When Men Become Fathers: Men Doing Identity Transition

Families, Relationships and Societies, 2015

2003

Making Men into Fathers: Men, Masculinities and the Social Politics of Fatherhood edited by Barbara Hobson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002, 338 pp.This book is a compilation of studies analyzing different and evolving political agendas regarding men and fathers in western countries. These studies, written from a social policy perspective and a multi-disciplinary angle, illuminate the commonalities and divergences in the ways in which men and fathers are represented by the local politics of gender. The book emphasizes the importance of the historical and social contexts in understanding contemporary discourses of fatherhood.Seven different national case studies typify the area of fatherhood as affected by complex and interconnected social, political, and economic processes. According to its structural approach, the book stresses the inevitability of tackling the role of the state, and the policies associated with it, in gender discussions. The studies enlighten the ways ...

This study aims to review what extent have the attitudes and practices on fatherhood changed in different countries and how these changes are explained. Firstly, a comprehensive review of fatherhood study is given. Following this, the dynamic changes of fatherhood and

Nursing Inquiry, 2003

While maternity leave has understandably received a significant amount of scholarly focus, paternity leave remains an under-studied concept in the United States. The decision of whether or not to take paternity leave functions as a key example of how fathers negotiate the relationship between their home lives and careers. The study of paternity leave, then, acts as a rich topic through which to explore gender and work/life balance. This project is an examination of how first-time fathers manage their decision regarding whether or not to take paternity leave. Eighteen first-time fathers were interviewed regarding what aspects of their identities were salient in regards to their paternity leave decision. The four frames of identity (personal, enacted, relational and communal) posited by the Communication Theory of Identity (CTI) were utilized as a framework to contextualize these salient identities. Ultimately each participant did choose to take paternity leave. Participants discussed their identities as fathers, relational partners, workers, and men as factoring into their decision in various ways. Results demonstrate that paternity leave is an important aspect of work/life balance. Specifically, the paternity leave decision makes salient many nuanced aspects of different identities for this project’s participants.

Dialogues in Human Geography, 2017

Our commentary brings Boyer et al.’s (2017) argument of a ‘regendering of care’ through men’s growing engagement as caregivers into a dialogue with scholarship from German-speaking countries. This literature supports Boyer et al.’s claim of a connection between labour market opportunities and stay-at-home fatherhood. However, the research from our language context also suggests that fathers who are not gainfully employed do not necessarily become primary caregivers. Furthermore, the number of stay-at-home fathers is shrinking rather than growing. In light of these findings, we suggest shifting the discussion from stay-at-home fathers to fathers as part-time workers and part-time carers. This is where we identify the potential for a subtle revolution that bears the promise of far more wide-ranging changes in the gendering of care.

This article explores men's articulations and practices of gender through transition to first-time fatherhood. Using qualitative longitudinal data, men's antenatal intentions and postnatal practices are explored in this study which replicates earlier research on motherhood. The contemporary context in the UK is one where paternity leave, discourses of caring masculinities and more public displays of fathering involvement appear to offer new possibilities for men. But data analysis shows that whilst opportunities to disrupt gender norms are initially imagined, longer term practices can confirm 'patriarchal habits'. The findings illuminate gender being done and undone, at times simultaneously, as the exhaustion and hard work of new parenting is encountered. A retreat into normative behaviours can be a path of least resistance as experiences unfold in an arena where men are found to have available to them a wider repertoire of discursive storylines. Optimistically, some changes in fathering involvement are discernible.

Our commentary brings Boyer et al.'s (2017) argument of a 'regendering of care' through men's growing engagement as caregivers into a dialogue with scholarship from German-speaking countries. This literature supports Boyer et al.'s claim of a connection between labour market opportunities and stay-at-home fatherhood. However, the research from our language context also suggests that fathers who are not gainfully employed do not necessarily become primary caregivers. Furthermore, the number of stay-at-home fathers is shrinking rather than growing. In light of these findings, we suggest shifting the discussion from stay-at-home fathers to fathers as part-time workers and part-time carers. This is where we identify the potential for a subtle revolution that bears the promise of far more wide-ranging changes in the gendering of care.

Reference as: Hadley, R. A. (2009). Navigating in an Uncharted World: How does the desire for fatherhood affect men? MSc Dissertation, The University of Manchester, Manchester.

This self-funded MSc study originated from a previous qualitative study into the issues surrounding involuntarily childless men. That study indicated that involuntary childlessness affected men's behaviour, mental health, relationships, and identity. The results reflected

Human Development, 2003