She wants to stay at home with the kids. But she's a doctor, and the huge difference between her income and mine makes it ridiculous for her not to work. If I were supporting us, we'd be living in a shack. They complain of grueling 100-hour work weeks, with no breaks, vacation, bonuses or income. But the hardest part, they say, strikes at the heart of their masculinity.
Men are uneasy taking on a role that women scorned loudly a generation ago.
Birdsey objects when I call to interview him. Birdsey is a poet and painter who has studied in the hallowed halls of Oxford University. After recovering from his college years, he was a popular teacher at an alternative school in Atlanta. Now he's a full-time SAHD and lives in Vermont. In our 30s and 40s, we're supposed to be establishing ourselves.