Lägg till bokmärkeFamily Men: Middle-Class Fatherhood in Industrializing America
The image of the cold and distant Victorian patriarch, whose domestic roles were limited to those of provider and disciplinarian, is one that still dominates the way we think about nineteenth-century fatherhood. In Family Men, Shawn Johansen reveals that this myth has very little to do with the complex domestic lives these men actually led. Fathers routinely engaged in numerous domestic chores, cared for children, and took a far more active role in parenting then previously thought. Using ... (show more)
The image of the cold and distant Victorian patriarch, whose domestic roles were limited to those of provider and disciplinarian, is one that still dominates the way we think about nineteenth-century fatherhood. In Family Men, Shawn Johansen reveals that this myth has very little to do with the complex domestic lives these men actually led. Fathers routinely engaged in numerous domestic chores, cared for children, and took a far more active role in parenting then previously thought. Using a rich selection of personal writings, Johansen resurrects the voices of nineteenth-century fathers, uncovering how their feelings during childbirth, their views on education and religion, the ways their relationship to their children changed as they both grew older, and their attitudes toward many other domestic matters. Family Men is a sophisticated and compelling addition to the growing literature on the history of masculinity and the family. (show less)
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I ran across this book by chance while on another research project and I must say that it was one of the best reads I've encountered yet on the emerging field of the history of fatherhood. Although taken from Prof. Johansen's dissertation, his narrative style is engaging and his choice of sources is broad and revealing. HIs main argument is to debunk the prevailing notion of the distant, stern Paterfamilias among middle class Midwesterner / Northerners in the mid Nineteenth century. Indeed, h... (show more)
I ran across this book by chance while on another research project and I must say that it was one of the best reads I've encountered yet on the emerging field of the history of fatherhood. Although taken from Prof. Johansen's dissertation, his narrative style is engaging and his choice of sources is broad and revealing. HIs main argument is to debunk the prevailing notion of the distant, stern Paterfamilias among middle class Midwesterner / Northerners in the mid Nineteenth century. Indeed, he cites numerous examples of men tending babies, doing housework, even changing diapers. Because an early part of his research involved husband's participation in their wives' delivery through childbirth, he includes a chapter on this subject. Most readers would be surprised at how these men coped with a situation we often assume they distanced themselves from. His fascinating descriptions suggest that the husband and father associated only with the late twentieth century appeared in the family lives of men a century and a half earlier. Johansen gives an insightful, sensitive glimpse into the lives of nineteenth century American husbands and fathers through their diaries and letters. Through his research I was led to read several works including the Cormany Diaries http://www.librarything.com/work/1292... Rotundo's American Manhood http://www.librarything.com/work/5214... and a host of other works. Highly recommended to anyone reading about family life, sex roles, and relationships in Nineteenth Century America. (show less)
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