How did I miss this fact before? Antonin Scalia, the core of the fundamentalist—er, sorry, originalist—wing of the Supreme Court, has nine children. Nine.
As Michael Kinsley notes in today’s semi-satirical essay:
Is this normal? Or should I say “normal,” as some people choose to define it? Can he represent the views of ordinary Americans when he practices such a minority lifestyle? After all, having nine children is far more unusual in this country than, say, being a lesbian.
Given that he’s out-procreated the Gosselins by one, I see a reality-TV series in his future. Nino’s Nine. I’d watch it: Even though I find his political tilt infuriating, Scalia is a genius of legal scholarship, and (to my reading) has the most formidable pure logician’s brain on the court. I’ve love to see him in a position where he’s trying to parse a phrase like, say, “well-regulated militia,” one syllable at a time, only to find that, as he speaks, his child has quietly been smearing jelly on him.
In all seriousness, though, you have to wonder how much of an involved parent he was. The demands of a career that takes one to the Supreme Court at the age of 50 involve a lot of nights and weekends at work. I have to assume that he handed most of the child-rearing off, and that what little time he had to offer was split nine ways. Mrs. Scalia is either saintly, exhausted, bitter, a deep and true believer in her husband’s primacy, or (plausibly) all of the above.
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I think this is an interesting qeustion and complicated answer.Let me first say that I am a 12 year at-home dad. So I do not work outside of the home, but I do all of the childcare and household duties associated with being the at-home parent. So I know a lot of active dads. Both those that stay at home full-time and those that work outside of the home. Just the other day I went on a field trip with my kindergartener. 1/3 of the parent volunteers were dads which is a lot different from when my oldest was in kindergarten.I think there is a movement going on in the home that mirrors that of women in the workplace. Dads are becoming more involved in home and childcare duties and they are having to fight for space and respect.Recently there was a kerfuffle with Huggies when they came out with a campaign to put their diapers and wipes to the dad test. It played on the stereotypes of a dad who cannot handle being alone with his own child. And dads (and moms) shot back. And it wasn’t just because I have done all of those things, it is because I don’t want the message sent out to other dads that they can’t and shouldn’t expect to do those things.And there were many moms that supported the campaign. They thought it was an accurate expression of men. I read the blog of one of the moms that commented and she had a story about her husband giving their child a bath and she had to rush in and take over because he was doing it wrong. The child wasn’t in any physical danger, he just wasn’t doing it the way she did.If men continue to get the message that belittles their activities as fathers then it is natural for them to recoil from even attempting to change diapers or take care of their kids.Some men are just dopes. But if you married that kind of man, well you picked him. It is not because of his gender that he is unable to take care of his own kids.Men can not be mothers, but they can take care of their children. They can be the primary caregiver and they can take care of the home and do the laundry and make the meals. I can introduce you to a couple hundred of them. But they are not Mr Mom They are not a fill in for mom. They are full functioning parents who have a penis.Since you mention linguistics, mothering is taking care of a child, fathering is providing sperm.