Abstract
This article examines the ways in which men and women remember men’s place in, and experiences of, family life in postwar England during a period when a new ideal of fatherhood arguably emerged. Based on forty-four oral history testimonies with men and women, this article adds a new dimension to existing literature in gender history by closely examining men and women’s perspectives on the same issues. Focusing on decisions around family planning, experiences of pregnancy and birth, and the division of labour in the home, the article analyses how men and women understood their respective roles as parents-to-be and as new parents; how they negotiated the expectations of those around them; and the extent to which the gendering of childcare responsibilities persisted in the decades between 1950 and 1990
Highlights
This article examines the ways in which men and women remember men’s place in, and experiences of, family life in postwar England during a period when a new ideal of fatherhood arguably emerged
Given that the subject matter of the original research project focused on men and family life, it can be reasonably assumed that this group of men were especially concerned with their roles as fathers
Our interviews indicate that even after 1940, and amongst the middle-class couples who constitute most of our sample, there remained the idea that women were responsible for matters relating to family life
Summary
This article examines the ways in which men and women remember men’s place in, and experiences of, family life in postwar England during a period when a new ideal of fatherhood arguably emerged. Focusing on decisions around family planning, experiences of pregnancy and birth, and the division of labour in the home, the article analyses how men and women understood their respective roles as parents-to-be and as new parents; how they negotiated the expectations of those around them; and the extent to which the gendering of childcare responsibilities persisted in the decades between 1950 and 1990. While a considerable change in men and women’s perceptions of an idealized role for fathers appears to have occurred in the decades after the Second World War, this perception of increased paternal involvement was not always matched by an increase in fathers’ actual involvement. The identity of ‘parent’ could allow for a flexible sharing of duties in childcare, but most interviewees presented themselves as ‘mother’ or ‘father’ within the context of a retrospective interview
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