- Introduction - Page 15

Over the past thirty years, it’s become obvious that women are no longer content to live within the boundaries of traditional gender roles that severely limit the scope and magnitude of their dreams. What is now becoming evident is that men also cannot continue to play out their appointed roles blindly without increasingly disastrous consequences to their own emotional health and that of their children.

When we examine social evolution in more detail, at least some of the reason for the urgency in dealing with the changing role of fathers begins to emerge. For, although the traditional roles of mothers and fathers may appear clear and defined, in practice, they were never as stark or as isolating as they appear to us today.

Until relatively recently—the past 100 years or so—men and women carried out their roles in close and constant contact with each other and with their children, whether on a small farm or running a small business or shop. Indeed, for most of our history, men and women worked side by side—undertaking different tasks, but performing them in a manner that involved continuous interaction, feedback, and assistance.

Dad was indeed the protector and provider, but he was also right there, downstairs in the shop or out in the field preparing it for next season’s crop. More often than not, Dad was there every day for the noontime meal, as well as for breakfast and supper, and the opportunities (and indeed, obligation) for children to spend time with Dad by helping out in the fields or in the store were frequent.

Fathers fulfilled their role in frequent daily contact with their children, and that contact nurtured the kinds of emotional connections that can only come with the investment