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Ruotsi syrjii miehiä:

Fathers in Sweden are discriminated against while mothers cash in on child benefit says Berit Andnor, Swedish Minister for Social Affairs.

"It?s important that all legislation is equal between the sexes," she told Swedish news agency TT. "It?s a matter of principle."

Since 1947, Swedish mothers have been able to pocket the monthly sum - which now stands at 950 crowns per child - until the child?s 16th birthday.

The twice-divorced father of two argued that he should receive an equal share of the family's child benefit entitlement - particularly since the children's mother earns more than he does.

Seksikkäät äidit:

"Mom, you look like a housewife!" Slatest recalls her 7-year-old exclaiming.

"I was like, 'Oh, my God, we can't have this,' " Slatest says.

So she finished making eggs in heels.

Mom has come a long way, baby. Of course, she's far beyond the ironed and buttoned-up June Cleaver archetype. But increasingly she's also moving past the soccer-mom look of the '80s and '90s. She pays attention to trends.

Historically, though, motherhood has been about "not looking like you're on the market," Johnson says. The net effect was to go from being "a Camaro to a Volvo."

So standard mom clothes serve as a kind of asexual armor.

As she cooked dinner, her husband, Steve, wrapped his arms around her and cooed, "Hello, sexy."

"I laughed and said, 'You've got to be kidding' " ? or else really hungry. "He said no, I'm sexy all the time."

Jaahas, nollasummainen ulkonäköpeli on laajentumassa äiteihin asti. Eikä ole pienintäkään epäilystä, etteivätkö suomalaisetkin äidit lähde tuollaiseen touhuun mukaan - tai ainakin tunne itseään erittäin syyllisiksi, jos he pitäytyvät perinteisessä äitityylissä.