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March 2, 2007
Whither the mother?
Editor:
I have never written a letter to the editor of the Independent
before, but I find I am unable to let pass the unbalanced reporting
in your Feb. 16 issue ("How to be a really great dad").
Let me first say that I was relieved and delighted to see the story
and enormous photo. It has been weeks since the last report of the
Berger family's news and I was beginning to worry. He never calls,
he never e-mails and I have reason to believe he has been carrying
around for weeks a probably now-dog-eared thank-you note for a lovely
baby gift.
However, I was concerned by the approach of the article. While the
writer purports to be an engaged, concerned father, the depiction
of the unnamed mother as an angry, intolerant force to be reckoned
with betrays a clear sense of bias. It is my experience that the
mother in this story is at least as pleasant and good-natured as
the father, if not far more so. If there is a "dog house"
to be inhabited, one might infer a just sentence.
I was also concerned that the father, while cavalierly holding his
baby with two oddly splayed fingers, is also credited with taking
the photograph, suggesting a multitasking overextension unbecoming
a responsible parent. I am reminded of the one-handed Michael Jackson
incident. In his defence, the father-writer appears in an Old Navy
T-shirt, suggesting an appreciation for value (see article by same
author in the Bulletin, March 7, 2003, comparing costs at
Old Navy versus the Gap) that reflects a frugality appropriate to
a responsible young family.
Finally, I might suggest that, in the interest of balanced reporting,
that we hear the mother's perspective on this whole parenting and
marriage experience. Now that would be a story worth reading!
Pat Johnson
Delta
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