Fathering

The Absent Black Father

Dorothy Roberts in her chapters on the The Absent Black Father proposes that black culture is what many people consider to be the low mark of society, yo. She goes into specifically how black father's are seen as the cause of black poverty, instead of racism and unequal wealth distribution. Reinstating fatherhood in the black community will not solve all of their problems.
Fatherlessness is seen as a black problem. Currently, the female headed household is the dominant scheme in the black community. IN the media, black culture has been depicted negatively and uses family disintegration as a scapegoat to cover up racism.
Societla forces have been discouraging black fathers to take an active role in their children's lives. Unequal welfare distribution and the higher rate of imprisonment for black males are two of these negative factors. The discussion of the failure of black fathers to be proper role models does not serve the purpose of helping black poverty. It serves the purpose of reprimanding them.
Roberts makes a good argument. It appears that black fathers are viewed extremely negatively in society. They are not responsible for the entire black community's disadvantages. I do however think she is a little lenient on her opinion of them. Society can only be blamed for a situation to a point. A lot about being a father comes from being responsible, and if he is not filling this role, he should be criticized.

No Man's Land

Kathleen Gerson writes about the changing role and view on men and fathers in our society. There are a number of conflicting views on manhood. Some images show distant fathers and others show nurturing fathers. The male role as primary breadwinner has been in decline. Men's family involvement has not exactly increased with less emphasis on their outside work. Mother's are still doing a majority of the housework and child rearing.
The social world has molded the view on fathers and the view men have on their own masculinity and role as a father. Men's work and family commitments are fragile. Masculine culture has changed over time where it does not mean the complete opposite of femininity. Culture seems to value the of men as loners without any commitments.

I agree with Gerson's writings for the most part. Masculine culture does seem to be more feminized in a lot of ways. The traditional ways of viewing mother-father duties cannot describe what the world has today. I am not sure if the way things are moving is the correct way for society. If all of the differences between men and women fade away, then wouldn't that just be removing the things that make life interesting. That's kind of a broad point I derived from this but it is a concern I believ was implied in the reading.

Halving it All

In Francine Deutsch's article, she interviewed and number of men and women regarding how they as married couples divide up house work and family life duties. Society seems to be moving towards more equal divsion of labor duties between men and women.
The move towards more gender equality in the household is not limited to the highly affluent or educated. Middle and working class families have begun to divide up household duties out of necessity. Many need extra money, requiring housewives to work. Many couples will resort to alternating shifts n order to have both work and family. A number of couples are more resistant to the change and the desire to maintain gender identities is a factor. Idealogies and realities do not always line up properly.

Deutsch's findings can be confirmed by looking out the window or turning on the television. All around us men and women are dividing household an work duties in order to maintain happy lifestyles. Both of my parents worked when I was growing and up and both of them helped raise me. However, my mom was more nurturing and my father earned more money and worked longer hours, keeping with more traditional views.