I know -- this may be the most awkwardly named competition in history. And perhaps even one of the silliest. But I'll take the Most Mentally Sexy Dad competition over 'The Farmer Wants a Wife' any day.Over at MMSD HQ, the five finalists have been announced. There were 73 entrants in this year's competition.
As organiser extraordinaire Clint Greagon says:
...Even though we've built this idea into a contest to help promote what we reckon is a very positive message, the bottom line is that every entry is a winner.
In the end we're simply celebrating great Dads who do what they think is best for their families and think that gender role stereotypes were only created to provide gags for 1950s sitcoms. They're also having a bit of fun and providing some great male role models.
Reading the entries for the MMSD comp turns me into a watery mess every time. Whether the winner is the man who "can leap tall piles of toys in a single bound (and pack them away afterwards)", the one who "likes to schedule - can you believe that?" or the one who allows his partner "to dream, without trying to rein me in", what these men clearly have in common is that they put their families first.
The entries describe men who are totally there, alongside their partners, in dealing with the full catastrophe: work, kids, housework, illness... whatever comes the family's way.
It's a celebration of what a modern family can look like when both parents are taking an equal share of the load -- and the results seem to be a lot of laughs. And a lot of good loving, if you know what I mean...
Image: Most Mentally Sexy Dad entrant Ian
3 comments:
You know, Rachel: why not just "Father of the Year"? Farcically, we always have as such these high achieving men, (like, possibly, this year's winner, Angus Houston), who possibly spent little time at home, and whose achievements were no doubt greatly enabled by their wives. Why do we let this nonsense go on?
Or, why not "Man of the year"? for the right kind of bloke, married or not?
Or why not just, as a challenge, "Sexiest man", because how can he be truly sexy if his thoughts are askew?
I don't like the "mentally sexy" title because...erm, most people prefer physical rather than mental sex.
It is an awkward title, though i think it came from a quote. But the great thing about this comp is that it celebrates the opposite of the traditional definition of 'high achievement' you mention. It's a celebration of all that invisible work that many fathers do -- and I suppose the focus is on fatherhood because that's when the domestic workload expands exponentially and becomes a real challenge for couples. It is a time when many couples collapse into conventional divisions of labour, despite their best intentions.
But you're right -- it is also about having a broad, and much more meaningful, definition of 'sexy'.
having found Rachel's blog through Resovoir Dad's AKA clint who set up the"mentally sexy dad" ompetition I'd like to defend the title: it is awkward and endearing and a little silly but it seems the nature of the competition is to celebrate those things as well as many others. And "mentally sexy dad" looks much better on a pair of black grundies then "father of the year".
And when your a breast feeding ceaserian cut mum: the "menatlly sexy" tag counts for a lot as the physical ain"t possible. And this is about celebrating dads of all shapes and sizes. The word sexy has connatations (like it or not) that rely way to heavily on the external. I have browsed these men's entrants and found them all mentally stimulating :)Go them: ps i have also found more of myself in a blog devoted to stay at home dads then to many many many of the "mum" ones: perhaps because like the dads i also feel a tension with societies image of the at home care giver ..... that and i just like the way clint, damon and you rachel write
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