Monday, October 8, 2012

If You Are (or Were) a Parent Would You Hire a Manny?

Scott Cartmill of "Beverly Hills Nannies"
Do You Personally Know Any Male Au Pairs or Nannies?

When I saw the title of this article The First Manny is Admitted to a Top Nanny College in England
from ABC News I thought, "It's about time."

When I first started working as a nanny in the 1990s I knew a few male au pairs and they were excellent child care providers and great people.

While watching the American television reality show Beverly Hills Nannies I fell in love with the male nannies on the show. When the program started I asked parents in the town I work in if they would ever hire a male nanny. Almost all of the responses were clouded by articles about sex offenders and pedophiles and they blurted out "No!"

But, when I specifically asked if they would hire a nanny like Scott on Beverly Hills Nannies they all agreed that they would like a Manny like Scott.

So, I think if parents actually took the time to actually meet some of the wonderful, educated men that work as nannies, their opinion would change.

Do you know any male nannies or au pairs personally?

2 comments:

Denny said...

Someone once wouldn't consider me for a nanny position because I have a gender-neutral name, and they thought I was male. This is illegal, but think of how many people are discriminated against just because they are male or because of something else like that. I don't know any male nannies, but many people I know have said they want/prefer a female nanny or baby-sitter. I did know a male preschool teacher.

In my recent job hunt, I was surprised at the amount of discrimination I saw - people discriminated against me because of the distance from my house to theirs and because they perceived me as likely to have kids soon-ish.

anonymous said...

I probably would not hire a male nanny. I just think it's such an intimate job that I'd prefer hiring a woman.