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The Daddy Shift: A Must Read for Dads (and Moms)
By Daddy Clay Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
Women today are locked in a noble struggle to overcome sexism and to reach equality in the workplace, juggling all the while their many obligations at home. Men just suck at laundry. And forget to pick up the birthday present for Jenny’s party. Where mom’s struggle to balance career and home is heroic, her failures a result of an unfair system and high aspirations, dad’s is a touch pathetic, his shortcomings a result of sloth or a carelessness, evidence of a lack of commitment.
It’s easy to unleash a torrent of complaints about today’s dads. Just ask a mom if she has a 50/50 marriage.
It’s a tough moment to be a dad. Expectations have changed radically, stereotypes are being defied, male identity reshaped. And it’s a good thing. A change that allows us to enjoy more the things that are really important in life. It is a rare voice that understands both the historical and societal origins of this change, and the impact that it has on the dads standing over changing tables across the country.
That’s why I think that everyone that reads this blog or visits DadLabs or any other dad site with any regularity should read “The Daddy Shift: How Stay-at-Home Dads, Breadwinning Moms, and Shared Parenting Are Transforming the American Family
The Story Behind the Story: DadLabs in USA Today
By Daddy Clay Friday, June 19th, 2009
My first thought when I saw the print copy of the story: In the last eleven years, I have taken thousands of pictures of the kids; my wife, only one. And that one photograph ends up on the cover of USA Today. My second: Will mom be able to brag to her friends about her son in the paper wearing a tiara?
There is no other way to describe the experience of being featured in the widest circulation paper in the country: thrilling. I think for us at DadLabs, the best part was appearing in the same article with some of the leading academics and thinkers on the subject of fatherhood, like Aaron Rochlen from the University of Texas and Jeremy Adam Smith, author of “The Daddy Shift.” These are guys that we’ve followed for a long time, pored over their research and read their books. To be mentioned alongside is meaningful validation for us here.
It’s the presence of the all-star team of dad researchers, the clear reporting and the thoughtful analysis that make the article a good snapshot of where fatherhood is today in this country. All the credit for this goes to the writer, Sharon Jayson. From the moment of our first contact until today, she has been a consummate pro. One of the most satisfying moments of the week came when I learned the Rebel Dad himself, Brian Reid gave a nod of approval to the article. This gave me goosebumps because Brian is a tireless critic of the way mainstream media presents dads.
And this just in, the equally crotchety Daddy Types offers a backhanded endorsement of the article, congratulating USAToday for producing an excellent “token” story on involved dads. We’ll take it!
Again, all kudos go to Sharon.
So now to the question that has PR professionals all over the nation scratching their heads; How on earth did the doofuses at DadLabs score that kind of coverage?
It goes back to about 2003 when Troy and I started work on our book “Filmmaking for Teens: Pulling Off Your Shorts.” Now headed for a second edition, this sturdy little performer has defended it’s niche for over five years. So much so that when movie reporter for USAToday, Anthony Brenzican was looking for an “expert” on teen filmmakers to quote in his article on director Kevin Smith, he called me.
We talked a bit about DadLabs, but we were clearly outside his beat. He generously gave me the names and emails of a couple of reporters that might be interested and suggested that I pitch them a story. Which I did instantly. I heard back from Sharon; she wasn’t really interested in the book (I had a copy sent anyway), but said she was working on something that might be right for us.
She published a piece on moms and dads sharing the domestic load without mention of DadLabs, and a fewf weeks went by, so I figured that was that.
One afternoon I get a phone call, and it’s Sharon. She’s seen the book and she’d like to include us in a story she’s writing. And, by the way, did we remember her two kids. They want to the school where Brad, Troy and I worked for ten years. Troy had taught her daughter Physics.
Has the article changed our lives or the business drastically? We certainly saw an uptick an traffic and in Amazon rank, the phone rang a lot, and it was generally really cool. It certainly didn’t hurt. But it will take several weeks before we know what the real impact was.
One thing is certain, if you ever want to know which of your friends are staying in hotels on any given day, get your mug on the cover of USAToday.
