Transition To Fatherhood Essay

The section in our textbook written by Tina Miller focuses on the findings of a qualitative longitudinal study regarding transition to first time fatherhood in the U.K. This study contains participants of mostly middle-class men who are becoming fathers for the first time. The author of this article used interviews schedules similar to those conducted in earlier studies of transition to motherhood. One of the findings of this article suggests that men often intend to do one thing (care for the child equally) however that is not the way things usually turn out. One reason childcare can’t be entirely equal according to a study participant includes aspects of breastfeeding. Also, the author's study highlights the fact that many of the male …show more content…
In other words, some aspects of caring for the child appeared to come naturally. According to the author, even though there can be acts of “undoing gender” these acts typically are only partial or temporary. Also according to the author, despite their best intentions fathers often choose the path of least resistance because it is recognizable, familiar, and gendered. The author also points out that the introduction of two weeks’ paid paternity leave in the U.K allowed men to share hands-on caring roles during this time period. Lastly, the author points out that the men’s lack of knowledge regarding difficulties of caring and their hopes and intentions were overstated. This study finds that men, in fact, are more actively and emotionally involved in caring for the child compared to their recollection of their fathers. However, once the men return to paid work, their intentions become temporary as they returned to past gendered behaviors. As a result, of this reintegration into gendered behaviors the fathers caring practices slowly progress during evenings or weekends. However, the mother’s caring practices become more expert-like. Thus, the mothers fall back into the gendered behavior of being the primary caregiver to the