Fatherhood in the 21st Century

Abstract

In the 1940s J. Howard Miller poster, 'We Can Do It, headscarf and overall clad Rosie the Riveter was pressed into service boosting American women's contribution to the war effort. Rosie subsequently became an icon of the international Women's Liberation Movement, symbolising resistance to the gendered division of labour, and the capacity of women to do anything men could do. A bearded male parody of Rosie, 'He Can Do It', clutching a baby and dustpan in one hand and resplendent in pink rubber gloves, went viral on Facebook in early 2012. His appearance and the mirth it generated in hundreds of online comments indicated that the very idea of a male full-time primary carer or domestic labourer is still perceived as strange and incongruous. The reality is, of course, that the ideals and expectations of Australian fathers' early 21st century participation in childrearing are far more complex and substantial than these kinds of parodic images on social networking sites suggest. Research on fatherhood is a relatively new field of family studies (Marsiglio, Amato, Day, & Lamb, 2000), and has received little attention in the Australian context. A number of core issues pervade contemporary debates about fatherhood in Australia. First, as in the case of many other Western developed countries, there has been a considerable reworking of mid-to-late 20th century fathering identities and practices within the heterosexual nuclear family. These changes are largely underpinned by the movement of Australian mothers into the paid workforce and the intensification of parenting, with men now expected to be more hands-on involved parents than ever before (Hays, 1996; Lupton & Barclay, 1997; Singleton, 2005). While, the full time primary carer father is still a relatively rare occurrence, recent Australian research indicates that despite long paid work hours fathers are taking on more responsibility for child-care than they used to (e.g., Baxter, 2002; Chesters, Baxter, & Western, 2009; Craig, 2006). Fathers remain more as 'helpers' in comparison to mothers more substantial contribution to and responsibilities for children's daily care. The introduction by the Australian Government of the dad and partners pay leave scheme enabling men to take 2 weeks off work after the birth of a child at minimum wage from 1 January 2013, underscores the importance attributed by Australian policymakers to fathers' involvement in newborn infants' care. A second debate in Australia centres on fathers' obligations and entitlements in the context of post-separation parenting. Many heterosexual Australian men are now engaged in resident and non-resident care relationships with children outside of the context of relationships, including post-divorce and separation (Kaspiew et al., 2009). Controversially, given fathers are known to be far less responsible for and engaged than mothers in children's primary care, Australian legislation now goes further than that of many other countries in the world to encourage shared-time arrangements between separated parents or joint physical custody of children (Fehlberg, Smyth, Maclean, & Roberts, 2011). Australian family law in the context of post-separation parenting now begins with a rebuttable presumption of shared parental responsibility that considers it ideal for children to spend 'equal' or else 'substantial or significant periods' of time with each parent. Recent changes to the Australian Child Support Scheme are in keeping with these family law changes by encouraging shared parenting after separation. Finally, new fathering identities beyond the heterosexual nuclear family are becoming popular in the new millennium, in the context of the increasing social acceptance of same-sex relationships. Since the early 2000s, reproductive technologies such as donor insemination and gestational surrogacy have become more accessible to the Australian lesbian and gay communities, enabling newer categories of Australian gay fathering identities to emerge. …