Could not agree more that men need to learn/recognize that their role is just as important as a woman's, that having a vagina and breasts not only doesn't make someone an automatic nurturer but also doesn't make them more important or influential in the daily lives of kids (including cooking for, buying clothes with, and all other parental duties that include the ho-hum and the day-to-day, all of which have a side-effect of allowing parent and child to know each other better).

I don't think it's as simple as asking dads to be there. We as a society emphasize MOMS ARE EVERYTHING - good or bad - and dads are secondary. We're shocked when they're single dads (heroes!) and aren't surprised if they bail. We expect little of them and have made that apparent through our media, just as we've conditioned women through media to feel like crap if they don't want kids. So much needs to change to communicate the message that being a father is more than paying bills that the question becomes...where to start?

(I'm one of two daughters to a single dad, so I know for a fact that "nurturer" doesn't belong to women. It's just a convenient assignment.)