INTECOM (Paper 1)
Choi, Daryl Lorraine
HBH
Does being more of a father make one less of a man? This question is connected to the phenomenon that as more women work, more men take up responsibilities in the home that lead many to coin the word “house husband”. As more dads stay home while moms go to work, questions regarding old notions of masculinity begin to creep up in Philippine society. This kind of happening has been observed in western civilizations for quite some time and now we ask ourselves if this is also applicable to Philippine society.
These incidents are not limited to stay-at-home dads but include those moms who make more money than the dads. More and more women now leave the house and work outside their homes; studies have shown that increasing number of Filipino women working abroad as Overseas Filipino Workers have contributed to the growing observation of house husbands.
****INTERNET: (Look for Banko Central statistics on OFWs. Look at the last 5-10 years. See how many men and how many women have registered as OFWs.)
There are also many women from the rural areas migrating to big cities to work as domestic helpers, factory laborers, and office workers. Some of them leave their children behind to the care of their husbands or relatives. And now, Filipinos are beginning to accept the social development of stay-at-home dads. Many dads now replace moms in taking care of the children and doing basic household chores while moms work outside, and sometimes in Manila or abroad as OFWs.
What motives people to have children? Why do dads agree to stay home while moms go to work? Filipinos have always valued family and close family ties. Stay-at-home dads contribute by guiding the children thru example and the moral incentives of having children and at the same time being a stay-at-home dad is that, the children can comfort him and make him happy and they can also give encouragement when he is down. Fathers can teach his...