We have all heard far too much regarding the Penn State incident and the trending statistics have gratefully subsided. But one aspect which has barely had it’s surface scratched and is negatively affected by such an occurrence, is the stigma that most men must deal with as they care for children. While many would like for men to play a more active role in bringing up their children, there exists an obvious gender bias when a man is seen playing with a child in a public park or elsewhere.
As more men have been taking on this new role with their children, society has begun it’s slow crawl towards losening it’s gender stereotypes and well basically, evolving. BUT when a case of abuse at the hands of a few severely ill men has been uncovered, all of this progress takes a few giant leaps back. While we’d love for society to be more accepting of any rationally minded minority, it’s not easy when cases such as the one in Pennsylvania are made known.
I have met some amazing men in my 11 years of being in the Dad Club. To compare any of them to Jerry Sandusky et al. would do them a huge disservice. While it’s never easy to positively know if someone is just or truthful, if we take the time and look with eyes wide open, I believe we can trust our intuition.
I am thankful for those who chose to live their lives educated and aware rather than generalizing and limiting their view of the world because there’s a ton of good out there, you’ve just got to weed out the crazy!
Happy Thanksgiving
