Dianne Kunz
Jennifer Strong
English 1101-305
July 24, 2008
Parental Rights based on Gender
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy”, (Martin Luther King, Jr.). Do people really understand how biased our nation is in favor of mothers when it comes to who is the better parent? Is it fair society deems the better parent based exclusively on gender and not on character the very cause Martin Luther King Jr. fought for? It is man, the father, who is directly affected by this issue. And while statistics will tell you 1 in 4 divorced fathers will not “man- up” to their responsibilities it is the good father, the involved father, and the loving father, who solely because they are male are rejected by the judicial system. In parental custody battles the judicial system primarily protects mother’s rights, and for two important defensible reasons; women will never be drafted in war and history has taught, mothers biologically have a greater connection to their children, but society has evolved, and men have become better husbands and better fathers. The judicial system, although, has yet to evolve leaving good fathers fighting the injustice. So as Martin Luther King Jr. has expressed fathers are fighting “controversy and challenge” so how will history judge these generations’ fathers.
“In a 1996 poll by the Knight-Ridder news agency, more Americans chose the 1950’s than any other single decade as the best time for children to grow up”(What We Really Miss about the 1950’s, Coontz, 76 ). The 1950’s were the ...