More than 40 fathering organizations are making a statement this Father's Day—the 100th Anniversary of Father's Day. I'm behind this idea as a way to make visible the huge number of dads and stepdads deeply committed to our kids.
We're enlisting 1,000,000 dads to make a public commitment to their children. We want our kids to know that together, all of us dads are working for a more promising future for them, and we're committing ourselves to make that happen by living the five points of the 2009 Father's Day Commitment:
- I will love my children
- I will coach my children.
- I will model for my children.
- I will encourage other children.
- I will enlist other dads to make and live the 2009 Father's Day Commitment.
We have less than a month until Father's Day. Will you help us reach 1,000,000 dads by making your commitment at www.fathers.com/rally and then forwarding this blog to every dad you know?
You can use Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and every other method of social networking, too. Just direct folks to www.fathers.com/rally to make their commitment and to learn how to begin fulfilling it.
On that same page, you can also learn how to upload a commitment counter to your webpage or blog, or the website of your company, organization or faith community. That way you can direct your recruits to your own website and keep track of how many dads you have enlisted. You can (if you;re into this sort of thing) even challenge someone else in your community and see who can enlist the most dads. Go for it.
An ex-pat friend recently passed along an article from Germany's English-language newspaper 'The Local' about the cultural differences between the USA/UK style Father's day and what passes for German Father's day.
Father’s Day in Germany - Männertag, (Men's Day) or if you’re an Ossie,(East German) Herrentag - is celebrated on Ascension Day [this coming Thursday, May 21] and it’s a far cry from the Hallmark card bonanza celebrated in America…. It’s a day when men bond over funny anecdotes, bitch about their women and get as drunk as humanly possible. Traditionally, it’s a meeting of all ages: the older ones initiate the young. The day starts around noon and takes the form of a walking tour from village to village, with the men pulling beer-stuffed carts or riding bicycles with baskets filled with drink.
The article goes on with more detail, but there is no mention of kids or fathering. My friend writes: “It has nothing to do with Fathers--just men getting drunk, yes, in front of their kids too and thinking themselves very funny. Actually, Joe, it's atrocious. It doesn't do the plight of fathers any good at all. What to do?”
There’s not much we can do from North America, where I live. But the Männertag phenomenon does trigger some reflection on how fathers (and men) are characterized here.
In a few ways, we paint a more positive picture of fathers and give some lip service to their importance. But in many other ways, men and women both continue to view fathers as ancillary; not necessarily all that essential to a child’s healthy upbringing. Such notions are reinforced by cultural stereotypes of dads as inept dolts--and of men as drunken, sex-obsessed slobs.
Granted, there are too many clueless fathers and men who think the label of “animal” is a compliment. But my experience indicates that the majority of fathers are trying, as best they can, to be an engaged, positive force in their children’s lives.
So what are you doing to debunk the reflections of Männertag that linger in your world?
