Ryan Gosling’s Ultimate Role? Stay-At-Home Dad

The winds are changing and it looks like we need to get ready for a whole lot of involved dads in the news. Earlier this week, we talked about Up All Night and their portrayal of stay-at-home dads through Will Arnett’s character Chris. Now, Ryan Gosling is moving the focus from sitcoms to real life. He recently stated,

 “I’d like to be making babies but I’m not, so I’m making movies. When someone comes along I don’t think I’ll be able to do both and I’m fine with that. I’ll make movies until I make babies. I have no idea when the handover will happen.”

Correct me if I’m wrong, but he’s the first male movie star I’ve ever heard talk about putting his career on hold to have kids. Stay-at-home dads are becoming a larger part of the parenting landscape. But men, especially famous men, still aren’t expected to change their life at all when they have children. How many female actresses have been interviewed about what they plan to do after kids? If Gosling hadn’t thought to supply this information, would a reporter ever ask him if he wanted kids or what he planned to do with his career after parenthood? No.

One thing is for sure, the image of a working mother struggling to take care of her family while her husband sits back idly, letting her bear the brunt of household duties, is becoming obsolete. Like most families, Hollywood has realized that men are expected to contribute a lot more in today’s society. In I Don’t Know How She Does It, Greg Kinnear isn’t a stay-at-home dad, but he’s definitely an involved father.

It’s refreshing to hear a guy open up about his plans for family and children. These aren’t simply female concerns, even though women are the only ones who get asked about them. Modern men have a large role to play in their children’s lives and it’s nice to see that Ryan Gosling is excited about it.

(Photo: Thank you GQ. Seriously, thank you.)