when advocating for children call out the dogs.

[galileoreloaded]

looks like i have an alert stalker whenever I post about the need for kids to have fathers.

the closer you get to the truth, the louder the screeching gets eh?

[galileoreloaded]

1. like nails on a chalkboard..nt

[Major Nikon]

2. It's not just you

This group has a least one alert troll, and it's not very difficult to figure out who it is.

[galileoreloaded]

3. Meh, one sad, lonely soul with nothing better to do

I've punched through alert abuse on every one and sent a note to skinner.

Lets see what happens next.

[Major Nikon]

4. I believe there's more issues going on

Very sad behavior at any rate.

[opiate69]

5. Funny he should mention "dogs"...

[RiffRandell]

7. Reminds me of Roz from Monsters, Inc.

I'm watching you, Wazowski. Always watching. Always.

[opiate69]

10. hahaha!!! perfect!!

[Tireman]

6. Wow

Some of the responses in that thread are SO way out there! OMFG...if the roles were reversed...

[Major Nikon]

8. Par for the course

[leftyohiolib]

11. looks like he got ppr'd

[opiate69]

12. Not terribly surprising...

He seemed to lack any sense of when to back off. Would not be surprised if he was a zombie account, really.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

13. Agreed

He was on a fast track to getting booted. I suppose we're supposed to mourn his loss or something so the haters can get their full pound of flesh.

[opiate69]

14. For all the celebrating I'm seeing...

One would think he did something really dastardly, like create sock puppets to alert-troll people/groups or something.

[Warren DeMontague]

15. I'm gonna go out on a limb, here

and speculate that what we saw there was but one half of a punch and judy act, in action.

You know, like "Fluoride is bad, you Illuminati Stooge!" "No, Fluoride is good, you anti-science shitwit!"



The thing to bear in mind is that the puppeteer doesn't, actually, give a flying Philadelphia fuck about Fluoride either way.

[opiate69]

16. I suspect you may be on to something there ....

Or is it on something??

[Warren DeMontague]

18. Both

It's always like this after I chew through my straps.

[loli phabay]

23. what did i miss, take some time off for the spa and shit happens

[opiate69]

24. Not much, really.. just that galileo got PPRd.

[Denninmi]

17. Well, I don't care if I ruffle feathers here.

I will say this. I had a father physically present, but did the opposite of anything fatherly at all. In fact, extremely cold and abusive. Did nothing for me, and I feel it really hindered me in terms of social development. My mother and older sisters didn't get it, either, and didn't ever try to help me get into normal male activities like sports, Boy Scouts, etc. Now, I really regret this.

I am sure many single mothers make a valiant effort with their sons. But my opinion is boys need a male role model who can engage them in typical boys' activities and just be there as friend, mentor, etc.

[Warren DeMontague]

19. I think Dads are or can be very important.

Mine was drunk, gone and dead, in that order.

He made some efforts later on to maintain the relationship, and now retroactively i understand some of what he struggled with and where he came from with his own background (if the show were mad men, i would be sally draper) but i swore i would do better with my own kids, so at least after im gone they would know who i was... And so far, i think ive succeeded.

Im not going to say "kids need one of each" but i will say that they're better off with a parent or parents who are dedicated and committed and love them unconditionally. And if there is only one parent the job is twice as big.

[Denninmi]

20. I think it isn't that they need a parent of each gender at all.

I should clarify what I mean. Look at same sex couples - they are often better parents than many hetero couples - a same sex couple has to actively plan for and work towards becoming parents, because biology won't allow them to do it on their own. So, they enter into it wanting and valuing children. Whereas any hetero couple can procreate unless there are fertility problems - alas, even the ones who never should be parents, because of factors like substance abuse or domestic violence.

I don't see any problem with single parents or same sex couples raising kids of either gender. But, I do think any child benefits from being around both genders. All I am saying is that I think it is worth making an effort to have a boy develop a surrogate father-son relationship with a man who can be trusted all around if there isn't a father in the pictture. Same for girls without mothers. Maybe easier said than done? Easy for me to yammer on, I will never have the opportunity to be a father, hell, I'm just learning to take care of myself in middle age. But I know how I felt then, and feel now many years later, about my upbringing. I guess in a nutshell, the most appropriate word is cheated.

[Major Nikon]

21. For whatever reason you don't hear too many stories about bad moms

I think we are conditioned to believe that moms are infallible and are to be loved and respected no matter what they do while the stories of poor fathers are quite common. I'm pretty sure this has a lot to do with primary custodial arrangements and patriarchal social norms which heap most domestic responsibilities on the backs of women.

In my case my mom was a semi-functional sociopath. She was at times delusional and extremely paranoid, bi-polar, manipulative, neglectful, abusive, and eventually alienated everyone she came in contact with including all of her own family. My dad was a saint for staying with her to the end. I think he always felt like he was the only one that was ever going to take care of her and he was right. He died fairly young of pancreatic cancer and she didn't last long without him. I can't remember any fond memories of her. My dad was the stable one in my life.

[Warren DeMontague]

22. I remember some of the stuff you've said previously about that.

Some Moms are a mess. Some Dads are. I think in particular the move in society to become broader and more accepting of different family arrangements- like LGBT parents- has been a good thing in breaking loose some of these, as you put it, patriarchal social norms* regarding expectations and who does what.

[font size=1]*yes, as I've noted before, Western Civilization (in fact, much of global civilization, sadly) has had a Patriarchal orientation, particularly driven by religion, and that is an obvious historical fact although one which fortunately we are moving beyond. Acceptance of this- to my mind- quite obvious fact is not the same thing as believing in "The Patriarchy" as a spooky penis conspiracy that plots to create platoons of transgender infiltrators to attack the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival.[/font]

I do think that the thread in question potentially contains some extenuating circumstances just due to the breastfeeding a 4 mo. old angle, but none of that should be construed as diminishing the importance of fathers or any parent. Parents are parents and the freedom to define roles or redefine them is a good thing. As I alluded to, part of my wariness around "kids need dads" messaging isn't that I don't agree that Fatherhood should be taken more seriously and Dads should be free to and, yes, equally expected to be a part of their kids lives, but I don't believe that 2 moms are any less of a parenting unit than any other arrangement. So that's worth reiterating. Etc.

[nomorenomore08]

25. Kids need good parents/role models period. I don't think gender matters as much.