In her book “Taking Sides,” Ann Vail illustrates many issues plaguing our society today. Many of them are top priority issues that people immediately think of when they are asked what needs to be changed in the world today, or what problems are in the public eye. The issue I am concentrating on is “Have Men Lost Their Sense of Fatherhood?” This is the question to whether or not men still perform an active role in the raising of children. This could be in a two parent, conjugal family, or in a single parent family where the mother has custody. It questions whether or not men still take responsibility for children or if they are simply careless with whom they sleep and do not take responsibility if a child is born. It also takes into consideration whether the instance of fatherhood is lower across the socioeconomic playing field.
Vail presents the two opposing viewpoints of David Blankenhorn, who takes the Yes view, with an excerpt from his book, America: Why Men Are Increasingly Viewed as Superfluous to Family Life; and Haya Stier and Marta Tienda, who take the No view, with their article, “Are Men Marginal to the Family? Insights from Chicago’s Inner City.” Though both make good arguments I do not believe that Stier an
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As Mander states fatherhood has lost its dominance in the familial arena due to factors such as the rise of feminism, and the increased women’s independence during times of war which led to less dependence on men in general, even when the wars were over (Mander 150). Stier and Tienda did not answer that fatherhood was not on decline at all. With the high divorce rate it is easy to surmise that these two factors are in fact occurring less and less in families. However, they do not say how this actually helps make the sense of fatherhood present or stronger instead of just a new form of responsibility that is taken on by a biological parent. They say the fathers cannot provide because they cannot get jobs. And some people think it is all but non-existent. These are: 1) there is less for a father to do that is only for a father to do 2) he importance of the father has declined greatly so that they are almost not important at all 3) “fatherhood has become diminished as paternity has become decultured (189). I do wish that fatherhood was not on a decline and I believe that in the future the sense of fatherhood that men have will rise again but right now it is poor.
Stier and Tienda take the opposite view and believe that though divorce is on the rise, the fathers of the children are taking care of them where they have the means and when they do not have the means financially they are supporting them in other ways. This is due to the vast changes in attitudes of society in general. Fathers are more and more just out to have a good time and do not want to take responsibility or own up to consequences that result. Also for the fathers who are not able to support their offspring, the authors say they provide “in kind” support, which includes non-monetary contributions to both the mother and child. There are many factors contributing to these varying conclusions. So with the lack of these two factors for a successful effective fatherhood role, Blankenhorn concludes that fatherhood is in fact on a decline. I do believe that fatherhood has a big role to play in society and in the raising children.
Approximate Word count =
1486
Approximate Pages =
6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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