Lives of Stay-at-Home Fathers

Catherine Richards Solomon is Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Department of Sociology, Criminal Justice and Anthropology at Quinnipiac University, USA. She studies how individuals construct work and personal lives that make sense to them. Her work appears in Advances in Gender Research, Disrupting the Culture of Silence, Fathering, Gender, Work and Organization, Michigan Family Review, People at Work, and The Social Science Journal.

• 1. The Landscape of Fatherhood and Stay-at-Home Fathering2. How and Who: Information on the Study and the Men in this Book 3. "There is Hardness Sometimes": Masculine Identities and Emasculation 4. "Doing This Well is Honorable": The Meaning of Fathering 5. "Somewhere There is a Pillow with My Name on It": Housework Contributions 6. "A Daddy in a Mommy World": Social Networks and Community 7. Stay-at-Home Fathering: The Evolution of Fathering, Masculinity, and Family Life

Among the general findings of sociological research, says Solomon, men in blue-collar jobs are more likely to provide childcare while their wives work than professional men. Both may declare that men and women should take equal responsibility, but working class men are more intimately involved with their children's day-to-day lives and hands-on care. Some researchers call this private fatherhood in contrast to the public fatherhood of professional men, who engage with children during public events such as recitals, games, or school events but do little hands-on care. She notes that men in highly masculinized professional careers report "silencing" work/family conflict as their desire to be involved with family life counters hegemonic masculinity and can threaten professional success. There are, of course, many exceptions, she admits.