SocietyGuardian.co.uk | Society | No wonder fathers feel such pain
SocietyGuardian.co.uk | Society | No wonder fathers feel such pain: "It is, to be honest, the trouble with men: our inarticulacy, our abject failure to explain our joy or capture our pain, to let our humanity hang out. And when love goes wrong, nothing - including its politics - goes right for us. Then there is pain without gain. Then we are not Mr Big, but Mr Puny.
"So this week, vociferous fathers who want to share their children are bitterly disappointed. What do they demand? Their 50-50 rights, their designated half of their own kids. What did they get from Margaret Hodge, the minister for children? Just the chance of a little namby-pamby, no teeth, after-you-Claudette mediation. Climb more cranes, lads. This dads' army is getting desperate.
"And, of course, we fortunate non-combatants need to recognise that. No grief comes more raw than the icy tide that flows through the family courts. Too many divorces can turn visceral in a trice and slide into sheer bloody-mindedness. It's an area the nanny state can barely reach. But at least, if we stop shouting for a minute, we may almost hear Ms Hodge thinking.
"...Lawyers voting for no delays and no fees put turkeys and Christmas to shame. For once, though, the disinterested parties seemed to be putting the interests of the children first. But Ms Hodge hasn't gone the whole hog.
"The necessity of mediation is there, for the first time, in her new policy. She wants to sort things out. But somewhere, on its route through Whitehall, a few battles seem to have been lost. The mediation she envisages won't come with plans and possible sanctions attached. Nor will it rely on any template settlements. These will be quieter, gentler discussions, not virtual arbitrations; and thus, perhaps, more flappy, febrile stuff.
"How cross can you get about that? Very cross indeed. It is described as "doomed to failure", as "cynical and an absolute sham". Spiderman won't be trading his Fathers 4 Justice membership cards..."
"So this week, vociferous fathers who want to share their children are bitterly disappointed. What do they demand? Their 50-50 rights, their designated half of their own kids. What did they get from Margaret Hodge, the minister for children? Just the chance of a little namby-pamby, no teeth, after-you-Claudette mediation. Climb more cranes, lads. This dads' army is getting desperate.
"And, of course, we fortunate non-combatants need to recognise that. No grief comes more raw than the icy tide that flows through the family courts. Too many divorces can turn visceral in a trice and slide into sheer bloody-mindedness. It's an area the nanny state can barely reach. But at least, if we stop shouting for a minute, we may almost hear Ms Hodge thinking.
"...Lawyers voting for no delays and no fees put turkeys and Christmas to shame. For once, though, the disinterested parties seemed to be putting the interests of the children first. But Ms Hodge hasn't gone the whole hog.
"The necessity of mediation is there, for the first time, in her new policy. She wants to sort things out. But somewhere, on its route through Whitehall, a few battles seem to have been lost. The mediation she envisages won't come with plans and possible sanctions attached. Nor will it rely on any template settlements. These will be quieter, gentler discussions, not virtual arbitrations; and thus, perhaps, more flappy, febrile stuff.
"How cross can you get about that? Very cross indeed. It is described as "doomed to failure", as "cynical and an absolute sham". Spiderman won't be trading his Fathers 4 Justice membership cards..."
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