Photo Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
New York Mets baseball player Daniel Murphy and his wife welcomed their first son into the world last week; and I hope that when little Noah grows up he will understand the positive impact his father had on advancing diversity and inclusion.
Because of Murphy’s stance to use his contract allowed paternity leave to be with his family, we can put another big check mark in the “win” for inclusion.
It was however, not just his action, but the reactions of some in the sports world that also make the event so impactful. Hearing the critics who thought he should have hired a nurse or his wife should have planned a C-section let us know that there are lingering attitudes about gender roles when it comes to child care.
“One day I understand,” WFAN host Mike Francesa said. “And in the old days they didn’t do that. But one day, go see the baby be born and come back. You’re a Major League Baseball player. You can hire a nurse to take care of the baby if your wife needs help.”
Francesa’s comment that “in the old days they didn’t do that” is the point! It is not the old days anymore Mike! Fathers do not wait outside for the doctor or nurse to come to tell them they had a boy or a girl. They are a part of the birthing process. They don’t “see” the baby being born. They experience it and want to meet their child, see their first movements, and enjoy the miracle with their beloved.
I am so glad that this issue got the media attention that it did because if there were others who were thinking like Francesa, they now have been exposed to a very different worldview which I hope will give them pause to reevaluate and recognize that it is not the “old days”.
I also hope that this will open up dialogue and change attitudes in corporations on the issue of maternity and paternity leave. Women are often made to feel guilty and penalized career wise for taking time off and men are viewed as “not manly” if they exercise their rights to paternity leave. Attitudes are slow to change but hopefully the Dan Murphy’s of the world will keep coming forward.
