Dads need to know their worth as a parent

Too many fathers are made to play second fiddle to mothers in an unhelpful yet reinforced stereotype of parenting

If images of parenting within nuclear families are anything to go by, the respective roles of a mother and father are fairly established. Think of traditional families from television or movies and the roles are always the same. The mother is the ‘lead parent’. She has an encyclopedic knowledge of the children’s clothing and shoe sizes, she knows when immunisations are due, is aware of all of their idiosyncrasies and generally comes across as the proficient parent.

In contrast, the father takes his lead from her and is happy to take a back seat in parenting. He’s good for assembling their toys and decorating their rooms. And he’s probably the disciplinarian of the two. But he lacks the confidence and ability of the mother and can appear clueless in her absence when it comes to even the basics of parenting. Furthermore, he’s largely content in that role; happy to have minimal input into parenting decisions and relinquishing some of his parental prerogative in the process.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

This image is incredibly archaic. Although it’s managed to be somewhat enduring in shaping modern parenting and in images of modern fatherhood. A Philadelphia…