MILLENIAL DADS BREAKING FATHERHOOD STEREOTYES
MILLENIAL DADS BREAKING FATHERHOOD STEREOTYES
WHAT ARE STEREOTYPES?
Set of belief systems regarding personal attributes of members of a particular social category. For ex: Men don’t cry. They serve as a template or a model for human cognition in processing information, building a perception, making a judgement & finally generate a response by determining the further course of action. These stereotypes may also result in preconceived conclusions which are difficult to modify leading to unfair and discriminatory behaviours towards others.
WHAT FACTORS DETERMINE THE STEREOTYPES?
The societies influence in building these stereotypes through means of media, language, religion, culture, ethnicity, legal system etc. The image of a typical family across the world is largely represented by middle-class, first-marriage, nuclear family comprising of heterosexual parents - working father, stay-at-home mother and biological children.
The ‘social role theory’ explains sex-based differences & similarities in social behaviour due to distribution of men and women into specific gender based social roles within the society. Thus in industrialized economies, social roles are organised such that women were more likely to be home-makers while men were family providers.
MOST COMMON STEREOTYPES WITH FATHERHOOD
1. Fathers are the financial providers: The fathers have been perceived as breadwinners/income earners across all racial and ethnic groups. In few cultures, father is seen as provider not just for the family but also for the community.
2. Fathers as role models, guides and moral educators: In most cultures, it has been seen that fathers serve as role models. But it is natural to say that the father’s own family structure influences his view of fathering. The fathers also perceive a sense of responsibility for teaching children moral values, strong sense of right and wrong and a source of wisdom.
3. Fathers as protectors: This could be the result of father’s socio-economic status, more specifically due to their level of education, economic status or social status fulfilling the role of protector.
4. Fathers as disciplinarians: This view primarily arises from the fact that men are better suited than women to fulfil the disciplinarian role due to their greater physical strength and ability to handle adverse scenarios.
5. Fathers as care giver: Traditionally, It was always viewed that fathering is centrally themed around provider stereotype while the care giver role in the form of nurturing, supporting and emotional development to be of the mother’s involvement.
#BREAKINGTHESTEREOTYPE: NEW AGE FATHERS
In the 21st century, the traditional views of the nuclear family type, structure and composition have been challenged. There is changing perception about family and marriage, greater live-in-relationships among younger generations, greater emphasis on education for all, together with rising unemployment and cut-throat competition at workplace resulting in re-prioritising the previous values and approaches of life.
Compared to previous century, more and more women are educated and participate in work force, occupy different managerial and administerial posts. The average age of marriage has been getting delayed for both men and women in every decade. There have been significant rise in divorce rates resulting in alarming numbers of single parent families. Also, the average number of children per household has been decreasing resulting in greater attention towards healthy parenting with quality time investment between partners.
Together with these, there is a growing trend of rising same sex marriages engaging in parenting children in few countries. With every passing year, more children are born outside of marriage eventually leading to single parent families. Also, the adoption rates of children are increasing in different western societies.
The advancement in science and technology has led to sanitary napkins and artificial reproductive techniques which have liberated women from the immense pressure of balancing motherhood and career choices. Finally, the society at large has led to better legislations in the form of maternal and paternal paid leave to take care of children.
The various reasons mentioned above have led to changing social trends and bringing a significant behavioural change in men towards their fathering practices. Nowadays, men are more supportive towards their partner’s choice of working and career choices. With more women being employed and empowered, the necessity of fathers to be the sole providers is diluted. This has led to financial liberation on men resulting in fathers spending more time with their children than any in the previous decades. Similarly, in the last fifty years, men have doubled the time invested in housework and childcare.
The human migration is alarmingly high anytime in human civilization largely to seek better job opportunities, financial stabilities, safety and security needs etc. This has led to changing demographies of small societies, changes in gender based stereotypes, openness towards change, progressive attitudes, mutual co-operation, and healthy division of domestic labor including childcare.
The new age fathers are expressing greater interest in taking an active and more involved role in childcare. A growing number of fathers are expressing interest and desire to seek paid paternity leave and to be stay-at-home fathers. Today, fathers believe caretaking not just confined to physical presence but also encompassing physical care of the child like bathing, feeding and changing diapers of the child. The fathers are engaging themselves in spending quality time with their children be at comforting and playing with the child, engaging in healthy conversation about their choices providing emotional support and reassurance. Today, men are willing to communicate more with their partner, be more emotionally expressive towards their children and acknowledge their needs.
The society at large is receptive to changing stereotypes which are portrayed in movies, stand-up comedy shows, mass media advertisements, social media platforms, literature, etc. This has led to an overall change in the perception especially in older generations about gender based stereotypes, individual roles and expectations. Now, more mothers are open to see their sons taking care of domestic chores and child care responsibilities sharing with their partners.
The new age dad’s believe fatherhood as a set of behaviours that go beyond biological reproduction.
They believe “to be a father involves fulfilling the provider role not just for the economic and financial needs but also the emotional and physical requirements.”
This holistic approach shall contribute towards the overall cognitive, emotional and intellectual development of children.
