Session: How Blogging Can Bust the Fatherhood Stereotypes
Speaker: Bruce Sallan
This may come as a shock to many in Hollywood and MSM (Main Stream Media), but dads are parents, too. What happened to the honorable, if somewhat staid dad that used to be a staple of Hollywood? Spencer Tracey in Father of the Bride? Or, Robert Young in Father Knows Best?
THAT dad is now Homer Simpson, The Family Guy, Al Bundy, and in movies the dad that can’t figure out how to put a diaper on so he gets pee in the schnozzer! Funny. Not funny when it’s a mom. They would get major protests if they portrayed moms anything like they portray dads. Boycotts, Newsweek/Time covers, Ellen, The View, even Dr. Phil (who I don’t really think is a man…shhhhhh).
The above Comic Strip is a creation of Aaron and Bruce Sallan
I am (@BruceSallan) moderating a panel at BlogWorld LA called, How Blogging Can Bust the Fatherhood Stereotypes with Jim Lin of Busy Dad Blog (@busydadblog), Ron Mattocks (@CK_Lunchbox) and Kevin Metzger (@theDadvocate).
We will ask how dads became the butt of jokes, what we are doing to correct that stereotype, and how ALL parents can be honored and celebrated for doing what is probably the most important job we can do.
Hear what Bruce has to say about his session and why you should come to BlogWorld LA:
See what other speakers are saying about BlogWorld LA.
Join Bruce and his community each Thursday for #DadChat, from 6pm -7pm PST, the Tweet Chat that Bruce hosts. Bruce Sallan, author of “A Dad’s Point-of-View: We ARE Half the Equation” and radio host of “The Bruce Sallan Show – A Dad’s Point-of-View” gave up a long-term showbiz career to become a stay-at-home-dad. He has dedicated his new career to becoming THE Dad advocate. He carries his mission with not only his book and radio show, but also his column “A Dad’s Point-of-View”, syndicated in over 100 newspapers and websites worldwide, and his dedication to his community on Facebook and Twitter.
Name a single blog that has as many viewers as The Simpsoms, Family Guy, or Married with Children…on top of that name one thats about parenthood.
Blogging isnt going to do anything about the “stereotype”….just look at the average viewer of those shows, I doubt it’s women. It’s like saying a blog can make this culture stop portraying girls as w h o r e s, not gonna happen.
If anyone wants to ACTUALLY do something about it, they need to start an organization not a blog….and give 20-30 years of their life to the cause…and have other concearned dads give millions upon millions.
Lucy – would sure love your passion at our panel! Nothing is simple, nothing (worthwhile) is easy! We can make a HUGE difference from blogging. I know because I already have – in the lives of a girl’s school in Africa that I, my readers, and listeners have been supporting! Awareness starts with speaking, writing, advocating!
When and where? If its on the east coast I might be able to make it.
It’s in L.A. November 3-5..
I’ll be there. Look forward to it.
Be sure to say hello Lucy! Love your passion.
I’d written about this last October on 8BitDad – http://wp.me/p12LqE-sA – basically, what I think happened is that women went to work. Literally. With the rise of women at work, men started to “go home,” which at first, created hilarious results. Not so hilarious for women battling sexual discrimination at work – but hilarious for men experiencing sexual discrimination at home. And it’s really just because it’s a new thing. I can’t help but think about (and excuse this as being a terribly disparate example) when African American slaves were freed. At first, it was hilarious to white people to put African Americans into advertising and make them look like fools, but now, we know better. So – someday, we’ll know better with fathers. The time’s coming, as right now, making dad look dumb makes money – by making mom look like the hero (since the stats still say mom spends more on consumer goods in the home). So, making mom feel good = money. Making dad feel good does NOT equal money yet. But…it will. We just need a little time.
Zach, I want to see you at our panel! I have a discount code for my friends…
I started my dad blog, http://daddybydefault.com/about/, after searching for resources online related to parenting, but not being able to find many. While I agree with Lucy’s comment here about spending time (and money) to break a stereotype, it all has to start somewhere. You don’t just jump in at 60 miles an hour. I believe the blog is the perfect platform to become noticed, and to bring a voice to a cause. Right now, some of the more popular blogs are also some of the most trafficked websites in general, and as traditional media like newspapers and magazines continue to devolve, those websites will have a greater voice among news outlet,s pushing and massaging the media and public voice.
The stereotypes mentioned in this article are well documented in both the media and academia, and like most stereotypes they are partly true. What surprises me most is the attitude of some people who, after fighting for so long for women to gain more acceptance in the workplace, dismiss these stereotypes out of hand, much like women were themselves once dismissed.
Very well said, Craig! I’d love to have you at BWE, during our panel, to tell us how important we all are! Lol..seriously, I’d love to have you there to ask smart questions … you can applaud, too, okay?
First off, it is a BIG stretch to compare women’s right in the workplace to men’s right in the home.
I believe big fights like that are won by younger generations. You want to rid the world of some evil, you have to teach the children that it’s evil and why.
If there are ads that portray fatherhood in a bad light well then be a good dad, be a good dad no matter what. Your family and children will know, they will refuse the steretype and speak against it.
Ultimately the devolution of our society is an increasing epidemic. The bad daddy and the loose woman sterotypes are just symptoms. In my opinion, both of these are useless causes. In order to fix the epidemic you have to cure the problem not treat symptoms.
Mother or father, be a good parent, take you’re kid’s cell phone away and give them a book. Education (a lifelong passion for knowledge and advancement) is the only cure.
The first line of your reply is proof of the last sentence of mine.
When considering those people who fought to gain rights with which they were, for the most part, legally born with, it surprises me how easily they dismiss anything tangential to their own cause, like a man’s right in the home.
The television, web, and print world are abound with media and articles portraying dads as bumbling fools when trying to complete household chores typically associated with moms.
And while I agree with you that to change the stereotype we need to act and live into the world we want to create, that task is made harder when people take the attitude portrayed in the media back into their homes.
As a side note, the shows you mentioned: every one of them a NewsCorp property, owned by Rupert Murdoch who uses his media to drive conservative agendas, including keeping women out of the workplace.
Here are just a few instances of that in the last few years. Like this gem:
http://jezebel.com/5526578/fox-news-host-on-sexual-harassment-better-to-just-walk-away
And another:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2005/nov/09/usnews.genderissues
And another, even more alarming – how his media downlplayed a lawsuit against the company:
http://mediamatters.org/research/201010010023
I guess I explained it wrong. One side is women’s rights in the workplace the other side is the appearance of a man’s place in the “american family”. Not men’s rights at home – This isn’t about a man’s right to see or raise his children.
Which is more important …
Feeding your kids (equal wage/employment) or not LOOKING like a douche (bad daddy)
Being sexually threatened at work or not LOOKING like a douche?
– Fathers are not born with the right to not look bad on tv and popular media. The only parallel would be a woman’s right not to be portrayed in a negative light on television. There is no such right for either party, just a PG13 or R label.
Parents dont have the right to be protected against popular culture’s negative influences. Does it make it harder for parents to parent their children? Yes, but I dont think there are any MAJOR societal changes in the 9 month gestation period of a baby, which means the parents were aware of the challenges they would face and still chose to procreate.
– I didnt give those examples, I was using someone elses’…while I HATE how homer and the family guy dad are portrayed currently, at the beginning of the shows they were both decent men. They always came through for their children.
You tell ’em, Bruce! Really looking forward to hearing your talk … as a parent and a dad.
Yeah DJ – eager to meet you now that we’ve gotten to know each other “virtually”!
Actually for the latest stats I could find Lucy the Simpsons drew an average of 9.7 million viewers per episode. Over a month’s time that’s. 38.8 million. The Huffington Post Is nearing 26 million monthly views. So while the Simpsons does have a larger audience, it actually isn’t that big of a difference.
There are numerous blogs that get higher traffic than many TV shows, magazines, and newspapers and that their traffic is growing. For example the average MSNBC show gets less than a half a million viewers.
Not commenting at all on the rest of your comment. Just pointing out how big and influential many blogs actually are.
Well said, Rick – hey are you going to come on my Radio Show? Haven’t heard from your assistant?
Here is @BruceSallan talking more about meeting people in person after knowing them on-line. I agree it is an important circle to be made. http://boomertechtalk.com/social-interaction-propels-virtual-interaction/ This will be my fifth BlogWorld Expo and I am one of those voices that has been pulling at Bruce for some time to attend. Because Bruce is a stay-at-home-dad, it is difficult for him to travel to conferences, so I am delighted that BlogWorld is in LA and that Bruce is moderating a panel. I’m sure you’ll be seeing him at BlogWorld’s to come because he will see in person that BlogWorld is the BEST conference.