Four Reasons Men Need Paternity Leave

I was saddened, but not entirely surprised, by the response New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy received from the sports world for taking the first couple games of the new season off to be with his family during the birth of his child.

I was particularly disappointed with Boomer Esiason, retired football quarterback, who said on a sports radio program that Murhpy should “get his ass back to work,” and that if he had wanted to witness his child’s birth, his wife should have planned a C-section around the start of the season.

American sports idolatry aside, this points to a much bigger issue in our culture. Yes, Boomer later apologized for his remarks, but the fact that it could even be considered tolerable to say such things, both about Murphy and particularly about his wife’s body, suggests we have a long way to go before we can claim to have our priorities in order as a society.

Read more about my thoughts on this, including four specific reasons men should get paternity leave, and let me know what you think. Have you or your male partner been given paternity leave? Ever been denied it? What was your experience?