Stay-at-home Dad.
Kaydian Roberts
Professor Nazos
English 101-53
03/29/13
The faces behind Stay at home dads The belief that men are not capable of taking care of a child is now being challenged. Fathers are now taking on a more active role in their child’s life by allowing their wives to peruse her career goals while they stay at home with the children. Women are now left with the task of being the family’s primary breadwinners. As both step outside their expected gender roles the challenge of gender stereotypes found in families have been questioned. The option of becoming a stay-at-home dad normally come up when a couple decides to have children. While most men choose not to submit themselves to become a stay-at-home dad simply because it has always been a man’s job to be the provider and a woman’s job to be the primary caretaker. This have been instilled within us from a very tender age so it is no surprise when a man chooses to work rather than willingly submit to becoming a stay at home dad. Men tend to have a natural instinct in them to provide and protect their family. Anything else would immediately makes them feel less of a man or even worthless in the eyes of some stereotypes. As quoted by Glenn Sacks in the short story Stay-at-home Dads page 279, “SAHDs (stay-at-home dads) also have to contend with the societal perception that being a househusband is unmanly. The idea is so pervasive that even I still tend to think “wimp” when I first hear about a SAHD”. This quote shed light on a point in which it was stated that there are still stereotyped individuals who still believe that being a stay-at-home dad makes one less of a man. This is however not true, in fact, the author went on to state that “men need not fear a loss of power when they become a SAHD. While SAHDs are sometimes stereotyped as being at the mercy of their stronger wives’ commands, in reality, I have more power in the family now than I ever did when I was the family breadwinner” (Sacks 278).
Professor Nazos
English 101-53
03/29/13
The faces behind Stay at home dads The belief that men are not capable of taking care of a child is now being challenged. Fathers are now taking on a more active role in their child’s life by allowing their wives to peruse her career goals while they stay at home with the children. Women are now left with the task of being the family’s primary breadwinners. As both step outside their expected gender roles the challenge of gender stereotypes found in families have been questioned. The option of becoming a stay-at-home dad normally come up when a couple decides to have children. While most men choose not to submit themselves to become a stay-at-home dad simply because it has always been a man’s job to be the provider and a woman’s job to be the primary caretaker. This have been instilled within us from a very tender age so it is no surprise when a man chooses to work rather than willingly submit to becoming a stay at home dad. Men tend to have a natural instinct in them to provide and protect their family. Anything else would immediately makes them feel less of a man or even worthless in the eyes of some stereotypes. As quoted by Glenn Sacks in the short story Stay-at-home Dads page 279, “SAHDs (stay-at-home dads) also have to contend with the societal perception that being a househusband is unmanly. The idea is so pervasive that even I still tend to think “wimp” when I first hear about a SAHD”. This quote shed light on a point in which it was stated that there are still stereotyped individuals who still believe that being a stay-at-home dad makes one less of a man. This is however not true, in fact, the author went on to state that “men need not fear a loss of power when they become a SAHD. While SAHDs are sometimes stereotyped as being at the mercy of their stronger wives’ commands, in reality, I have more power in the family now than I ever did when I was the family breadwinner” (Sacks 278).