Monday, January 24, 2011

Have You Ever Been Kicked Out of a Playground?

In this week's Wall Street Journal, Free-Range Kids author Lenore Skenazy explores what happens when all men are treated like predators.

This got me to thinking: Exactly how many guys have had the experience of being excluded from gatherings of children and parents? To get the answer, I created this survey, which I hope you will take and pass on to other male caregivers. I'll report the results here on Daddy Dialectic.


6 comments:

Clint said...

I wrote a post a couple years ago about a Dad in Surrey, BC who was asked to leave a playgroup because the other Moms thought he might be a threat because he was male. http://dadventure.ca/2008/10/21/surrey-dad-and-son-banned-from-playgroup/

KC said...

Where'd you find this video? I've shared the WSJ story and your post on Twitter using the #dadstalking tag. Hope you don't mind.

BloggerFather said...

Was never too bad with me. I did get weird looks once, from men and women. I wasn't sure if it was my crazy beard or that they could tell I came from the less-well-off part of town.

Turns out my fly was open the whole time.

Beta Dad said...

I'm a full-time dad, and I'm in a group called Asian Mamas (although I'm neither). I haven't picked up any weird vibes from them. Of course, I can be pretty oblivious to the vibes that are sent my way. So far, though, no one has said or done anything that made me feel like a suspected perv in my mom group, at the playground, or anywhere else. It might have to do with where we live--in a very diverse and funky part of town.

I think that, if I were asked to leave, I would be more crushed than angry, and would probably question myself as to why they thought I was threatening. Then I would get angry after a few days of stewing about it.

chicago pop said...

Never happened to me, thankfully. As much as I've blogged about some of these prejudices and the uncomfortable situations they can generate, things have never gone that far. Curious to see the results of the survey (which I'll be sure to take myself.)

Mompetition said...

Hello there, to answer KC, thank you for sharing one of my video. Would you mind if I put up the reference for you?

http://themompetition.com

Thanks!