It takes two to tango and these days men are having their own baby showers.
While in past years baby showers were considered to be for women only, recently many couples have had joint baby shower parties. Musician Mthokozisi Khathi, better known as DJ Tira, hosted a baby launch with his wife in 2015.
Today men are having their own baby showers and this is something that the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) is welcoming and applauding.
CGE national spokesman Javu Baloyi said that gender stereotypes were slowly being broken.
“There is shift in dimension in the way things are happening. It is no longer taboo for men to be involved in their partner’s pregnancies.
“Men are present in the delivery rooms cutting umbilical cords so it is only natural that they are involved in other aspects as well,” Baloyi said.
He said baby showers are part of the involvement that the commission is hoping for.
“These are some of the things we want to encourage because we do not want men to be like outsiders in their children’s lives. That is why we are fighting for paternity leave to increase from 10 days to 30 days, while mothers are getting four months.
“We want there to be flexibility in men’s workplaces where men can be away from the office to take their babies for immunisations and they are not judged about not being at work,” he said.
Baloyi said men were becoming progressive on the issues.
“We want to promote family values. Men must take care of their pregnant partners and their children.
Men must stop saying they are baby-sitting when they are taking care of their children when they are simply parenting,” he added.
Wanga Mjoli, who works in the sales department of the Daily Dispatch, recently had a baby shower, said he was not expecting it. “It was really a shocker for me, I never expected it.
I felt like running away but I was grateful for the gesture. I had never seen a baby shower specifically for the father.
My partner had her shower two weeks before mine. I received the typical things that people give to women at baby showers. I got clothes, nappies and bath items,” he said.
Mjoli, 30, said during his partner’s pregnancy he was present every step of the way.
“I was taking care of her, cutting her toenails and putting lotion on her body because I wanted to meet all her needs.”
However, he was not in the delivery room because his partner did not want him there.
“I was not sure if I wanted to see her in so much pain, but I was willing to be there if that is what she wanted but she said no,” he said. The couple was blessed with a bouncing baby boy on April 28. — siyat@dispatch.co.za
Baby showers in vogue for men
While in past years baby showers were considered to be for women only, recently many couples have had joint baby shower parties. Musician Mthokozisi Khathi, better known as DJ Tira, hosted a baby launch with his wife in 2015.
Today men are having their own baby showers and this is something that the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) is welcoming and applauding.
CGE national spokesman Javu Baloyi said that gender stereotypes were slowly being broken.
“There is shift in dimension in the way things are happening. It is no longer taboo for men to be involved in their partner’s pregnancies.
“Men are present in the delivery rooms cutting umbilical cords so it is only natural that they are involved in other aspects as well,” Baloyi said.
He said baby showers are part of the involvement that the commission is hoping for.
“These are some of the things we want to encourage because we do not want men to be like outsiders in their children’s lives. That is why we are fighting for paternity leave to increase from 10 days to 30 days, while mothers are getting four months.
“We want there to be flexibility in men’s workplaces where men can be away from the office to take their babies for immunisations and they are not judged about not being at work,” he said.
Baloyi said men were becoming progressive on the issues.
“We want to promote family values. Men must take care of their pregnant partners and their children.
Men must stop saying they are baby-sitting when they are taking care of their children when they are simply parenting,” he added.
Wanga Mjoli, who works in the sales department of the Daily Dispatch, recently had a baby shower, said he was not expecting it. “It was really a shocker for me, I never expected it.
I felt like running away but I was grateful for the gesture. I had never seen a baby shower specifically for the father.
My partner had her shower two weeks before mine. I received the typical things that people give to women at baby showers. I got clothes, nappies and bath items,” he said.
Mjoli, 30, said during his partner’s pregnancy he was present every step of the way.
“I was taking care of her, cutting her toenails and putting lotion on her body because I wanted to meet all her needs.”
However, he was not in the delivery room because his partner did not want him there.
“I was not sure if I wanted to see her in so much pain, but I was willing to be there if that is what she wanted but she said no,” he said. The couple was blessed with a bouncing baby boy on April 28. — siyat@dispatch.co.za
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