Why Global Citizens Should Care
Feminism simply means gender equality, and the fight is on to release both women and men from the gnawing clutches of the patriarchy. And parenthood in particular is quite the battleground, as outdated gender roles grapple with the realities of modern life. Take action to protect parents around the world here.

Piers Morgan: television personality, professional antagonist — and, as he likes reminding us, proud winner of Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice over a decade ago — has sent a contoversial tweet about Daniel Craig and a baby papoose.

It’s true: Morgan — who told a whole country to “man up” on mental health, who insists the existence of the transgender community means he should be able to identify as an elephant, who demanded details of Caitlyn Jenner sex organs live on air, who must surely now win the BAFTA for most embarrassing barbeque grandad without actually having any grandkids — has typed 54 characters onto a website and pressed send.

It’s among the 62 other posts he released into the ether between Monday night and Tuesday lunchtime — with a singular, unrelenting focus: a spotted, black papoose.

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Specifically, it’s about a baby holder worn by James Bond actor Daniel Craig in New York to carry his one-month old daughter — and what Morgan perceives as a slight on modern manhood.

“Oh 007.. not you as well?!!!” Morgan wrote on Monday with the hashtags #papoose and #emasculatedBond.

Morgan expanded his position on papooses (papoosi?) in further tweets, describing them as “ridiculous instruments of emasculation”, “embarrassing”, and “unnecessary”, arguing that “they’re only doing it because their wives/girlfriends told them to.”

The debate over how men should carry their children then seeped into Good Morning Britain — the television show he co-hosts every weekday morning with Susanna Reid — and, after Morgan brought US President Donald Trump into the scuffle, the conversation went global. 

And fathers all over the world lurched into a heartwarming coupe d'etat.

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“When my son was born, I intentionally removed my shirt and laid down with him, cradling him against my skin,” said one tweet. “It was one of the best and most magical moments of my life. Secure, strong fathers actually bond to their children and don’t succumb to ancient gender roles.”

It seems the papoose is going nowhere — and the solidarity was beautiful, hilarious, and quite the mic drop.

And, no, it’s not a sign of the times. 

In fact, there’s evidence to suggest that the papoose goes as far back as Timothy Dalton and The Living Daylights.

It even popped up in Sex and the City.

And if you thought dads were superheroes, well, you’d be right — but also: Captain America joined the fray! Or rather, Chris Evans, the feminist hunk who wears his shield.

“You really have to be so uncertain of your own masculinity to concern yourself with how another man carries his child,” Evans tweeted. “Any man who wastes time quantifying masculinity is terrified on the inside.”

In case you missed the memo, the world is intrinsically patriarchal — almost every aspect of life has in some way been shaped by prehistoric notions of men as the omni-dominant sex. It touches everything: from long queues to the ladies toilets to sexual abuse, child marriage, and systematic economic disempowerment.

Feminism really does just mean gender equality, and everybody needs to join the fight to benefit both women and men. Especially when it comes to having kids, and the archetypal characters of Man the Provider and Woman the Carer. 

So when those tropes are reinforced in mass-culture, it’s fair to challenge it right at the source — and to support each other while we do it. And, oh boy, did women get involved.

Jon Nevill, founder of educational resource This Dad Can, told HuffPost that Morgan’s ideas of masculinity simply do not reflect the “proactive” dads embracing progressive parenting.

“The irony is that Piers’ comments are the most emasculating factor here,” said Nevill. “Piers’ appetite to prescribe, deprive, and make men less effective at parenting ultimately demonstrates how isolated and out of touch he is with modern parenting.”

Luckily, Dictionary.com offered an olive branch. It never was about parenting, was it?

TopicsFeminismDaniel CraigPiers Morgan007James BondGood Morning BritainDadsParenthoodMasculinityFatherhood

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Dads Fight Back After Daniel Craig Mocked For Carrying His Baby

By James Hitchings-Hales  and  Carmen Singer