It’s time to speak up for fatherhood.For decades, the media, cultural, and academic elite have mocked and derided fathers as part of a broader assault on traditional masculinity.Feminist academics repeat the tired stereotype that men don’t do a fair share of housework or child-rearing, even as surveys show that millennial and Generation X dads are much more involved in raising their kids than their baby boomer fathers were.Television shows, ads, and children’s books endlessly portray fathers as irresponsible and stupid, while mothers are wise, all-knowing, and competent.FATHERS PLAY CRUCIAL ROLE FOR DAUGHTERS’ MENTAL HEALTH, SONS’ SCHOOL BEHAVIOR, STUDY FINDSAnd the heavily promoted "gentle parenting" trend encourages endless negotiating with children – and discourages fathers from even basic discipline, like sending misbehaving kids to their rooms.
Masculine virtues like stoicism, self-discipline, and respect for authority are nowhere to be found in this vision of parenthood.In gentle parenting, the only good dad… is a mom.With three kids of my own (7, 10, and 13), I find the negative noise around fatherhood more than a sideshow.
Undercutting dads hurts not just them and their families, but all of society.As the United States faces a worsening baby bust, it discourages some men from having children.Even if they do, our cultural denial that fathers matter keeps them from teaching boys (and girls) the virtues of a serious and stoic masculinity.
And so boys seeking powerful role models may be drawn to influencers like Andrew Tate, who offer a toxic and misogynistic caricature of masculinity.Boys must learn to become men.And fathers must teach them.Yet our cultural elites seemingly don’t even trust fathers to talk about fatherhood.
The New York Times has run several opinion pieces about fatherhood and masculinity lately.They have one thing in common.
Fathers have not written them.(Try to imagine the liberal response if the Times had run multiple p...