Mum or dad-who is the best?

Mum or dad: who is the best?

Traditionally, it was believed that women could become better parents than men. However, taking into account the drastic changes of women’s role in society, are they still better parents than men? Or is that that equality between the sexes has also been achieved in parenting?

Without doubt, women’s role is society has undergone radical changes. Nowadays, for example, most women no longer stay at home looking after the children; they also work long hours as men do. In fact, in some families traditional roles have been changed: women are the breadwinners while men stay in the house taking care of the children.
This means that after a long working day women return home with little energy to prepare dinner for the children, telling them stories until they drop off, changing nappies and the like. So, 21st century families resort to a new way of organizing household chores. It is no longer women who have to do everything that concerns children’s care; this duty is carried out by both mothers and fathers to the same degree.

It comes as no surprise then to see fathers waiting for their children at the school gates, helping their offspring to do the homework or bathing them. These present situations seem to show that men have adjusted themselves to their new parental role very well. To my mind, these new roles of mothers and fathers are really beneficial to the children, since they can now forge stronger bonds with their fathers, too. In the past, children used to have a closer and warmer relationship with their mothers rather than with their fathers. Today, both fathers and mothers are present figures in the families. The proof of this is that, when in trouble, children shout “help mum!”, or “help dad!” alike.

In conclusion, it seems that the equality between men and women achieved in the world of work, politics and society has also extended to their roles in the family. Today’s women are not able to be full-time mothers, which means that men have a more significant role at parenting than they used to have in the past.