Some high powered, high paid women still possess the traditional powers.

My now retired, formerly high paid executive / professional wife just nudged me as I was washing dishes and purred, "You will be rewarded".

Works for me.

I am not troubled by Stingrat's letter. I see it as a plea for discussion and understanding, particularly from men.

I am a 66 year old grandfather. I have two granddaughters and two grandsons.

Without a doubt, my fondest memories of my own childhood relate to my relationship with my maternal grandmother. Conversely, my most troubled memories of my own childhood relate to my father's mother. We had no relationship, only painful shared experiences, . I have worked very hard in my own life to pass on the things I learned from my mother's mother, and to let the pain of my father's mother remain in the past. It has not been easy.

I remember the era of “Leave it to Beaver”, and “Father Knows Best”. We now have “Desperate Housewives” and “Big Love”. In my view, all are more fiction than fact. The point is - times have changed.

In my view, the answer to the subject of this discussion is for both men and women to recognize the symbiotic nature of our existence. As I'm fond to telling my sometimes sexist six year old grandson, “Without girls there would be no boys.” At six he does not yet understand my meaning, but one day he will. My point is - we (men and women) need each other.

While men must participate in solving this problem, we cannot solve this problem alone. In my view, a workable answer to this problem will require strong leadership from women who recognize that men are not the enemy.

My wife is a fabulous woman.

rmberkowitz and MerelyMortalMale have pretty well staked out the bookends of sanity with regard to this issue. Nevertheless, the reality of our symbiotic existence remains. We still need each other. We still cannot live without each other.

How do we reach a place where we can provide the safest place possible for our kids and grandkids?

You are not hurting my feelings. You are, however, depriving your kids.

Here is what's going on in my house this morning.

The young mother is sleeping in. Her six year old son, under the close supervision of his father, is feeding the two week old baby girl. Granny is making pancakes. Grandpa is helping Granny and taking pictures. He slipped off briefly to post this message.

This nutcracker is pure marketing genius. The creator expresses his opinion, makes a bunch of money, and has a lot of fun doing it.

If Aussie law is anything like US law, these women can bring the case. If I was on the jury, however, I would vote to give them zip (nothing).

If this was a wife & husband (man) situation it would not get any coverage in the general press. It might get written up in some law journal, however it certainly wouldn't be covered here.

An interesting side issue:

In the event of a breakup, does the nonbiological mother get to pay child support?

It is my belief, based on 35 years of professional experience as a CPA, that women in general have difficulty delegating. Exceptionally competent women, particularly those who multitask easily, tend to "do it themselves" rather than delegate. Competent men (who know they cannot multitask) tend to delegate.

Until a debugger is mastered and understood, it would feel more like delegation (or consultation) than merely using a tool.

The nearest rally is over 70 miles away.

I just pulled up my congressional delegations votes on this matter. All three voted for it. I just emailed all three with a request to continue the support.

Klytaimnestra:

Patriarchy is a social order - it is about who is in charge. "Unresolved Oedipal urges" are just as probable (maybe more so) under a matriarchy. A male who refuses to recognize a mother's need to care for her child is simply immature (Peter Pan).

Western men have historically put their women and children ahead of themselves. While that may seem "quaint", it is still a reality in some parts of our society. As recently as last year I overheard a fundamentalist christian couple instructing their your son that "girls go first". While chivalry is certainly not as prevalent as it once was in our society, it not yet entirely dead.

While I recognize the need for corrective surgery (think cleft palate repair), I'm a lot less supportive of efforts to erase the inevitable effects of normal living.

Nothing in this study is surprising to me. People in a position to do so tend to hire people

1) they are comfortable with, and

2) that support their objectives.

What does surprise me is the paucity of comments by the readers.