1. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the father was a moral overseer, where they were “viewed as the family’s ultimate source of moral teaching and worldly judgements”. They were also “viewed as a moral pedagogue who must instruct children of both sexes what God as well as the world required of them.” The fathers also were thought to have superior reason and less likely to be misled by passions and affections.
In the early nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries, the father was the distant breadwinner. During this period, the role of the father became more indirect while the role of the mother became more direct. Mothers became more involved in their children’s lives after childhood. Fathers and mothers were blamed equally if the children did not turn out right. This movement was caused by industrialization, because “for the first time, the central activity of fatherhood was sited outside one’s immediate household.”
From 1940 to 1965, the father was viewed as a sex role model. During and following World War II, there have been many critiques about overmothering; evenutally leading to the sex role model interpretation, which was the first positive image of involved fatherhood since the colonial period. Fathers were viewed as “a towering figure in the life of their children not so much by their presence as by their absence.”
Today, the new father is more active in the family, where “he is present at the birth; he is involved with his children as infants, not just when they are older; he participates in the actual day-to-day work of child care and not just play; he is involved with his daughters as much as his sons.
I believe that the description of the new father is a good portrayal of the current roles of the fathers. They are more active in the lives of their children; they are as active as the mothers in the family; and they do not play favorites amongst their children.
2. According to Francine Deutsch, couples with children decide to work alternating shifts because of money – “it is cheaper to avoid paid child care.” Also, couples decide to work alternating shifts because they want to inculcate their children with their own values. The couples who do this usually have the lowest incomes among the groups Deutsch interviewed and are the blue-collar families. They simply can’t afford childcare. Additionally, even though if couples want to inculcate their children with their own values, they must suffer from a lack of control.
If I don’t have to, I would not select an alternating shift arrangement for my family. I think that is the last resort for the couples who do select this arrangement; if they can choose, I believe that they would not want to resort to this. When couples decide to do this, the family will never be together as a whole and the children might feel insecure. For example, if he/she has a school play, only one parent can attend most likely. Also, I believe that children want to spend some time with both of their parents simultaneously. I didn’t find it surprising when the author revealed that the blue-collared families are usually the ones who resort to this system; they simply can’t afford childcare. Therefore, if I don’t have to, I hope that I don’t have to resort to selecting an alternating shift arrangement for my family
3. According to Dorothy Roberts, there are many societal forces that discourage family participation of Black fathers. First, the rise of Black female-headed households is directly related to Black male joblessness. Unemployment rates are extremely high and there are more Black women in the labor force than Black men. Secondly, many Black men are unable to support their families because they are imprisoned. Black men value their families just as much as other men of different races; however, there are many societal forces that discourage family participation of Black fathers.
What traditionally have been characteristiced as a good man are things that Black men can not do. Black women were also excluded in the separate ideology and these women are always expected to work outside their homes. Men were always thought to be able to support and sustains their families economically, but Black men fail to do so. When the term “fatherless” is used, it means that the parents are not married. However, even the “absent” Black fathers actually play an important role in child rearing and they “stay closely tied to their children even they are not married to the mother or are unable to provide financial support.”
