His Dudeness. Duder. El Duderino. And now, one The Big Lebowski never saw coming – "Dudela."
Say "DUDE-lah." And envision: the guy version of a doula – the popular professionals who offer emotional, physical and informational support to moms before, during and after birth.
At least, that's what some dude from NYC posted in what's been rooted-out as a fake ad on UrbanBaby.com – and making the blog rounds (our turn!).
The tongue-in-cheek classified's since been pulled. But not before being copied and captured by Michele Zipp, a contributor to Cafe Mom's The Stir. "Think of a dudela as being a doula for the mother's partner," it says. "I am there to let you be with your partner so that you can enjoy every second of your child's birth."
How? "Mobile device management," for one (he'll worry about texting a birth announcement – and respond to all messages within the first two hours after). And "social network coordination (gotcha covered on FourSquare, Twitter and that critical first Facebook photo).
Don't forget "fantasy sports assistance" ("The world of sports will not stop for the birth of your baby," after all). And, for the panicked dad pondering, "Dude – where's my cigar?" That's where concierge services shine: "Good thing I've been a subscriber to Cigar Aficionado for the last 10 years!"
All this for the relatively standard doula rate of $200.
So, who is this quipster? He'd only give his first name, John, to the UK site MailOnline. The satirical notion struck John when his wife, then 33 weeks pregnant, and he started exploring doulas "and learning about all of the wonderful services they provide."
"I thought it would be funny," he explains, "to have someone offer to assist partners with those little tasks that seem to be more commonplace shortly after a baby is born."
The double entendre's triggered plenty of chat – and flak – about support for dads in the delivery room and the process leading up to birth.
"Women have a huge support system to get them through the moment. Why can't he have one li'l buddy?" wondered Kay on The Stir. Another, doulala, pointed out that a doulas purpose is to help moms and dads be "better supportive and more present" in the delivery room.
Others were less amused. "Lol! Stupid! If my husband needed this kind of help, he wouldn't be my husband," memekisses mused. "If my hubby needs this he can stay home," piped up jalaz77. "It can get boring for the guy, and I don't need his full attention during early labor."
And, from Danzzcoach this: "Makes me ill. Literally. Please let me know when someone has come up with something to MANIFY our men again."
Yikes. Now that's a dude-zy!
