The Ideology Of Fatherhood

In past group leader assignments, leaders have been assigned five questions to focus the group discussion on. In both of my groups (both in part one and part two of the course), I have frequently veered off those questions and into discussions beyond the lecture material. This was due to the questions assigned being undebatable at times and too straightforward. That was why I enjoyed creating my own question for this group assignment. This report analyzes the effectiveness of my question in my group leader assignment for the understanding of course material.
What is the Ideology of Fatherhood?
The topic of Sexuality, Gender & Family and Motherhood focused on the struggles of being a mother and some of the ways society views mothers, mothering, and motherhood. In my group — which was all female, including a mother — we went through each question assigned with ease, but we found the questions too rigid to create a steady discussion because they did not get us to think beyond the lecture or reading material. When I introduced this question — what is the ideology of fatherhood? — a discussion ignited as each member had varying views on what or who a father really is or should be. For instance, the member who grew up …show more content…
In order to answer a question about the ideology of fatherhood, you must know something about the ideology of motherhood because they are connected through patriarchy. Since patriarchy is a system we all encounter in society, regardless of gender, fathers are also affected by the ideology of motherhood. For instance, when a father decides to stay at home while his wife works, many people see this as role-switch and frown upon it as it is effeminate (or the woman’s job). As I planned, my group readily discussed both motherhood and fatherhood together with lecture and reading material and real life