Male+female parenting is best

Artificial families are not optimal for children

A single man wanted a baby of his own, so he hired a surrogate to deliver the child. But what will he say when his son declares he wants a mother of his own?

Society is beginning to suffer in fundamental ways from this kind of self-indulgence, and especially from the form manifested in the civilisation-destroying triumph of gender ideology.

One way that society is being affected detrimentally by the explosion in our midst of "gay rights" and by the tragedy of same-sex marriage, is in the loss of the rich insight from time immemorial that a child needs parents who are male and female. Conversely, each child is in the best environment when they are raised by their own biological mother and father.

A thorough reading of the academic literature makes it plain that parents of each sex have distinctive attributes and combined, they complement each other. That said, it goes without saying that the devoted single mothers and fathers bringing up children deserve only praise from society.

However, the University of Texas Child and Family Research Center can stress in its document "Five things you should know about the importance of fathers", that children suffer through the absence of a committed male father:  

Involved fatherhood is linked to better outcomes on nearly every measure of child wellbeing, from cognitive development and educational achievement to self-esteem and pro-social behavior. Children who grow up with involved fathers are:

39% more likely to earn mostly A’s in school,

45% less likely to repeat a grade,

60% less likely to be suspended or expelled from school,

twice as likely to go to college and find stable employment after high school,

75% less likely to have a teen birth, and

80% less likely to spend time in jail.

This post will delve into substantial research on the subject of female-male parenting, but, first, interesting findings:

Dads [...] seem to offer a unique touch, with at least one study suggesting that fathers are better than mothers at teaching children how to swim because they are less overprotective and more likely to let their children venture into the deep end or swim facing away from them.

Broadly, the research suggests that boys lean on their fathers more than anyone else as they develop social skills. And one large study of nearly 9,000 adults confirmed that a father’s death affects sons more strongly than daughters, leading to the same sort of health problems seen after an ugly divorce.

Most studies suggest that, until children hit puberty, the father effect is roughly equal for boys and girls. Both boys and girls who are fortunate enough to have dads in their lives excel and, in some cases, outperform their peers. But when hormones kick in, studies demonstrate that dads suddenly become the arbiters of their children’s sexual behavior too. This is most acutely felt by teenage daughters, who take fewer sexual risks if they have strong relationships with their dads.

Although DelPriore examined several outside factors, one of the most salient links between a woman and her sexual decision-making was how close she felt to her father [as a man]. 

Promundo, a global group promoting sexual equality, provides these research results:

Over the last four decades, efforts by researchers and practitioners have contributed to increase the body of evidence that improved the conceptualization and understanding of the myriad ways fathers can positively impact the health and wellbeing of children. Though most of the research is from the Global North, it has become clear that fathers can and do distinctly contribute to foundational components for children’s growth and development including nutrition and safety, early learning and responsive care (WHO, 2018).[My emphasis]

Fathers’ positive engagement in their children’s upbringing has been linked to children’s improved physical and mental health, better cognitive development and educational achievement, improved peer relations and capacity for empathy, fewer behavioral problems (in boys) and psychological problems (in girls), higher self-esteem and life satisfaction, lower rates of depression, fear and selfdoubt into adulthood, lower rates of criminality and substance abuse, and more openness to critically examining traditional gendered roles (Levtov et al., 2015). 

The distinctiveness of how each sex relates to their children is clear from a 2019 paper from UC Berkeley. The author states:

I provide evidence on the role of parent gender. Fathers are more likely than mothers to enter their child into competition, and this difference is sizeable enough to make fathers choose more competition for girls than mothers do for boys. The difference in mothers’ and fathers’ choices is not explained by a difference in their beliefs about children’s preferences. Rather, it appears that parents’ choices are partly determined by the competitiveness preferences of parents themselves, with fathers being more willing than mothers to compete (51 percent versus 32 percent). 

Another instance of sex coming to the fore naturally in dealing with children is this:

Also, lesbian biological mothers typically assumed greater caregiving responsibility than their partners, reflecting inequities among heterosexual couples. 

The traditional family has survived for good reason. Schumm reports on research findings:

Relationship instability appears to be higher among gay and lesbian parent couples and may be a key mediating factor influencing outcomes for children.

Western society has let itself down by not defending more vigorously the foundations of what makes for a healthy existence, especially for the most vulnerable. The tide-change in mentality toward aggressive individualism fostered the narcissistic sexual revolution, no-fault divorce, and now the massive family-redefinition machine.  

Psychiatrist and distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association Scott Haltzman observes:

Parenting styles correlate to biological differences between men and women. Women, compared to men, have higher levels of oxytocin—the hormone responsible for emotional bonding—and oxytocin receptors. Oxytocin serves to calm anxiety, reduce motor activity, and foster an increase in touch. In contrast, testosterone—present in men at levels tenfold higher than women—is correlated to an increase in motor activity in infant boys and may be responsible for higher levels of physical activities in men compared to women.

Rob Palkovitz, professor of human development and family studies at the University of Delaware writes,

As far as biological sex goes, men tend to be firmer and more nondirective than women as parents, while women tend to be more responsive, structured, and regimented than men. Fathers are more demanding of children in regard to problem solving than mothers and make more action-related demands for accomplishment of tasks. Fathers tend to be more unconventional in their toy and object use than mothers and use objects to engage in physical contact with children to a greater degree than mothers. Fathers also destabilize children during play through the use of teasing to a greater extent than mothers.

Rutgers University sociologist David Popenoe, notes that fathers “emphasize play more than caretaking and their play is more likely to involve a rough-and-tumble approach”. 

Further:

Fathers emphasize more competition, risk-taking, and independence while mothers stress more self-paced play, that is, mothers tend to encourage more play that is at their child’s level. For example, fathers are more likely to encourage their kids to go hiking with them and take a more challenging trail. Fathers are more likely to engage in wrestling and grappling with their kids and also to play sports that are more physically demanding. By promoting and encouraging diverse activities, fathers and mothers build their children up in distinct ways.

The 2010 research conclusions from Biblarz and Stacey that there was no difference in outcomes for children raised by male-female and those by same-sex couples have been well and truly debunked with the preponderance of research in the past 10 years producing evidence that children need male-female parents to be equipped to thrive. 

Children's rights are a much neglected area. It shouldn't be that way, but thanks to the successful push for legislation introduced on behalf of adults' "rights", society is going to have to learn from its suffering as children grow up in less than optimal environments and wreak havoc through mental illness, drug consumption and anti-social behaviour. Reality will win out.

So let's get back to reality, away from the woke-imposed anti-scientism that flows through the study of history, through sociology, and into a debilitating form of family life. 

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