Are men bad parents?

New fathers don't have to meet all the expectations mothers do, said Brett Singer in ParentDish, but why do so many people seem stuck on the silly "notion that women are somehow wired for parenting and men are not"? British newspapers are citing Michael Lewis' new book Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood as evidence that men have to adjust in order to love their children. In the age of modern parenting, that "sounds pretty old-fashioned to me."

Plenty of guys say men aren't natural parents, said Ellie White in Britain's The Sun. In addition to Michael Lewis, who writes that fatherhood can be "boring and demoralizing," there's Ben George, editor of the literary journal Ecotone, who says men are only beginning to talk openly about the "dark moments of fatherhood." And Fox News broadcaster Steve Doocy, author of the forthcoming book Tales From the Dad Side: Misadventures in Fatherhood, says men aren't wired for parenting the way women are.

Men are wired to be good parents, said Aaron Traister in Salon, but many struggle to overcome pressure from a society that still tells them they should be making money and not taking care of babies. The old gender roles started crumbling the moment our moms entered the workforce. Instead of clinging to the responsibilities men think we should have, we should "embrace the ones that are right in front of us," the ones wearing the droopy diapers.

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