Why do people admire single dads for taking on the kids, and yet single mothers have a stigma?

Question

I just ask because most people treat me as a single mom as less but it is totally unconcious. They really think they are enlightened, open minded people. Yet I see single dad's raising the kids with no mother around (she ran off) and the man is treated like a hero...

Answer 1

it is very sad but we live in an extremely sexist society, men can get away with a lot more than women can. its just like when a woman has multiple sex partners, she is frowned upon, if a man does it he gets praised.

Answer 2

As disgusting as it is, the reason the men are treated like hero's is probably because they are one in a million. The general perception seems to be that if a women is single with children she:
a) either did something to make the man leave or
b) she ran around and got knocked up.

Amazing how stereotypes can destroy lives or even hold them back. My mother was a single parent - I don;t know of a woman who worked or tried harder than she did to make ends meet and raise her daughters right. She also lost out on a lot of opportunities because she was a single parent. My dad he was never in the picture and never even made the effort.

Answer 3

Being a single parent is no picnic, before I met my second wife I raised my son alone for 7 years but take joy my friend I got no praise, I wanted non. I fathered that child with my first wife and when she said she didn't want him the court gave him to me to raise. I was glad for the job. Now I am remarried and have not only my son, but i have a little 4 year old girl and a son on the way. I treat my responsibilty as a parent in the same manner I except my role in the church with hands on not afraid to get dirty. I don't see myself as a hero, being a single parent trying to keep a roof over your families head and food on the table is not an easy task but what has kept me going is knowing that I have a God who loves me and he loves you too. My faith and my love for my son kept me going when all else kept saying give up. My son is and always will be my joy.

Answer 4

I like this question a lot, since this is another one of those topics that I can just go on and on about. Well lets see over the years women have just been treated as well the care takers of the house, that is how it has been through most of history. Now and days these thoughts have been decreasing but there are many people out there who still don't think so. Many people still think of the men as the working group who to the "tough manly stuff" like weight lifting and etc. But I for one wish to congratulate any only parent supporting their child for it is really hard to do so man or women. I hope I cleared up a bit! (sorry if i was no help at all)

Answer 5

It is expected that women will nurture and take care of their children. Men aren't really seen that way. It seems most of them time men take a back seat to child rearing, so when a man steps up to the plate to do it alone it is seen as something positive. Women are looked down on because most believe the woman did it to themselves by picking a bad man, and when a man is by himself he is honored for taking on the responsibility, while the evil woman left him to do it. It's not fair, but it's how it is. I'm not sure how to change it. You would have to change the way most of the world thinks about single parenthood. If more men would stick around, there would be such a problem in the first place.

Answer 6

They admire the few that do their duty because so few actually perform like a parent unless forced to do so. We mothers are 'supposed' to be nurturing, loving, all caring, all knowing parents, because we can't help but be 'mothering'. Its in our hormones or something.
Now if you have given birth to a baby, and have felt that extreme protective mode that new mothers go into.. you can't imagine a man being able to feel this. Actually I think they have a much smaller protective mode.. so small that many don't notice it at all. So maybe the "good" fathers have gotten hit in the head by the reality brick and the baby has 'gotten their attention'.... lol

Answer 7

single mom's do a good job too...but i think what gets people's dander up about them is that they are always crying the blues about having no help....bull, wanting more and more money from the government or fathers...the list goes on and on......single dad's do not tend to look for all this extra stuff and accept that they have children and do the best that they can........and don't give me the dead-beat dad cr@p...cause there are many dead-beat mom's and some of these mom's that are dead-beat have the children with them and are still dead-beats.............anyone with children should just focous on raising the children with love, compassion, care, kindness, tenderness and bring the children up to be the very best that they can be!!!!!!that way we would admire everyone....single or couples that have children that they are bringing up and not have these stigmas.

Answer 8

Because people forget when it comes to a woman that there is a man that left her and/or treated her like crap, but all they see is a girl/lady that did not know how to NOT get pregnant. That act as if she did something wrong.

While when a man raises his kids they forget that he is SUPPOSE to being that and look at is as sometime special.

Basically cause they are idiots.

Answer 9

Because people expect women to do everything and not complain. We are so used to guys doing nothing that when they do something it's like "wow", he did something. This is kinda a joke but kinda serious. I agree. I applaud single moms and i don't know how they do it.

Answer 10

I'm a single mom to a baby girl whose father is free to do whatever he likes because he doesn't take care of her. While I do everything for us to stay afloat.....It's just not fair!