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The emotional toll of postfeminist fatherhood

Author

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  • Julia Gruson‐Wood
  • Carla Rice
  • Jess Haines
  • Gwen E. Chapman

Abstract

Postfeminism shapes the political economy of the workforce and household, constituting a re‐entrenchment of traditional heterosexual gender regimes and the pressure to transgress them. Focusing on the understudied area of postfeminist masculinity, we analyze the emotional toll some fathers experience as a result of the fraught expectations to be the breadwinner, nurturing parent, and enlightened feminist spouse who completes equal domestic duties. Using empirical data of parents’ participation in a family‐based health intervention, we argue that the paradoxical expectation to enact traditional gender relations and to adopt gender egalitarianism is exhausting, upsetting, and confusing for fathers. By focusing on the affective dimensions of postfeminism, we demonstrate how working to achieve the impossible expectation of doing “it all,” a bind that women have been caught in for centuries, takes an emotional toll on fathers and couples, leading to discontent at work and home, and in regard to their self‐concept, parental role, and spousal relationship. We close by offering counter examples of fathers and couples who have disengaged from postfeminist parenting relations and have reached a state of contentment. Contrary to the alignment of postfeminism with positive affect, the experience of resisting postfeminist resulted in feelings of joy, pride, and satisfaction.

Suggested Citation

  • Julia Gruson‐Wood & Carla Rice & Jess Haines & Gwen E. Chapman, 2022. "The emotional toll of postfeminist fatherhood," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 256-272, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:29:y:2022:i:1:p:256-272
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12712
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Karin Berglund & Helene Ahl & Katarina Pettersson & Malin Tillmar, 2018. "Women's entrepreneurship, neoliberalism and economic justice in the postfeminist era: A discourse analysis of policy change in Sweden," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(5), pages 531-556, September.
    2. Lara Pecis & Vincenza Priola, 2019. "The ‘new industrial man’ as unhero: Doing postfeminist masculinities in an Italian pharmacological research centre," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(10), pages 1413-1432, October.
    3. Baker, Darren T & Brewis, Deborah N, 2020. "The melancholic subject: A study of self-blame as a gendered and neoliberal psychic response to loss of the ‘perfect worker’," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    4. Suvi Heikkinen & Anna‐Maija Lämsä, 2017. "Narratives of Spousal Support for the Careers of Men in Managerial Posts," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(2), pages 171-193, March.
    5. Yvonne Benschop & Patricia Lewis & Ruth Simpson & Siri Øyslebø Sørensen, 2017. "The Performativity of Choice: Postfeminist Perspectives on Work–Life Balance," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 297-313, May.
    6. Ashlee Borgkvist & Vivienne Moore & Jaklin Eliott & Shona Crabb, 2018. "‘I might be a bit of a front runner’: An analysis of men's uptake of flexible work arrangements and masculine identity," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(6), pages 703-717, November.
    7. Yvonne Benschop & Patricia Lewis & Ruth Simpson & Nick Rumens, 2017. "Postfeminism, Men, Masculinities and Work: A Research Agenda for Gender and Organization Studies Scholars," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 245-259, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Arturas Tereskinas, 2022. "Emotional Capital and Its Uses in Lithuanian Middle-Class Fathers’ Narratives," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-12, June.
    2. Claire Garnier & Claudine Mangen & Edwige Nortier, 2023. "Men’s Experiences of Paternity Leaves in Accounting Firms," Post-Print hal-04262335, HAL.
    3. Ulla Hytti & Päivi Karhunen & Miruna Radu-Lefebvre, 2024. "Entrepreneurial Masculinity: A Fatherhood Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 48(1), pages 246-273, January.

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