A talented soccer player declares that he wants to leave the World Cup retreat to attend the birth of their first child with his partner. Is called Jérémy Doku is a Belgian winger and Manchester City player. His words: «No father should miss an event like this. I know that the federation supports the players and understands their situations. Let’s see what will happen.”
At this point one would expect a unanimous consensus to arise, applause for a man who attributes FrThe birth of your first child and being next to your wife at the time of giving birth are more important than playing a game, as important as the World Cup is (if Belgium goes ahead, it could be the quarter-finals).
But no, someone also objects to this choice of common sense, of humanity, which measures the growth of the male’s responsibility towards the birth and education of a child. And what is even more surprising is that the criticism comes from a woman: the journalist France Pierron ofTeam However, he commented on the story as follows: «When you have the chance to participate in a World Cup it is an incredible joy. There are hundreds of players who would do anything to be in your place and it might never happen to you again. And you leave all this to go and attend the birth of your child? The father is useless, he is just an extra at that moment.”
Jeremy Doku enters the field holding the hand of a child.
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters)
These words are striking: a father is useless, he is an extra in that moment. As if childbirth and the birth of a child were a woman’s exclusive affair. But isn’t this going back to a patriarchal and chauvinistic culture that thought exactly this? And now that males have finally understood the value of certain moments and certain relationships, of sharing family life in all its moments, are they being criticized, mostly by a woman?
Fortunately, the journalist’s unfortunate statement was immediately rejected in the television studio where she uttered them by the other guests, the Olympic boxing champion Brahim Asloum and the sports commentator Yoann Riou: “A child is your life and birth is the most important moment for a couple.”
