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18 January, 2007

Three-day parenthood

Male Dubai government employees can now get paid paternity leave. For three days. Which is about enough time to buy some flowers, visit the hospital, and smoke a cigar.

"The paternity leave is also a positive step. It's very important to have the father there, especially when the woman has undergone a caesarean section and needs to be taken care of."

For three days.

"Women who have given birth need to have their husbands beside them. This way the man can take care of the baby as well as his wife," she said.

For three days.

It's a step in the right direction if not much else. By the time the mother has recovered from the initial exhaustion of giving birth the father will be long back at the office, but never mind. At least he got enough time off for a cigar.

16 Comments:

Blogger Brn said...

I saw that story and thought the exact same thing.

I would guess that local women traditionally get lots of help from extended family after giving birth, so the father hasn't had to be there.

18 January, 2007 06:51  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What's with the cigar?

18 January, 2007 08:47  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

SD, I think its a rather good idea, and a rather good beginning.

That is, if the bloke is man enough to manage fatherhood, and husbandhood, for three days. And, as long as everyone understands that this should not be considered a standard for future development.

Most men would prefer a three day parenthood sabbatical three months post-parturition, also, in order to start another parenthood event, for which they would get yet another paid three-day holiday the following year.

With proper planning and management, a guy could arrange things such that his three-day break would coincide with hunting or fishing season, or provide some unencumbered free-time with the girlfriend.

Good idea!
-Debbie Menon-

18 January, 2007 09:13  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

something is better than nothing

18 January, 2007 10:15  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Paid paternity leave ?
I wonder just what difference it will make to the Prince's male subjects whether the newborn is male or female, and whether the father will get paid leave, or perhaps an additional bonus, depending?

Was this not taken into consideration?

I have always thought this was one of the advantages of woman over man; why pay the man?
The men who were figuratively up on the rooftop, doing their work, nailing shingles, while their wives were lying in labor, doing theirs, bringing forth miracles. It's a miracle! Thats what it is!

I can almost hear my husband, "Why should they have to pay a man to do what a real man should do anyway?" I agree!

The only exception being...the ones busy faraway, deep in the desert, defending Freedom And Democracy from the Evil Forces!
-Debbie Menon-

18 January, 2007 10:42  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hello sd,
i wonder if this is due to a sincere desire to be with the mother or an excse to have more time off.

you published a comment of mine (extract) on the crakodile post, it was the long one, thanks

18 January, 2007 11:56  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think this is a great idea of the Dubai Government but I dont think so that 3-day paternity leave is enough, why not 7 days ? or 2 weeks?

18 January, 2007 13:16  
Blogger CG said...

Well, I would wonder what most National men would do with maternity leave, since it is quite traditional for women here to move into their mothers house for about 6 weeks after their babies are born.
3 days will give them time to register the birth, drive the wife home from the hospital and to receive well-wishers. Not too bad at all.

18 January, 2007 17:29  
Blogger Sex and Dubai said...

It's a start. It's taking away one more excuse for scum bag husbands who would rather stay at "work" then be with the "wife".

18 January, 2007 17:51  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm two posts behind at the moment, but I have to comment. I'm rather alarmed at the number of people wondering whether the AP SMS story is a joke, and looking for clues such as mph and kph...

I hope all these people are well looked after and not allowed on the streets on their own.

Is satire and sarcasm really so alien to certain societies? Don't tell me it's a west-east thing because I'm from the east and so are all my friends, and nobody has any trouble understanding irony, scarcasm and satire.

18 January, 2007 23:33  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hello 3 days is one hell of a thing.......imagine the rate of production......3 days and 70 kids means 210 days of leave.......more than enough for taking care of all of them

19 January, 2007 03:21  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I've been following your blogg for a few months now. I work in Manchester and live in London, so every Monday morning or Friday afternoon I get the 'ol laptop out and catch up on what's happening in the UAE, having lived there for the past 7 years (up until Aug 2006) Now, on the whole I find your bloggs quite funny and often see your point of view having experienced life there myself. However, quite often your criticism on the society is quite unfounded and usually it’s just for the hell of it.

In your latest comment on paternity leave, instead of encouraging, and praising it, again your entry is quite cynical. In the UK, the paternity leave has only been enacted since 2002 (Employment Act 2002). True it allows for a longer leave allowance – 2 weeks paid leave and up to 13 weeks unpaid. So really, the real difference between the UAE and UK is with regards to the time allowed, and that is where I will restrict my ‘argument’ to. You really ought to understand the culture you are living in. When a women has a child, in the UAE, tradition is that she leaves her husbands house and goes to her family to be looked after by her mother/sisters/aunts. Believe me; this is far better for her after child birth then being tended by her husband. The womenfolk from her family have far more experience then her husband.

Keep on blogging, I enjoy reading it. However, try and be a tad more considerate to the culture you’re living in.

19 January, 2007 14:17  
Blogger Mme Cyn said...

Eight years ago, a British colleague of mine went into labor and was taken to the Rashid Hospital (a national hospital). When they were checking her in, they informed her that her husband could not be in the delivery room with her -- men were not permitted. She demanded to be loaded back into the ambulance and taken to the American hospital, where her husband could stay with her.

Question for you, Secret -- any idea whether local men are ever present at the actual births of their children?

21 January, 2007 00:56  
Blogger secretdubai said...

I am not sure. To be honest, my personal belief is that unless a man desperately wants to be there then he shouldn't be. I have read some research of the impact that seeing the birth can have on marital relations - not just the gross-out factor, but the guilt the man can feel at seeing the pain, or even getting a kind of "Virgin Mary" complex about his wife (as the "sacred fount" of his children) and thereafter losing interest in her sexually.

So if I was giving birth, I would just want highly trained medical staff and a fuckload of gas and pills and elephant-strength epidurals, and no family or cameras allowed until the Hollywood make-up people had spent several hours sorting things out ;)

But back to your question: my guess would be that they don't, at least currently.

21 January, 2007 01:19  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Reminds me of a joke, "You gotta be there for the laying of the keel, but it is not necessary to be there for the launching." True, perhaps, but it is nice to do so. It sort of brings closure, illuminates the cycle of life, and clearly refines the term "partner."

As a Pilot, that could change slightly; "In order to fly, you must take off. Landings are not essential, unless you intend to continue in the game."
-Debbie Menon-

21 January, 2007 08:44  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh no! You forgot to mention freedom and democracy.

22 January, 2007 15:24  

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