Where Is Art Thou Father?

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. .

The differences between gender roles are not so apparent anymore. Men are not always the typical breadwinners and many women are not stay-at-home mothers. An article by Beaupré, Dryburgh, and Wendy (2010) described the transition that many men are going through. According to Beaupré, et al., (2010), fathers were once considered the forgotten parent. “Until recently studies on the family focused mainly on the mothers” (Beaupré, et al., 2010). Fortunately, both parents are now being focused on. Fathers today are much more involved in the pregnancy and birth of their child and their child’s life in general (Beaupré, et al., 2010). Beaupré, et al., (2010) explained that women’s involvement in the labour force could be a factor to this change. Women are more educated than they were in previous years. And while women want to work more, men want to be more involved in their children’s lives (Beaupré, et al., 2010). Fatherhood is occurring later in adulthood. Research stated that the majority of men are very satisfied with their involvement in their children’s lives. (Beaupré, et al., 2010).

The role of the father, a male figure in a child’s life is a very crucial role that has been diminishing over the years. An absent father can be defined in two ways; the father is physically not present, or the father is physically present, but emotionally present. To an adolescent, a father is an idolized figure, someone they look up to (Feud, 1921), thus when such a figure is an absent one, it can and will negatively affect a child’s development. Many of the problems we face in society today, such as crime and delinquency, poor academic achievement, divorce, drug use, early pregnancy and sexual activity can be attributed to fathers being absent during adolescent development (Popenoe, 1996; Whitehead, 1993). The percentage of

Due to problems arising out of bitter divorces, custody, and support battles fathers are ostracize out of their children’s life. Fathers are often looked at as the bad person when things go wrong and being the blame. Fathers are just as responsible for the child being born as the mother. Over the years fathers continue to fight for equal rights, mothers are looked at as the victims and often make false statements about the fathers to suit their own selfish needs. Accusations of sexual and child abuse by mothers of the noncustodial fathers are often found to be untrue.

The introduction begins with quotes from people who mention that fathers get women pregnant and then leave the woman and the child; they mention that men need to realize their responsibilities do not end with conception. The book summarizes these quotes as unwed fatherhood is one of the leading social problems, and these men are irresponsible and “hit and run.” A CBS special report, The Vanishing Family, was an interview of McSeed, a father of six from four different women. In the interview, he says the responsibility of raising the child is on the mother, not him.

Although single parenthood is on the rise in homes today, children still often have a father role in their life. It does not matter who the part is filled by: a father, uncle, older brother, grandfather, etc...; in almost all cases, those relationships between the father (figure) and child have lasting impacts on the youth the rest of their lives. In “I Wanted to Share My Father’s World,” Jimmy Carter tells the audience no matter the situation with a father, hold onto every moment.

What is a fathers “responsibility”? Is it to nurture, or is it to provide, maybe even he could do both? In the novel Your Fathers, Where Are They, and the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? Dave Eggers, describes trivial emotional and mental repercussions that occur when there is an absence of a father figure. Sons and daughters alike, any disconnection with a meaningful individual, supposedly relatable in blood, would bring question and concern. A fathers’ relationship and support can be beneficial to any child’s growth. Giving children a solid basis of what kinds of responsibilities go along with being an adult and showing them compassion individualism and what it means to “be a man” is important.

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.

Stay at home fathers represents a growing group within the United States. The definition of a stay at home father is a father who is the daily primary caregiver to his children under the age of eighteen. Nearly two million men are staying at home and being the primary caregiver for their children (Livingston pg1). The rise of stay at home fathers have become sociologically important because it represents the reversal of traditional gender roles. A gender role is a set of societal norms which dictate the types of behavior accepted for people based on their sexual orientation. Traditional norms about men are centered on the idea that men should be the primary breadwinners and women should be the ones staying home and taking care of the children. The emergence of stay at home fathers completely defies this idea. As a result to shifts in family dynamics, men’s roles as fathers have undergone transformations. This paper will further evaluate the traditional gender roles and how stay at home fathers defy societal norms, discuss the reasons for the rising trend of stay at home fathers, and show the benefits of a stay at home father.

Fatherhood is not a big deal. The idea of having and being a father is slowly dying. Having kids doesn’t make you a father; raising them does. Soon it will be just like the dinosaurs something we read about that’s old and extinct. It doesn’t for our modern society of the “now” moment. We don’t need a father in our kids’ lives as long as they make their child support payments. Our kids don’t need another pair of shoes or game, but true genuine love. Heck we don’t need a man to help make a baby. We can easily look online through the catalog of sperm donors, pick the number we want, and ta-da we have a baby! It is an epidemic that affects millions of Americans. More and more children are left to ask themselves why did dad leave? Mothers are left to be fathers as well. A very tough job that is taking a toll out of a woman. Those boys will never know the true meaning of fatherhood since they never had one. It will be up to that mom to show her son the best that she can, but yet even her best can never replace that father figure that boy badly needs. Boys will be boys until someone teaches them to be more is a very tur statement. Huxley’s warning is very relevant to our culture today. We see this happening in our society, and this has become the new norm. No longer is it taboo to not be with the father of your kids; it is more of a surprise if you

Morin, Amanda. "Fathers Raising Daughters: The Unique Challenges of Single Fatherhood." Education.com | An Education & Child Development Site for Parents | Parenting & Educational Resource. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2013.

Fathers are often under a lot of personal and cultural pressure to be “the man of the house.” Studies have gone in depth regarding how this affects a father's interaction with his children. Often, fathers spend their whole lives working to support their children and teaching them important new skills and abilities. Even more than a mother, they perceive their children as weak or

According to “The Role of the father:Past, Present, and the Future” , “Industrialization in the 19th century changed the father's role, however. ‘The new economic structure separated the home and the work place, which led to a new fatherly ideal,’ said Morantz-Sanchez. ‘The men became the breadwinners, and the women stayed at home. This took childrearing out of the traditional male role.’” However from this stereotypical role, “ ‘The role of the father has changed again in this past century, as economic demands have pulled the mother into the workplace.’ According to Morantz-Sanchez, the family is moving towards a more democratic partnership, a move that took place largely in the last third of the 20th century. ‘A lot of this was stimulated by the feminist movement, which critiqued the absentee father and the obligations of the breadwinner for overburdening both the mother and the father.’” Motherhood today still follows the same ideals but with a lesser focus on domesticity.

Growing up without a father or strong male role model in the United States is extremely difficult. Fatherless children are disadvantaged in American society and face a greater struggle to become successful in their personal, educational, and professional lives. The decline of fatherhood in one of the most unexpected and extraordinary trends of our time. Its dimensions can be captured in a single statistic: In just three decades, between 1960 and 1990, the percentage of children living apart from their