The image that first comes to mind
when writing this response is the image of the father holding the baby while in
a business suit and talking on the cell phone.
When this image was presented it was represented as a positive image of
how to be a father while caring for a child.
I personally do not feel that this image represented fatherhood in a
positive manner. Instead, I feel that
the image represented working outside the home while caring for a child as
difficult and stressful. For example, in
the image the child did not look to be peaceful and happy, as the babies always
appear in images with mothers. In
addition, the image did not show the father enjoying his time with his child,
but instead seemed to be frustrated he needed to care for the child while
attempting to do his office work. This
image is a prime example of a father who would rather be doing business work
instead of spending time with their children and thus enforces the fact that in
order to perform both fatherhood and masculinity properly a father must place
business before family.
An image that did strike me as being
an over the top image of motherhood was the commercial by Kelly Ripa for
laundry detergent. Not only does she
appear hyperfeminized in the image, but she also appears to be calm and
organized with enough time to bake cookies for her children before bed. In the images shown in this commercial we do
not see the times in which the mother is frantically attempting to do the
laundry while her children are running around screaming. We do not experience the loneliness the
mother feels when she is forced to remain in isolation for people her age to
care for the children while the father is able to venture outward into the
adult world. Over all, the father never
appears in the image, hinting that even in the evening when the father returns
from work, he is not to be seen with the children. This image yet again reinforces the idea that
the mother remains home, while the father is in the public sphere.
The image of fatherhood that I
enjoyed the most was of the father doing laundry. When the young daughter asks her father to
braid her hair, you expect to see an image of a man who rolls his eyes or is
angered that he needs to do these feminine tasks. Instead, the father asks what type of braid
the daughter would like. At this moment
I couldn’t help but smile because this image reminded me so clearly of my own
father. When I was young, my mother did
not know how to braid hair, but because I always wanted my hair braided like
the other girls, my father practiced for hours on my dolls until he figured out
how to braid normal and French braids.
It did not seem like a big deal at the time, but looking back on the
fact that my father took the time to learn and to braid my hair shows how much
he cares. I think it is important for
images such as these to show true masculinity and change the way fathers act
towards children. The fathers should no
longer be hidden in the man cave, but instead should be allowed to explore both
gender roles in order to create a happier atmosphere for the children and
create a long lasting, happy marriage.
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