[Note added 12.5.14: An edited version of this piece has just been posted onto our YouTube channel. We invite you to leave comments there rather than here. Thank you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE9GQtp2LfI ]
Our thanks to the supporters who’ve pointed us to a programme which broadcast this morning. We’ll be putting this up on our YouTube channel before it’s lost from iPlayer (on 18 May):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04446xv/The_Big_Questions_Series_7_Episode_17
The debate was titled ‘Are fathers doing their fair share?’ The presenter, Nicky Campbell, was in his usual operating mode – one that’s almost universal across both male and female BBC presenters – of fawning on women and berating men. Among the contributors were three female whine merchants. In stark contrast, Alison Ruoff, a lay member of the CoE General Synod, made some good points. Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist and my heart always sinks whenever I see him on TV programmes. He put his usual feminist-inspired position forward on this programme. But by far the most insightful contributions came from Glen Poole of http://equality4men.com. Key points in the debate:
41.05 – Introduction by Nicky Campbell, input from two of the three whine merchants. No mention from them that far more women than men work part-time – whether or not they have children. The key message is always the same:
Men must do more.
Women must do less.
The American whine merchant started wittering about the ‘gender pay gap’ at which point to my intense relief…
44:30 – Glen Poole interrupted and made some good points. That said, it’s our conviction that in most cases couples will choose to have the mother look after children in their early years, rather than the father. It’s both a gender-typical biological preference, and Dr Catherine Hakim’s Preference Theory (2000) would lead us to expect this too. But of course fathers should enjoy the same rights as mothers.
49:26 Alison Ruoff made some good points.
54:25 Owen Jones started his predictable contribution. You might want to skip this bit, for the sake of your sanity.
57:09 Glen Poole made exactly the same point which had occurred to us concerning the wider meaning of ‘fair share’.
