Men holding their babies in Zoom meetings

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in a very pro work life balance, pro family, casual work environment. And it’s great to be a parent and feel supported in that by your employer and to have that flexibility (I have young kids too). But I’ve noticed the only people who ever hold their babies in Zoom meetings are the men. I’m a woman and I feel like the women don’t have the luxury to advertise their child rearing responsibilities even at a progressive company like mine. Sometimes I even find it irritating that these guys likely don’t even realize the privilege they have and how women for decades have had to hide their home life at work, and still do, yet men are seen as great dads and employees by flaunting it.

It’s also just distracting to me, man or woman. If it happens once in a blue moon because childcare fell through, fine. But one male coworker has his baby in a team meeting every week. Apparently there’s a nanny at home so not sure why the baby is too.

The second bolded is a natural consequence of the first bolded.

[Anonymous]

You know what, who cares. Let's normalize seeing people with kids on occasion. If a bunch of dudes are doing it, that means when a woman has to do it then no one can say anything. Yes, Dads get more points for childcare than Moms-- because historically they haven't fulfilled these roles, and now they are stepping up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in a very pro work life balance, pro family, casual work environment. And it’s great to be a parent and feel supported in that by your employer and to have that flexibility (I have young kids too). But I’ve noticed the only people who ever hold their babies in Zoom meetings are the men. I’m a woman and I feel like the women don’t have the luxury to advertise their child rearing responsibilities even at a progressive company like mine. Sometimes I even find it irritating that these guys likely don’t even realize the privilege they have and how women for decades have had to hide their home life at work, and still do, yet men are seen as great dads and employees by flaunting it.

It’s also just distracting to me, man or woman. If it happens once in a blue moon because childcare fell through, fine. But one male coworker has his baby in a team meeting every week. Apparently there’s a nanny at home so not sure why the baby is too.

I’ve held my baby in a zoom meeting. I’ve also had my four year old come up to me and tell me she has to poop. I’m pregnant with my third and I’ll probably have to hold that baby at some point. My kids are in prek and preschool respectively and we have a FT nanny, but things happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yep, there’s a dad in my office who shares every last little development of his kids- first poop, lost tooth, etc. Loud kids screaming in the background. Working moms would not try to get away with this.

my god. I am so glad I work where I work. I am a 40 year old dad with a young child. He goes to daycare, but coworkers and supervisors ask about him all the time. I do not volunteer information without being asked, though. Many of my coworkers and supervisors are female. Everyone talks about their kids. Nobody is held back because they had kids, especially now that we have paid parental leave. I have seen supervisors and line workers go on maternity/paternity leave and suffer no professional consequences.

If anything, I feel more connected to a lot of my colleagues because I have a kid. I am invited to join the parent groups at work and feel like I have more in common when my female supervisors discuss their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep, there’s a dad in my office who shares every last little development of his kids- first poop, lost tooth, etc. Loud kids screaming in the background. Working moms would not try to get away with this.

my god. I am so glad I work where I work. I am a 40 year old dad with a young child. He goes to daycare, but coworkers and supervisors ask about him all the time. I do not volunteer information without being asked, though. Many of my coworkers and supervisors are female. Everyone talks about their kids. Nobody is held back because they had kids, especially now that we have paid parental leave. I have seen supervisors and line workers go on maternity/paternity leave and suffer no professional consequences.

If anything, I feel more connected to a lot of my colleagues because I have a kid. I am invited to join the parent groups at work and feel like I have more in common when my female supervisors discuss their kids.

That’s great but because of your male privilege you don’t have to worry about the negative effects like women do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep, there’s a dad in my office who shares every last little development of his kids- first poop, lost tooth, etc. Loud kids screaming in the background. Working moms would not try to get away with this.

my god. I am so glad I work where I work. I am a 40 year old dad with a young child. He goes to daycare, but coworkers and supervisors ask about him all the time. I do not volunteer information without being asked, though. Many of my coworkers and supervisors are female. Everyone talks about their kids. Nobody is held back because they had kids, especially now that we have paid parental leave. I have seen supervisors and line workers go on maternity/paternity leave and suffer no professional consequences.

If anything, I feel more connected to a lot of my colleagues because I have a kid. I am invited to join the parent groups at work and feel like I have more in common when my female supervisors discuss their kids.

That’s great but because of your male privilege you don’t have to worry about the negative effects like women do.

You have conveniently ignored the part of my message where I said that women also talk about their kids, participate in parent groups, have advanced to become supervisors. In fact, there are more females in supervisory positions than males.