Suzanonline,

You seem an honourable feminist, so maybe you can answer this question.

How come, and I repeat, how come honourable, gracious, honest feminists haven’t been calling for women to see their children only once a fortnight and half the school holidays, and to be out working so that they can pay child support.

I’ve never heard a feminist say that women should be doing that.

So, how come.

Dear Vanna,
As you put it all so nicely above..... I will answer you to the best of my lowly female self!

I have never said I was a feminist, ever. I don't like labels.
However, I can answer you as a woman who has had some varied life experiences, if that is ok?

In actual fact I don't presently know any divorced couples who share the custody of their children as you describe - at least not since the 1980's.

My own father left my mother in the '80s to move in with his girlfriend and her two kids. There were four of us teenagers at home with mum. He never paid her a cent maintenance.
My mum did it hard alright.

My best friend and several close female workmates who have had relationship breakdowns at various times over the past 10 years, all share the custody of their kids 50/50 with the fathers of the kids.

The arrangement my neighbour has is one week she has the kids, and the next week they go to their dads place. And so it goes on all year.

I'm thinking the reasons they do this arrangement so well is because none of them felt the need to go to the courts for custody. They worked it out for themselves.
They seem to also manage the financial arrangements reasonably well at the same time. Of course, they have their problems, like all families.
They seem to put the kids needs first though.

First point in this story is that the mother broke the law.

Secondly it was not that long ago in Australia where a father failed to return the child after his visitation and virtually the whole australian police force, and the media were out to find him.

If I recall correctly he was gaoled.(when I find the links I'll post them)

It is good that Suzie does know of instances where 50/50 works. However there are mothers who do regard children as their property and dads as a mere inconvenience.

Recent findings of the ombusman found that the child support agency is biased against men. Yet in Australia there are no legally enforcable penalities to encourage custodial mothers to comply with visitation orders/arrangments, the police do not get involved, until a dad fails to return a child.

Suzanonline,
I can’t seem to get an answer to this question, but it is so fundamental.

If 90% of the time the children are with the mother, and the man works and pays the child support, then gracious feminists should be calling on more women to work and only see their children occasionally, or not at all.

But I don’t hear that from gracious, honest, truthfull, nonbigoted, nonprejuiced, nonparasitic feminists.

It does seem incredible that so many men build the buildings, run most of the schools, run most of the hospitals, develop most of industry, pay most tax, do most of everything really, but can’t see their own children because these men are evil and abuse “women and their children”.

In the case of the article, the ex fire commissioner couldn’t see his own child because he would abuse them. Yet he was wanted as a fire commissioner.

There are more and more questions. If only I could find a honest feminist to answer such questions.

Questions generally have question marks.

JamesH

>>> However there are mothers who do regard children as their property and dads as a mere inconvenience. <<<

And there are fathers who hold the same ridiculous point of view.

>>> Recent findings of the ombudsman (sic) found that the child support agency is biased against men. <<<

11 of the senior staff of the CSA are male, 5 are female (that's if Nik Prisc is female). The CSA is stuck in a time warp believing that females should be the primary care-givers to children. It is not and has never been a feminist plot. Numbnuts.

http://www.csa.gov.au/agency/structure.aspx

Vanna

>>> You seem an honourable feminist, so maybe you can answer this question. <<<

You are so judgemental and ignorant you took my previous posts to you seriously, heard you fall in my moron pit way down here in Victoria.

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Back to topic, yes the mother did the wrong thing - she like many parents (male and female) thought she was doing it for the right reasons. And yes the father's attempt to reunite with his son is nothing short of heroic.

Now can we stop vilifying women?

Or do I start another piece of satire?