Being a parent is a hard job, and that doesn’t matter if you are the mother or father. Each has their role to play, but there is an idea out there that a lot of moms fall into being the “default parent.” The parent who automatically picks up the slack and gets something done when it needs to be. The one who is always on parent-mode. The stereotype, or thought, that mom is the one who nurtures and does the “work” while dad gets to play is still very much alive and it needs to end.
At least Keira Knightley thinks that it needs to end. According to Today, Keira Knightly, actress and mom, spoke about how dads are often praised for doing the very basic of parental duties, and how it needs to stop.
Keira spoke about how it is quite common to see a dad at daycare, or the park with their children, and you often hear the comments about how great of a dad he is. However, you do not hear the same sentiment when it is a mom. Is that because mom is “expected” to do these things? Moms are simply expected to do the work, so they hardly get public praise for doing the simplest thing for their child.
Keira, who is a mom to two children, also wondered why dads are not asked the same questions that moms are. Moms are often asked about how they balance their work and life, when dads are never asked that question. She believes that it is because society does not expect that a working dad is looking after his children as much as his partner is.
She also touched on childcare, and how her husband is never asked where his kids are when he is not with them. She, however, will often get asked who is watching her children when she is seen out without her children with her. This is a common problem that a lot of women run into, and Keira is not the only mom who gets this question only to answer back with a snappy remark of ‘their father?’
Keira has been an active feminist for some time now, so it is not surprising that she brings up these questions when it comes to dads being praised for the most basic of parenting duties. It seems like the world still has a long way to go when it comes to ending the expectations they have for mothers that they do not have for fathers.
Source: Today