Women 's Role As A Role Model

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).

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).

According to the US Census Bureau, 36.3% of children are living absent of their biological fathers. Beginning in 1960 with 8% of children living without their biological father, that percentage has continued to increase. The issue of absent fathers has raised many questions as to what effects this has on individuals and society. Absent fathers (a term that can consist of many different things) can have a profound effect on the development of their daughter's relationships, especially when it comes to their relationships with other men. While the research on this topic may be lacking, what is out there is clear that fathers do play an important role in their development. Women can face things such as becoming sexually promiscuous, low

“Fifteen million American children, one quarter of the population under 18, are growing up today without fathers” (Davidson). Fifteen million American children are deprived the opportunity of having a father. Little do these deprived children know, they each will grow up with issues that challenge them every single day - issues that are impossible to control. Children do not deserve to be abandoned by someone who holds a part of them, but men all over the world leave their child fatherless. As one of those affected children, I entirely understand the feeling. Fatherless children become susceptible to a life full of hardships. Depression, low self-esteem, aggression, drug usage, and poor grades are common issues among fatherless children.

Although the ideology of single moms have progressively gotten better over the years, they are still stigmatized as being plight in today’s society. Whereas, in reality, they are exceptional role models and self reliant; ultimately, revealing that single moms can prevail two parental figures.

Did you know that more than one fourth of all children in the United States live with only one parent? Single parenting has become more common today than in the 1800s, when it was sometimes frowned upon. As the years have gone by, it has become easier and easier for women to become single parents. In the 1800’s if husbands died or abandoned their families, women had no choice but to work for extremely low and unfair wages. Today, most men and women are treated equal and receive equal wages making it easier for women to be single parents. This concept is shown in Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer through Aunt Polly in the 19th century, single parenting is also common today.

The roles of gender are changing rapidly. Throughout U.S. history men have played dominant roles and were always the family breadwinners. As women get more education and make more money they are becoming the primarily breadwinners of their families. More women are working outside the home and their earnings are important to the well-being of their families. What are the effect on their families, careers and equal wages?

Feeling a need for love, acceptance, and being wanted can put young people in situations where consequences are life changing. Without fathers, sexual activity starts at a younger age and more teenage pregnancies occur. The boys feel to young to cope with the responsibilities of fatherhood and the girls feel needed and loved by their babies. It perpetuates the problems of the homes of single mother and young men who do not take responsibilities for their

Today, many households are headed by single women raising children, some with the presence or involvement of the father and others without. According to Vargas et al. (2016), parenting by a single mother is defined as a home sustained by a maternal caregiver for many reasons to include absence, neglect, divorce, or death of the other parent. According to Anderson (2002), half of American children at some point in their childhood will live in a household that’s being reared by a single parent, who is primarily the mother. Lowry (2005) uses the term “social disaster” when describing the epidemic of absenteeism of father from the household.

“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” (Andy Warhol) The women of the United States gained rights, and are still gaining rights, gradually, and as they do, their roles at home and in the workplace have changed dramatically since the women’s rights movement of the 19th and 20th century. As women’s rights and responsibilities have changed in American society so have their roles, involvement in the plot, and character development in western film.

There is popular belief that “the decline of Fatherhood is one of the most basic, unexpected, and extraordinary social trends of our time” (Tischler, 2001, p.19). But to others who see this as a conflicting statement, they argue that this is indeed untrue and see no real importance within society over the male biological “father figure” other than for reproductive methods. Fathers are being looked at as a person who are easily “replaceable” rather than “in dire need with substantiated importance” within family units. They are being replaced with “uncles, aunts, grandparents, mothers, step parents and others who are willing to step in to devote time, love and effort”. Don’t get me wrong. I do understand that when a man leaves his family or his children fatherless- (whether divorce, abandonment or death and etc.) there is a male family member or counterpart or etc. who will step in to fulfill the need for a “male role model”. I being a witness to that myself.

As the paper states, raising kids alone is hard work. Sharing the equal responsibility is appealing and many would argue in the best interest of the children. However, a fallacy lies in the assertion that fathers who do not receive sole or shared custody are unable to fulfill their role as a father. The paper supports this contention by making the argument that fathers are often denied access to child-rearing and that it has a negative impact to the emotional well-being and overall development of the child or children.

Single motherhood often leads to child poverty. Each year many children struggle to meet their daily needs, living through poverty and face inequality from the time they are born. Growing up in a single household highly increases your chances of living a poor lifestyle. Children will experience higher drop out rates, have difficulty finding employment, engage into teen pregnancy and face various problems as they grow older. Our society projects a negative image by blaming single mothers for their actions ‘‘In Murray's eyes, the mothers are fully responsible for any children they bear in an age when contraceptives and abortion are freely available’’(McLanahan).

For years, all things involving power and prestige had been controlled and owned by men. The role of a woman was believed to be limited to domestic responsibilities until the onset of the feminist movement. The twentieth century became a time of social change for women that found a voice in art via paintings, portraits, and photography. With time, women became more visible in public life, and art became the reflection of not only their suffering, but their perseverance, courage, and strength. Freedom from the stereotypical chains of society for women was the message conveyed through the works of artists Alice Neel, Barbara Kruger, and Mary Kelly during the twentieth century.

It is commonly believed that for normal development a child needs two opposite sex parents. Mother provides nurturance and caretaking and father ‘‘is the grinding stone on which his son sharpens his emerging masculinity and the appreciative audience to which his daughter plays out her femininity (Pruett, 2000, p. 87).” Not all the children are raised in two parent family, single parent is a common part of our society. Single mothers and less common single farthers raise their children and nobody doubts there parenting skills, because not only their parent but also other relatives and media influence on children.