Ali Fedotowsky Answers Sexist Parenting Tropes

In a perfect world, raising a child is a team effort in which both parents are parenting to the best of their abilities. Unfortunately, some people still believe in the outdated notion that dads should simply pitch in once and a while instead of actually parenting. Although there already has been some great pushback to this frustrating belief, former Bachelorette star Ali Fedotowsky-Manno had the best response to the idea that dads should "help" instead of parent.

Following Fedotowsky-Manno's stint on the Bachelorette, she and her husband Kevin Manno welcomed their daughter Molly Manno into the world in July 2016. Once Fedotowsky-Manno became a mom, she regularly posted her honest thoughts about parenting to social media. From Fedotowsky-Manno getting candid about the rollercoaster emotions she faced as a first time mom to parenting mishaps, fans quickly learned just about everything there was to know about her private life.

In the August issue of Fit Pregnancy, Fedotowsky-Manno got even more real when she discussed the topic of co-parenting. Apparently Fedotowsky-Manno regularly gets asked about how much Manno "helps" her with Molly, because of course.

Fedotowsky-Manno said, according to Fit Pregnancy:

When people ask, ‘Does your husband help?’ I’m like, ‘What do you mean?’ Why do people assume the baby is Mom’s job?

Preach, Fedotowsky-Manno.

Although Fedotowsky-Manno poised a good question about the expectations of parenting, a survey from Parenting reported 51 percent of 15,000 moms said they'd like their male partners to help more with bathing their child while 51 percent wished they had more help with feeding. Based on the results, it's obvious there's still a huge problem when it comes to gender roles and their affect on labor distribution in parenting.

As for how Fedotowsky-Manno handles these misogynist questions about raising Molly, she explained, according to Fit Pregnancy:

I say, ‘No, he’s her dad. He parents her.’ Kevin and I are a 50/50 team. He tries to be there every step of the way.

Yep, it looks like Fedotowsky-Manno completely shattered this parenting stereotype with some simple logic. Manno is Molly's dad, so it only makes sense that he should be expected to parent her alongside Fedotowsky-Manno. One has to ask, why is child rearing a mom's job by default? To assume a mother should be expected to take on all the responsibilities of parenting is offensive to mom and dads. One shouldn't also assume that dads want to avoid parenting at all costs, because that's often not the case.

Fedotowsky-Manno, along with parents everywhere, should continue to speak up about parenting stereotypes. Parenting stereotypes are hurtful to moms and dads, and have no place in the 21st Century. As Fedotowsky-Manno said, parenting should be a "team effort."