, to truly recognize and value each parent's contribution.

FreddyDeus · 2012-06-16T16:02:35+00:00

This is grasping at straws as an issue.

2012-06-17T01:10:58+00:00

At my house, we pay just as much attention and time on our dad as our mother. Our mother, however, prefers a card, flowers, chocolates, and a night out (which is very expensive), but our dad prefers staying home, a sausage or pepperoni to eat at his leisure, a quick BBQ, and tossing the ol' pigskin around (which is relatively cheap). So I think it's less of "Mom's better," and more of "Mom likes this, Dad likes that."

Title	Americans spend 30% less on Father's Day than Mother's Day
Author	telnet_reddit_80
Upvotes	0
Comments	7
Date	June 16, 2012 3:35 PM UTC (14 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/v532b/americans_spend_30_less_on_fathers_day_than/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/americans-spend-30-less-on-fathers-day-than.1019676 https://theredarchive.com/post/1019676

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