Maternity leave for women is of course about physical recovery, but isn’t it more importantly about bonding with your child and figuring out how to parent him or her? Why is dad exempt from having to do this? Shouldn’t they fight to have paternity leave? The thing is that I think many men want to take the time. The problem is that it would be looked down upon in their workplace and by their peers. It’s just one of the lingering sexist double standards that no one has the balls to take on. A few years ago, I worked at a large corporate company with very liberal policies. The men took paternity leave there proudly because the culture allowed them to without judgement. In fact, if they didn’t take it, they were looked at as foolish. Of course, because why wouldn’t you want to take time off to adjust to one of the biggest life-changing moments of your existence? I understand that it’s about money and other people getting ahead. But, when I took maternity leave at my last job, they were so by the book they practically promoted me when I got back. This is because at some point, women started to take a stand about taking time off. I’m asking my husband to do this and he’s refusing. Although I’m proud of his ambition and dedication to the job, I really want him to take a stand and be a paternity leave revolutionary. Is this asking too much? Image via Tourist_On_Earth/Flickr
