October 14, 2007
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I find it utterly deplorable that "deadbeat dad" has become a permanent addition to the modern American lexicon.
What is wrong with fathers today? There was a time not so long ago when a man married and cared for his family through thick and thin, simply because it was expected of him. "Midlife crises" and the concept of divorce were forgotten in favor of hard work and support of a wife and kids. Supporting a family is what gave a man his manhood, not holding down the most liquor or having the most affairs.
Why did our cultural values change, and how are American children better off this way, with fathers who refuse to pay child support and insist on languishing any savings the child's mother may retain? When did this become acceptable?
And what are we going to do to stop it?
Comments (2)
i wholeheartedly agree with you. maybe i don't know like you do, but i do agree. i hate divorce. the phrase "my dad/mom's girl/boyfriend" just makes me sick. i cannot believe 52% of all marriages fail. forget gay marriage, THAT's what's destroying the sanctity of marriage.
and don't get me started on the acceptability of the term "baby daddy"
Well, the increased acceptance of divorce in today's society is kind of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, there's a lot of couples out there that are much better off -- safer, happier, etc. etc. if they end their relationship. If you read any 19th-century British Lit (particularly Mary Wollstonecraft's unfinished novel Maria or perhaps George Eliot's Daniel Deronda), you'll come away with a new appreciation of the legality of divorce. That being said, I think that there are a lot more people who use it as an easy way out instead of really giving it a go at working things out. Not to mention the thousands and thousands of couples that just never should've gotten married in the first place.
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