The best babysitter by far that I have ever had for my two boys is a 20-year old man who works at my younger son’s daycare and moonlights as my weekend sitter. He’s just good with by, very responsible, trained and CPR certified. What more could a parent want? (By the way, he is excellent with girls too, i just happen to have boys. So his appeal to me is not all about the fact that he does boy-stuff with my boys).

His goal is to eventually be an elementary school teacher and thought childcare in the meantime was relevant to his career pursuits and also something he loves to do. But, despite a shortage of qualified care providers in our area, he had trouble finding work. He told me he felt like some employers thought it was odd that a man would apply and passed on his application. Luckily for me, my childcare center looked at his qualifications and not his gender.

A few of my mom-friends have asked me if I think having a man as a babysitter is appropriate, to which I reply that what is appropriate is to have quality childcare. Period.

they can hop into any occupation and be lauded as being better at that job than the people who normally do it

Which is NOT to say that white men suck at childcare, as this will likely be the one, incorrect sentiment you get out of the above post. Feminists have been arguing for years that men should be more involved with children. When the demographics of a women-dominated occupation change, though, it merits discussion.

Non-white people get shit jobs.
Non-white men are viewed as threatening, by white women especially.
Non-white men are too threatening to be trusted with white women’s babies.
Non-white women, on the other hand, are at the bottom of the race AND the gender totem poles, and nothing makes more sense than for a lower group to devote themselves to raising the next generation of the upper group. Theoretically, it keeps them from devoting their resources to their own children and precludes them from advancing their societal position.
That covers the second statement.

Now then, your conflation of my first statement, white men being ‘above’ childcare, with white men being ‘evil’, is disingenuous. I was saying that when childcare was devalued, the stereotypical traits of white men were considered to make them incapable of good child care. Now that white men are increasingly being hired for childcare, their traits are being redefined as uniquely suited for childcare. Clearly, the ability to change the definition of an occupation shows that white men have carried their privelege with them into mannie-dom, and they carry it back out with them when they graduate from being mannies to having a real job. Privilege is something you seem to have a hard time with.

You seem to be hung up on the physical aspect of the job,* and the stricter gender expectations in some non-white cultures as the reason why non-white men aren’t mannies. I am postulating that (1) non-white men aren’t trusted to care for white children even if they wanted to, and (2) white men have enough privelege that they can hop into any occupation and be lauded as being better at that job than the people who normally do it, even if said job is normally performed by people with less privelege (below) white men.

*Actually, I have no idea what the fuck you’re hung up on. Challenging privelege is not hating men or masculinity, no matter how hard you try to be a victim.

Perhaps b/c white men are ‘above’ doing the physical labor that these days falls to non-white men?

Mm-hm. And if you think this refers to evil white men rather than to the privilege that society affords white men, you’re not very smart. White men are getting hired, whereas before women of color were getting hired. Therefore, it makes sense to postulate that increased valuation of childcare is changing the professional demographic with regard to race as well as gender.

Remember how men are so baby clueless that they don’t understand which end you spray the lighter fluid on?

OK, now that’s a funny mental image.

The real point is that piny is jealous cause he’s know he’d be a lousy Dad.

Until the kid was big enough to hold a socket wrench or a football. Then it’s all gender indoctrination!