baby

Why the comments about a photo of Daniel Craig with his baby are doing dads no favours.

 

On Sunday, Daniel Craig was photographed carrying his one-month-old daughter in a front baby carrier while taking a walk in New York.

Right.

Cool.

No news here.

It was just a photo of a (very famous) father going for a walk with his newborn, who he and wife Rachel Weisz welcomed in September. Nothing out of the ordinary.

But then British journalist and TV presenter Piers Morgan said… things. Ridiculous things.

Morgan tweeted a paparazzi photo of Craig on the walk, writing: “Oh 007.. not you as well?!!! #papoose #emasculatedBond”.

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Yeah. Morgan suggested that Craig taking his daughter for a walk while wearing a papoose (that’s a strange British word for baby carrier, FYI) meant he was less of a man.

So, uh, that’s bad enough. But then he explained himself further.

“He’s using an emasculating papoose. James Bond would never use a papoose to carry his babies.”

He later tweeted: “Carrying a baby is harder work, but worth it for the unashamedly masculine joy of NOT Wearing a papoose.”

Sigh. How fragile must someone’s masculinity be if it is ‘damaged’ by carrying their baby? We bet James Bond is very secure in his masculinity.

Carrying your child is in no way emasculating and to suggest otherwise is just ridiculous – and harmful.

A 2014 Australian study of child development found that mothers spent an average of 19 hours per week caring for children, compared to 10 hours for fathers.

Morgan is perfectly demonstrating the kind of attitude that can discourage dads from being hands-on parents and unfairly burdens mums with all of the work. This is harmful for dads, mums and the children.

Thankfully, while Morgan continued to bicker with people in response to his tweets, dads started doing something great.

They shared photos of themselves challenging the outdated stereotypes Morgan was stuck on – by securing their babies in baby carriers because they needed two free hands… or just because they damn well wanted to.

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One dad (a retired wrestler!) shared a picture of him wearing an Elsa costume, because hell yes.

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Even Captain America chimed in. Chris Evans’ had a perfect response:

Piers Morgan has dedicated hours to responding to people calling out his opinion online which seems… weird. Going for a walk with his four children would be a much better way to spend his time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯