Towards the feminisation of males?

Fathers will welcome a role model who do more than pay lip service to the wonders of parenthood. Tony Blair's decision to give up the reins of power long enough to bond with his newborn son, Leo, is setting an important precedent. Blair is continuing to open "red boxes" and make decisions - the equivalent of the average father choosing to work from home for a couple of weeks.

It's also interesting to see pictures of Blair with Leo on newspaper front pages, with the traditional "Madonna and Child" images we usually associate with famous births being replaced by father and child. It's another step towards the feminisation of the male.

Meanwhile every move Cherie makes is being observed and discussed. Wasn't her natural birth terrific? Are Leo's nappies cotton or disposable? Is Cherie breastfeeding? It's typical of the way mothers are dissected for signs of good and bad parenting, while fathers are allowed to do pretty much as they like, being praised for spending so much as a second with their babies.

It hasn't been lost on the British press, however, that while Tony Blair is celebrating becoming a father in his 40s, some of his female MPs are quitting because they can no longer abide the stress of combining child-rearing with the Dickensian hours kept by British parliament.

This predicament is reflect in workplaces throughout the western world, which expect women to keep the same hours as men while also being perfect mothers, usually without social supports and often without a partner who is supportive. "A living hell" is how one British sociologist recently described this lifestyle.

The Blairs, meanwhile, will have all the support that money can buy. Cherie also has her own mother at her side, reinforcing the perception that behind every successful, happy mother with an outside career, there's a supportive grandmother in the background picking up the pieces. In fact, this situation is becoming less common as grandmothers choose careers of their own.