The Cut - Pity the Dadfluencers

This summer, Zach Watson (best known as RealZackThinkShare on Instagram) posted his 234th Reel on the “mental load” — contemporary shorthand for the organizational and emotional work of parenthood that disproportionately falls to mothers. Walking around his house, he pointed out items that he hasn’t bought in years — trash bags, toothpaste, toddler snacks, toddler clothes — because his wife, Alyssa, stocks them. “I don’t think I’m a crappy husband that I haven’t bought those things,” he says to the camera. “If I were unwilling to see the invisible labor that is required to do those things, I’d have a bone to pick with myself.” The video garnered almost 2,000 likes on Instagram, where Watson, who looks like a cross between Justin Bieber and a young Kiefer Sutherland, has more than 400,000 followers. Watson is a Fair Play method facilitator, and he tells me he’s on a mission to show straight men how to take a more active role in their families. He tries to reach them via one-on-one online coaching sessions and his social-media posts. There’s just one problem: Dads, for the most part, refuse to watch any of his stuff.

Today, the waning moon enters Taurus. After the emotion and drama of this week’s eclipse, the Taurus moon urges you to remember the practical side of life. The things you can see and touch deserve your attention too. Read your full horoscope.

Ballistic armor companies are marketing protective products designed for the military to parents and schools. On the hidden environmental costs of using AI chatbots like ChatGPT. Recently released emails from inside the governor’s office provide insight into Tim Walz’s largely frustrated attempts to enact police reform in Minnesota in spring 2021. Breast reductions have skyrocketed in popularity — here’s why. And if your kid’s a fussy eater, the genes you gave them may be to blame.

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