Alexis Ohanian and Serena Williams welcomed their daughter Olympia in 2017
Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, husband of tennis star Serena Williams, has joined the debate over paternity leave, saying no one should have to choose between keeping their job and taking care of their newborns . Mr Ohanian’s scathing tweet came in response to a venture capitalist who suggested that anyone taking six months of paternity leave was a “loser”.
Joe Lonsdale, founder of Palantir Technologies Inc. and a prolific venture capitalist, started a debate on Twitter when he responded to a tweet criticizing US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for taking time off after the birth of his twins. Mr Lonsdale was responding to a tweet about podcast personality Joe Rogan criticizing Pete Buttigieg for taking paternity leave.
“Wow. It’s great for fathers to spend time with their babies and support moms, but anyone in a critical situation who takes 6 months off for a newborn is a loser,” says Mr. Lonsdale wrote. “In the old days men used to have children and they worked hard for their future – it’s the right masculine response,” he said.
Wow. It’s great for fathers to spend time with their babies and support moms, but anyone in a critical situation who takes 6 months off for a newborn is a loser.
In the old days men had children and worked hard for their future – that’s the right masculine response.
— Joe Lonsdale (@JTLonsdale) October 27, 2021
Alexis Ohanian, who welcomed her first child in 2017, offered a slightly different perspective on the “right masculine response” after having a baby. “The true masculine response is to do whatever it takes for your family + newborn baby,” he wrote. “No one should have to choose between an ICU/NICU and keeping their job.”
The Reddit co-founder also pointed out that parental leave at Reddit and their venture capital fund, Initialized Capital, are structured in such a way that new families can decide what is best for them. “Vacation isn’t straightforward, it’s flexible,” he wrote. “Initialized the way we planned on Reddit and Katelin Holloway so that it works for families based on their need. 4 weeks in advance and then take it off every Friday until you can Don’t use? Great,” Mr. Ohanian explained.
The correct masculine response is to do whatever it takes for your family + newborn. No one should have to choose between ICU/NICU and keeping their job.https://t.co/2KOppurLxF
— alexis ohanian 7️⃣7️⃣6️⃣ (@alexisohanian) October 27, 2021
He was supported in his argument by Initialized co-founder Gary Tan, who said he took all four months of paternity leave his company offered because “there is more to life than work and money”.
In an ensuing discussion with Mr Tan, Joe Lonsdale admitted that he would reconsider his use of the word “loser”.
cold. I shouldn’t have written “loser” and appreciated the pushback.
In more intense operational contexts, it seems unnecessary to lose key leaders cold turkey for six months, but I respect your differing point of view here.
— Joe Lonsdale (@JTLonsdale) October 27, 2021
Alexis Ohanian has been an advocate of national paid family leave law in the US since the birth of her daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr.
“America is the only industrialized country with no guarantee of family leave. The government needs to set the standard, and businesses will follow,” he wrote in an Instagram post shared this morning. Leave to be mandated by law.
In another shared last week, she wrote: “Since the birth of Olympia Ohanian I’ve been fighting for #PaidFamilyLeave for all Americans. It’s been 4 years and we’re so close. Don’t stop.”
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