Family Man: Fatherhood, Housework, and Gender Equity
Family Man: Fatherhood, Housework, and Gender Equity
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有家室的男人：父亲、家务和性别平等
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发表时间：
1996
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影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Scott Coltrane
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作者：
Scott Coltrane
典型的美国家庭自“奥齐和哈里特”和“父亲最了解孩子”的时代以来发生了巨大的变化。“双收入家庭现在是规则，父亲更多地参与抚养孩子和打扫房子。对这些变化的反应各不相同，从严重的疑虑到解放感和新的可能性。各种各样的团体，如信守诺言者、百万人游行和罗伯特·布莱的神话般的男人运动，都告诉我们父亲是重要的。从原教旨主义右翼到女权主义左翼，关于家庭性质变化的观点-以及随之而来的对性别角色的重新思考-即使不总是很有根据，也是激烈的。在《居家男人》一书中，社会学家斯科特·柯川为这场关于美国家庭的辩论提供了大量令人信服的证据。根据他自己的广泛研究和许多有趣的采访，Coltrane爆炸了许多关于共同养育子女的常见神话，提供了双职工家庭中男性和女性感受的第一手资料，并揭示了一些夫妇为平衡工作和家庭承诺而开发的创新解决方案。读者会发现一个有见地的讨论，正是如何和为什么家庭生活已经改变，它可能采取什么形式的未来，以及什么样的新类型的父亲可能会在地平线上。作者坚定地把这些问题放在一个广泛的背景框架内。例如，他提供了一部富有启发性的家庭史，表明家庭远非一个固定的结构，它总是适应不断变化的经济、社会和意识形态压力。通过研究家庭在各种非工业社会中的运作方式，他证明了我们自己对特定性别的工作和养育角色的概念是由文化而不是生物决定的，因此具有内在的灵活性。事实上，这些角色正在发生变化。虽然当代美国妇女仍然承担着大部分的家务劳动，但《居家男人》给了我们决定性的证据，证明男人越来越多地参与家务劳动和抚养孩子。柯川令人信服地指出，这一趋势将继续下去。考虑到目前的经济形势（双职工家庭现在已成为常态）以及意识形态逐渐从限制性的性别角色转变，越来越多的夫妇将发现分担工作量既有必要，也是可取的。更重要的是，柯川认为，随着父亲更充分地参与抚养孩子和传统上由女性承担的家务，男性自己也会因这一经历而发生深刻的积极变化，整个美国社会将更接近真正的性别平等。《居家男人》成功地为一场经常尖锐、混乱、被怀旧之辞所困扰的讨论带来了清晰、视角，尤其是希望。它不仅向我们展示了家庭今天的确切位置，而且还向我们展示了它曾经在哪里以及它可能成为什么。
The typical American family has changed dramatically since the days of "Ozzie and Harriet" and "Father Knows Best." Double-income families are now the rule, and fathers are much more involved in raising the children and cleaning house. Reactions to these changes have been diverse, ranging from grave misgivings to a sense of liberation and new possibility. Groups as diverse as Promise Keepers, the Million Man March, and Robert Bly's mythopoetic men's movement tell us that fathers are important. From the fundamentalist right to the feminist left, opinions about the changing nature of the family--and the consequent rethinking of gender roles--have been vehement, if not always very well-founded. In Family Man, sociologist Scott Coltrane brings a wealth of compelling evidence to this debate over the American family. Drawing on his own extensive research and many fascinating interviews, Coltrane explodes many of the common myths about shared parenting, provides first-hand accounts of men's and women's feelings in two-job families, and reveals some innovative solutions that couples have developed to balance job and family commitments. Readers will find an insightful discussion of precisely how and why family life has changed, what forms it may take in the future, and what new kinds of fathers may be on the horizon. The author firmly places these questions within a broad contextual framework. He provides, for instance, an illuminating history of the family that shows that, far from being a fixed structure, the family has always adapted to changing economic, social, and ideological pressures. And by examining how families operate in a variety of non-industrial societies, he demonstrates that our own notions of gender-specific work and parenting roles are culturally rather than biologically determined, and thus inherently flexible. And indeed these roles are changing. While contemporary American women still perform the bulk of domestic tasks, Family Man gives us decisive evidence that men are becoming increasingly involved in both housework and childrearing. Coltrane argues convincingly that this trend will continue. Given the current economic situation--with two-job households now the norm--and the gradual ideological shift away from restrictive gender roles, more and more couples will find it both necessary and desirable to share the workload. More important, Coltrane suggests that as fathers participate more fully in raising their children and performing traditionally female household tasks, men will themselves be transformed by the experience in profoundly positive ways and American society as a whole will move closer to true gender equity. Family Man succeeds brilliantly in bringing clarity, perspective, and above all hope to a discussion that is too often shrill, chaotic, and beset with the rhetoric of nostalgia. It shows us not only exactly where the family is today, but where it has been and what it may become.