Masculinity and fatherhood: General image of a man's identity as a father

Abstract

This paper sets up a general framework for sociological study of the identity of fathers. Having in mind that popular discourses as well as professional circles debate more and more often about the crisis of masculinity which also involves questioning and new forms of male parental practices, the issues of fatherhood have grown especially appealing to the sociologist, psychologists, pedagogues, social workers and other professionals interested in family life. In processes that characterize recent modern society, male identity has become a subject of a special section of gender studies - masculinity studies. A father role traditionally implied a family protector and a provider, as well as a link with the outer world in which he represented the interests of his family group and defended his honour and that of all family members. While the modernization processes have downsized the father figure as a family representative in the outer world to the symbolic representation or have equaled him with the mother figure in the same role, the issue of the provider of the family remains very significant. Although equalization of men and women in public domain has gradually led to decreased asymmetry in their income and raised contribution of women to the home budget, the role of a man as a provider is changing more slowly both on the identity level and on the level of real world practices.