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Fwd: Aka Pygmies "Best Dads in the World"

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Messenger: jahlove_72 Sent: 6/25/2005 3:54:49 AM
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Aka Pygmies "best dads in the world"

afrol News, 16 June - The Aka "Pygmies" have been named the world's best fathers, dedicating the most time of all the globe's peoples to active fathering, according to a new study. Aka fathers even commonly offer their nipple to their crying babies to suck, a method perfectly suited for soothing them until it can be fed, the impressed researchers found.

No fathers spend more time alone with their children than the average Aka, now given the title "Best Dads in the World" by Fathers Direct, a British national information centre on fatherhood. The Aka "Pygmies", living in the border forests of Congo Brazzaville and the Central African Republic, are a hunting and gathering people.

On average, Aka father hold or are within arms' reach of their infants 47 percent of the time - almost as much as Aka mothers. This, according to Fathers Direct, is the current world record. Only Northern European countries with high gender equality standards are now closing on to Aka fathers. In Sweden, an average father now takes care of 45 percent of parental childcare.

The results of the worldwide study by Fathers Direct were recently published in the centre's journal, 'FatherWorld'. The study included 156 cultures around the world and found that fathering had a low status in most countries. Only 20 percent of the cultures studied promote men's close relationships with infants, and only 5 percent with young children.

Not so among the Congolese and Central African Akas, however. An Aka daddy uses every opportunity to be in close contact with his infant. Aka fathers often take the child along when they go drinking palm wine or during other social activities. They may hold the baby close to their bodies for a couple of hours at a time, says the report.

The study highlights findings by Barry Hewlett, an American anthropologist, who has studied the Aka people for more than 20 years. The dads, rather than mums, are often the ones who settle the babies if they wake at night, Mr Barry also found.

The inevitable question for most non-Aka parents is how can a father take care of a baby still needing mother's milk for hours and hours. Surely, not even an Aka father can breastfeed his hungry baby. Well, he can, almost. His nipple at least will tranquillise the baby. "A father's nipple is perfectly suited to soothing a crying baby until it can be fed," according to the British report.

Researcher Caroline Flint commented that she had earlier come across cases of dads doing this. "It is not a case of the man saying to the baby, 'Here you are, have my boobie,' but usually of the baby snuffling along the father's chest, finding the nipple and sucking. The men are usually very surprised, but the babies seem content. They love to snuggle up to their dads," Ms Flint explained.

Offering their nipple to a hungry baby "could be a big challenge" to most non-Aka males, the researchers however confess. Maybe one should take a group of European dads and their babies out to the Congo for a couple of weeks "to meet the Aka Pygmies and see what our dads can manage," one however proposed. Aka fathering could become an export commodity - or at least a source of pride for Congolese and Central Africans.

http://www.afrol.com/articles/16592


Messenger: jahlove_72 Sent: 6/25/2005 3:58:53 AM
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A father’s nipple is perfectly suited to soothing a crying baby until it can be fed, according to a major report published for Fathers’ Day (June 19) on fatherhood across five continents, which identifies the world’s best dads.

FatherWorld, published by Fathers Direct, the UK national information centre on fatherhood, details a worldwide increase in active fathering. It names as “Best Dads in the World” the Aka Pygmies, a hunter-gatherer tribe from northern Congo, in central Africa. When the mother is not available, the father calms his baby by giving him a nipple to suck.

Aka Pygmy men do more infant care-giving than fathers in any other known society, finds the report. On average, they hold or are within arms’ reach of their infants 47 per cent of the time. They beat Swedish dads, the number ones in the Western world, who average 45 per cent of parental childcare. In typical British families, dads now average a third of the parental childcare, according to latest research from the Equal Opportunities Commission. Worldwide, fathers are estimated in today’s report to contribute between a quarter and a third as much time as women to direct childcare. However, FatherWorld, springing from a week-long summit at Oxford University of the world’s academic experts on fatherhood, reports that, of 156 cultures studied, only 20 per cent promote men’s close relationships with infants, and only 5 per cent with young children.

Aka fathers often take the child along when they go drinking palm wine. They may hold the baby close to their bodies for a couple of hours at a time, says the report which highlights findings by Barry Hewlett, an American anthropologist, who has studied the tribe for more than 20 years. The dads, rather than mums, are often the ones who settle the babies if they wake at night.

Sebastian Kraemer, child psychiatrist at London’s Whittington Hospital, said: “It is possible that, in prehistoric societies, this was a normal way of fathering. We should not assume from 10,000 years of history that our prevailing model is the right one.”

Caroline Flint, former President of the Royal College of Midwives, said: “I have come across cases of dads doing this. It’s not a case of the man saying to the baby, ‘Here you are, have my boobie,’ but usually of the baby snuffling along the father’s chest, finding the nipple and sucking. The men are usually very surprised, but the babies seem content. They love to snuggle up to their dads.”

Wayne Hemingway, designer and father of four, said: “I’m not sure I could be an Aka Pygmy dad. Placing nipper on the nipple could be a big challenge to the British male. Ray Mears should take a group of British dads and their babies out to the Congo for a couple of weeks to meet the Aka Pygmies and see what our dads can manage. But I am one dad who won’t be trying it out.”

http://www.fathersdirect.com/index.php?id=14&cID=256


Messenger: Ark I Sent: 6/25/2005 4:20:19 PM
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That is very interesting. That would be a good explanation for the reason why human males have nipples.

Ark I
RasTafarI
Haile Selassie I


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