Thesis advisor: Shawn McGuffey / This paper provides a look into the lives of 13 stay-at-home fathers. This qualitative, exploratory study conducted in-depth interviews with 13 men who defined themselves as stay-at-home fathers. Respondents were obtained through convenience sampling. Fathers were from several major metropolitan U.S. cities, from New York, Los Angeles, Boston, to Washington, D.C. All respondents were white, middle- to upper-middle class males. This study aims to analyze gender through the theories of “doing gender” (West and Zimmerman, 1987) and structuralism (Risman, 1998). This paper argues that what dictates an individual to become a successful parent is not sex or a biological desire, but structural and situational demands. Due to financial reasons and time availability, these men were able to commit the time and energy needed to become a full-time parent. This paper also analyzes the different ways in which men construct masculinity when taking on an untraditional role. Stay-at-home fathers emphasize physical activity, sports, and a lack of emotional connection as a way of maintaining and constructing masculinity. This paper concludes that gender is not only socially constructed, but also that gender is constructed within the structural demands of the situation. Although stay-at-home fathers still find ways to construct masculinity, their stories demonstrate that they are just as capable as women to rise up to the challenges of full-time parenting. In conclusion, this study argues that good parenting knows no gender, and that government policies and programs should advocate for all different family structures. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology Honors Program. / Discipline: Sociology.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BOSTON/oai:dlib.bc.edu:bc-ir_102466 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Colbert, Cara Elizabeth |
| Publisher | Boston College |
| Source Sets | Boston College |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, thesis |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf |
| Rights | Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. |
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