Demographically, over 90% of the participants strongly agreed that fatherhood is crucial in our society. A little over 47% of fathers, that encouragement from the mothers of their children matters because of the obstacles they faced with finance, and their duties on the job. The final results of marital status statistics is over 80% married fathers, nine percent divorced, and six percent never married. One surprising statistic was 90% cohabitate with the mother and focal child (Glenn & Popenoe, 2006).
Cookston, Jeffrey. "Six Obstacles to Father Involvement-and How to Overcome Them." Greater Good. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2015. .
All across the world, since the dawn of time, men have taken a dominate role in society in their everyday lives. This role
For various reasons, many children in the United States are living without their fathers in their homes or absent from their lives entirely. This is an issue all across the world and the children are having to deal with the disadvantages caused by the lack of support from their fathers. This issue has a significant effect on society and can be viewed and interpreted from the three sociological perspectives. As a result of many studies, it was found that children raised in father absent homes almost universally experience disadvantages such as: worse health, poorer academic achievement, and a less enjoyable educational experience. There are many variables that need to be taken into effect when considering
Standing Tall It is the human condition to be dependent upon others; this has always been so. Humans look up to siblings, best friends, grandparents, and even teachers but the most sought out dependency in life is in the form of a father. Much is expected from the male gender, but moreso of fathers. A father’s predetermined role in society is to make the decisions for, protect, and keep order in his home.
According to the U.S. Census, one in three children, or approximately fifth teen million, are growing up without their father. This is what I would consider an epidemic because the numbers continue to rise yearly. With the numbers continuing to grow, American children continue to suffer. It is critical that a father is positively active in their child or children’s lives because father’s provide a sense of safety, mothers cannot teach a child everything that a child needs to know, and households gain balance when the father is present. I will now better explain.
Since the time of Adam and Eve, parents have played a major role in upbringing children and reproducing more generations. In most societies, the father has been the backbone of the family and played a major role in providing support and stability to the family. Yet, the role of the father differs from a family to another. While some fathers focus only on feeding and educating their children, others focus on every aspect of their children’s lives. The father’s leadership often drives the children to have a close relationship with the father. Sons often see the father as their role model and build a father-son relationship. Yet, the father-son relationship can be either weak or strong depends on the father’s concept of parenthood. The
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy” (SOURCE). Manhood and being a “real man” is defined in many different ways depending on the person. However, most of these things that men are defined by can be done by any gender and there are people that make it their work to prove that. The social construct of manhood has overall negative consequences on society; however, not all men uphold this construct, and can prove to be advocates of change.
Not surprisingly, the article analyzes the differences between men who are womanizers and ones who are gentleman. This article was written in response to the author, Laura Merten’s, experiences regarding the collateral damage caused by masculinity in the United States. In this article, she highlights her desired characteristics in a gentleman. In other words, she is describing her ideal characteristics of masculinity. Some of those characteristics include, “Love, understanding, vulnerability, respect, loyalty, and concern” (Merten). Interestingly, these traits are all qualities one would look for in a best friend. In reality, men seem not to focus on the aspects, in which women desire, but the socially constructed aspects, sought out for men’s approval. First of all, this inherently demonstrates the lack of respect devoted to women. Additionally, this desire for men’s approval only reinforces the continuous cycle, which devalues and even dehumanizes
Within a household, women and men, mothers and fathers, have different roles and responsibilities, much of which are based on the person’s gender. Typically, women or mothers are “responsible for the emotional, social, and physical well-being of her family” (Lober 80), “most of the hands-on family work” (Lorber 81), and keep up of the house. The men or fathers are usually seen as the “bread winners” of the family. Due to this and the work they do outside of the house, men usually have little to no responsibilities to the family and within the home. It is not unusual for women to clean the house, make sure the children are well taken care of, and cook while the man, or father, is at work. When he gets back home, after work, it is expected for him to relax and unwind. Although they are a couple with similar obligations, the divide of them is not equally distributed among the two and offer either one different results.
The good provider role that is often regarded as the norm for husbands or fathers is one that highlights them as the sole economic provider for the family. This belief emerged during the 1930’s and remained until the model for men until the 1970’s. From this notion, men believed success was measured in terms of steady employment connected with a high salary. Males that achieved this were rewarded with the social status that comes along with higher paying positions and it also helped to reinforce the authority of the husband within the homestead. For individuals who could not achieve this, a feeling of failure or being unable to meet social expectations set for men could lead to restricted family roles and create men that abandon their family.
The experiment has gone on for over forty years. Decades of sociological evidence now illuminate the “liberated family.” In the light of this evidence, I will evaluate the claim that that a father’s absence in a family has no significant impact on the development of children. To put the matter bluntly, the cultural advocates of this new thinking were simply wrong, and the result of adopting their views has proved a disaster for families, for mothers, for children, and for fathers. To demonstrate the falsity of the claim, I will explore two major symptoms of the disaster: Divorce and the Family and Poverty and the Family. These will highlight the importance of the father to family health. I will then offer a Christian alternative to the current thinking—the Christian Father as the Family’s Servant Leader, an alternative by which godly fathers give support to mothers, offer security for children, and develop a new generation that is disciplined in the wisdom and knowledge of God.
When a father is not in his child’s life, the absence plays a strong role in many societal matters like
Negativity Towards Fathers: Incapable Stereotype Fathers have been degraded in many movies, television shows, and commercials as incapable and incompetent. Stereotypes are socially constructed by society and the media. As humans tend to label people by what we are taught and see through the media. This stereotype arrived from the 1950’s and 1960’s sitcoms that relied on the incapable father to keep the viewers entertained. The sitcoms in that day and age featured a “5 o’clock dad…with a newspaper as a face” (Quindlen 101).
By having a father in the home it enables the child to see a masculine role inside the home. The father’s role is not to act as an authoritarian for the mother for punishment, but to also give the child love.