Family men : middle-class fatherhood in early industrializing America / Shawn Johansen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Johansen, Shawn.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fatherhood--United States--History--19th century.

Fatherhood.

Fathers--United States.

Fathers.

History.

United States.

Physical Description:

xiii, 249 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Routledge, 2001.

Summary:

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.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [227]-234) and index.

ISBN:

0415917867

0415917875

OCLC:

44905125