A historical and an empirical survey of fatherhood.

Abstract

What does it mean to be a father? What are our expectations of men as fathers and are those expectations being met, and what does that say about men and masculinity? Even as recently as thirty years ago, the answers to such questions would have been considered obvious to most people. The father's task was to provide for his family, to be the authority in the home and perhaps occasionally to help the mother by entertaining the children. He would not be expected to have an intimate relationship with his children or to provide either physical or emotional support to them. In fact he would not be expected to have a great deal to do with his children and as long as he provided for his family materially and maintained discipline within the home, he would be considered a good enough father. But now that has changed.