1976 Revisited; Swine Flu, Disco and The Center for Disease Control

Newsflash! The Swine Flu is making a comeback. Everyone, grab your Purell and head for the hills!

Oh hell no.

We remember the fear of the flu from the 70's, and frankly the Swine Flu is far less frightening than a resurgence of a feathered hair pandemic. Now is the time to speak with your children about the danger of being influenced by too much Disco and relax a little about the Swine Flu.

But even so, the Center for Disease Control is a place where parents can turn for information. Oh wait. Oops! No. Sorry. Just moms. Dads, it appears you guys are S.O.L.

The mission statement for the CDC states the following:

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) serves as the national focus for
developing and applying disease prevention and control, environmental health, and health
promotion and health education activities designed to improve the health of the people of the
United States." (CDC Website Citation)

Recently the CDC offered a "Focus On Moms Forum." Huh? It said "people" in the mission statement. Not only did the CDC leave a bunch of people out, namely dads, it is dismissed the role fathers play in the health of children. Furthermore, with this narrow focus, the CDC is keeping the ball rolling on the outdated notion that mothers are "supposed" to be the only ones caring for children and concerned about the health and well being of children. The CDC is propagating a stereotype that fathers aren't expected to take care of children and that fathers wouldn't be interested in issues pertaining to the health and well-being of children.

This is total bullshit.

No doubt the majority of carework still falls on the shoulders of moms, but it is also true carework by dads is increasing and looks to be at an all-time historical high.

Given the recent data on families, we think the CDC should rethink how it defines "people" and include fathers in that definition. Unless we misunderstood the mission statement and the CDC is referring to these people , and if so, we hope the CDC will be adding Boogie Fever to the travel warning list as soon as possible.

Oh and one more thing CDC, if you are going to panic people to stay home and schools to shut down, we need to have a plan, otherwise you're just asking us all to do the hustle.