?What a Moron!?? Media's Outlook on Fatherhood | Wayne A. Malcolm

Fatherhood in today?s society

When we think of parenting in today?s society I think it?s safe to say that we usually just think of the mom as the parent who is capable of properly taking care of the children. ?Our media is at fault, from t.v shows, movies, commercials and parenting magazines; ?fathers are always portrayed as being incapable of taking care of their children. ?They show men as being confused, immature, irresponsible and just flat out morons.

The movie Daddy Daycare starring Eddie Murphy is the perfect example of a movie that exemplifies the characteristics that I just mentioned. ?In Daddy Daycare Eddie Murphy?s character (Charlie Hinton) gets laid off from his job, when this happens he is forced to take his son out of an exclusive academy for kids, leading him to the idea of starting a day care ran with his friend played by Jeff Garlin ( Phil). ?There are two important things I want to shed light on from this movie, and they are the fact that both these men were laid off from their jobs which means they can not support their families like ?real men? are supposed to. ?In chapter 7 of?Julia T Wood?s Gendered Lives, she talks about how men are supposed to be when growing up, and two of those traditional characteristics are not being female and being successful. ?First off lets be honest when you think of a day care you never?in-vision men to be working there, and secondly these men were laid off from their jobs so we automatically start thinking how will they provide for their family? ?Throughout this movie the dads just plain and simply look?confused. ?Another movie that shows the characteristics talked about earlier is the movie What to Expect When Expecting. The trailer to the movie What to Expect When Expecting really bothers me because they show men not watching their kids properly, they are in the park throwing around beer,and one character even brags about how he forgot to pick up his kid from day care.

The sit-com dad

Homer Simpson on the left Peter Griffin on right

The Simpsons, Malcolm In the Middle, Family Guy are shows on television we have seen or if not heard about. ?Homer Simpson is the father in The Simpsons, he is shown as being forgetful, loud and ignorant, and always at the bar with his friends; ?Malcolm In the Middle?s dad is played by Bryan Cranston (Hal) and this character is shown to have no back bone, only disciplining his kids when he is forced to back up his wife?s decisions, also when she leaves for any period of time during the show Hal does things like smoking, gambling, blaring loud music and building ?killer? robots. ?In the case of Peter Griffin, the father in Family Guy, he is shown as being a ?moron? ?who is always seeking sex from his wife and talking down to his kids.

(This video clip shows Homer going insane over beer and t.v)

If you were to go back 20 to 30 years and watch the shows on television such as?The Cosby Show and The Brady Bunch the fathers in those shows were shown in an extremely different light, Bill Cosby?s character (Cliff Huxtable) and Robert Reed?s character (Mike Brady) were seen as?lovable?caring fathers who were always there for the kids, they knew what to say in times of need, and then they were also hard working men. So why is there such a big difference between men on television now and from 30 years ago?

Lets take a look at what fathers are really doing

Media definitely plays a part in how we look at men being fathers in our society but what we see on television and what fathers are actually doing are two complete different things. ?When you have a family with both parents and children involved, work schedules start to play a major role in how each parent may spend time with the kids. ?In the journal ?Juggling Jobs and Kids? written by April Bray Field, she goes on to state that ?fathers who take a major responsibility for child care ease the burden of the ?second shift? for employed mothers, and they reduce maternal ?stress from work overload, anxiety about adequate childcare and supervision, and a shortage of time for rest and leisure.? ?With that being said, sometimes it is hard for fathers who do want to take greater responsibility in their children?s lives but because of the time and demand of their jobs it is harder on them.

Lets talk about how the scheduling between the mom and dad directly affect how men go about looking after their kids. ?Bray says that most men are going to be more responsible for looking after the kids if the wife has a part time job and if she has a non-day job where shes going to work at night. ?If the mom is working during the night time then that leaves the dad to have hours at night time to bond with their children and take care of them just like the mom does while he is at work. ?The psychological responsibility, which is the responsibility to plan remember coordinate and follow up on matters involving home and family is usually a role adopted by women, but in the case of a mom working during the night such as a nurse this leave the ?psychological responsibility? duties with the father. ?My aunt in New York is actually a nurse and I remember when I would visit my cousins on summer vacations my uncle did a great job taking care of us while my aunt went to work at night, taking us to the movies, going to the mall and doing activities at home with that were fun.

Our outlook on single fathers

Whenever you think of the single parent lets be honest you think of a mom who was left behind with 2 or 3 kids because her dead beat husband ran off and isn?t taking responsibility for his children. ?Once again the media can be blamed for this perception. ?Why don?t we ever think about the dads who are out there by themselves working and providing for their kids and themselves? ?This may go back to the notion that since men are supposed to be able to take care of themselves and family that they we don?t need acknowledge the single father.

From the journal ?Single Custodial Fathers? Involvement and Parenting: Implications for Outcomes in Emerging Adulthood? by?Bronte-Tinkew, J., Scott, M. E., & Lilja, E; in a study on father involvement with?adolescents, research suggested that?adolescents report greater levels of single-custodial-father involvement than do adolescents with fathers from other family types. ?Bronte-Tinkew, J., Scott, M. E., & Lilja, E go on to say, ?Single custodial fathers spend significantly more time with their children engaging in activities, such as participating in leisure activities, talking, reading, and helping with homework compared to married fathers and step fathers.? ?We can easily try and say that well since they are the only parent, they have no choice but to take responsibility for their children but they could easily be away from their child by dropping the kids off with the grandparents or even leaving them at home while they go out about their own business. ?In the show Two and a Half-Men actor Jon-Cryer plays the role of a single father (Alan Harper), this is actually one of the shows in today?s media that shows a dad who is trying his best to provide for his son. ?Although he may seem flustered at times during the show, in large part because of his brother which is played by Charlie Sheen?s character (Charlie), this is a good example of television showing a different side of today?s father.

Alan single father

This is something I can personally relate to since for a large part of my life it was just my father and I until he re-married. ?Just like the study results said that single fathers were more involved with leisure activities, home work, talking and etc.. my dad was just like that. He had to work during the day time and I would go to a baby sitter after school but when he picked me up after work, everything he did was to make sure I was happy.

Lets stop making assumptions

In conclusion we have seen that our?perspectives on?dads in today?s society is driven by our media and what they show us. ?Just because we see television shows and movies that portray the moronic dad who can?t get out of his own way, lets not just assume every dad is like that. ?If you are a kid who has grown up without a dad how do you think they feel about ?father figures? when they watch the above mentioned movies and t.v shows? Lets take our dads seriously and?dispel the notions seen in our media.

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