I don’t know everything I should about patriarchy, but I know that when I was a new father and I said I need to leave work to take care of my son, I was made to feel guilty about this and asked: “don’t you have a wife for that?”

When I told him her job depended on her being there and so we split the duties of caring after sick children he commented that I might have to make a choice between our jobs. I told him she makes more money and he shut up.

I remember when my son was born I was expected to return to work the next day. When I had my wisdom teeth removed I was called a pussy for taking a day off.

When my wife moved back from Texas to Louisiana and I stayed behind with our son to pack, my boss complained that I wasn’t staying late every day anymore because I was picking up my son from daycare.

Workers at my job currently don’t want to wear a mask because they don’t want to be seen as ‘weak’. Patriarchy really is a disaster for men.