She found that while some of the books' authors make an effort at being gender neutral, they rarely succeed. The latent messages are clear. The relative importance of those latent and ambivalent messages in shaping both parental attitudes and practices may increase as parents turn more and more frequently to published parenting manuals for guidance. Now, in our mobile society, people want advice from professionals. More and more, that's what we rely on for information.
Parents are desperate for information.
And there is some evidence that people are following the advice given in these books, so it may be influencing what fathers do. The new father is the equal partner. Yet, when I look at the actual time spent, it isn't there. Men's commitment of time to parenting is quite modest. While parenting manuals have been almost as slow to change as traditional family institutions and structures, Finley says fathers and mothers should be aware of the latent messages in these guide books.