In January of this year we began a series called “Portraits of Fatherhood”. We asked dads to respond to ten questions about their experience as a father, including how they combine work and family, and what moments in parenting do they consider as their “Best” and their “Worst”.
The responses have been beautiful, remarkable and inspiring.
Through the stories of these fathers — married fathers (of both opposite and same-sex unions), single fathers, divorced fathers, re-married fathers, widowed fathers, full-time working and stay-at-home fathers (and everything in between) — a new portrait of fathers and fatherhood has emerged:
Today’s father’s are actively participating in the care of their children, both emotionally and materially.
Today’s fathers are thoughtful, introspective, flexible and open to what their children need in a parent.
Today’s fathers are trying to do as good a job as their own fathers did — or improve upon the lousy job their own fathers did.
Today’s fathers are redefining what it means to be a father, and a man.
And today’s fathers are as pressured and exhausted as today’s moms, by the mandate to “do it all” — provide financially and show-up emotionally! But they do.
Take a look for yourself at these amazing dads, and then please consider adding your story to the series.
To you, your story might seem ordinary or uninspiring, but to another dad it might be a much-needed affirmation of his own journey as a father.
To contribute, simply write to editor Lisa Duggan at [email protected] and include “Portraits of Fatherhood” in the subject line. Lisa will send you the questions via email, which you can answer at your convenience.
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Thanks you for providing dads with another forum to share their voice!
Spread the word and let your dad voice be heard.
Keep On Daddying!