The time of social stereotypes is over. Today on International Women’s Day we celebrate gender equality and blurring of gender roles. Or so we thought…
The diaper giant, Huggies, made a mess on themselves this week when they unveiled their new advertising campaign. The name of the campaign is “The Dad Test.” This dad test claims to be honoring fathers. How exactly? Well, that’s easy:
To prove that Huggies diapers and wipes can handle anything, we put them to the toughest test imaginable: Dads… alone… with their babies, in one house, for five days.
This is what the diaper company thinks of us?! They portray us as bumbling idiots who are incompetent or unwilling to take care of our children.
How is it considered unimaginable for a father to be alone with his child for any length of time and be be able to adequately care for his children? How is this considered the ultimate test? So, these fathers left alone with their child for 5 days, are they not supposed to change the baby’s diaper? Is that how Huggies is supposed to prove their leak protection works?
Fixed gender roles have become less prominent in the last 20 years here in the United States. Chores around the house are more even. Men change diapers, wash clothes, do dishes, etc. Recently, there was a study showing a rise of men assuming the role of grocery shopping. OMGz! What’s next? Male nurses?! There has also been a rise in the amount of stay-at-home dads. Many consider that figure to be 300,000 and growing. A study in Family Science shows that interaction with fathers can provide a significant amount of academic rewards later in life.
When my wife was pregnant, she was nervous about being able to care for our daughter. I told her it wasn’t a big deal, because I had practice bottle feeding and changing diapers with my little brother and cousins. The only thing I couldn’t do was breast feed her. She was on her own there. Godspeed! When that day came and our daughter was born. Who do you think changed her very first diaper? This guy!
I give my daughter baths, help her up on the potty, cook dinner for the family, read her bedtime stories, brush teeth, get her dressed, make her breakfast…
So to Huggies I say, “You can keep your diapers!” I never liked them any way. Our diapers of choice were Target’s Up brand. Good protection at almost half the cost.
But what the heck do I know, right? I’m just the dad.
aadmin is a contributor at DadPulse. We are committed to providing well-researched, accurate, and valuable content to our readers.
