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Feminism: Sex & gender discussions

BBC4: Century of Fatherhood - anyone see it?

6 replies

tabouleh · 14/07/2010 23:19

Did anyone see any of the 3 programs in the
Century of Fatherhood series?

I'm not sure if episodes 1 and 2 are still available.

A couple of things struck me:

  • stereotypes: there was some nice illustration of stereotypes in books and literature of how fathers were portrayed and some nice testamonials rebutting these stereotypes

    -men crying: we don't see enough of it on TV - there were some very moving stories of fathers form WW1 and WW2

    The most recent episode really raised my hackles and I was itching for you ladies to be viewing it with me.

    Unfortunuately the tone was very much - women started to go out to work/marriages broke down - poor fathers not getting access to their children.

    I felt that most of the men portrayed who had split up with partners came across very agressively and the men who set up Fathers 4 Justice and Families Need Fathers did not come across at all well.

    Dittany - I seem to recall that you have some stong feelings on these groups? Can you enlighten me as to why my feminist antennae was quivering?
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secunda · 14/07/2010 23:26

I haven't seen it, but just wanted to say I really don't get this 'then women went out to work' stuff. In my mother's family ALL the women from time immemorial went out to work, otherwise everyone would have starved... it annoys the historian in me how everyone makes assumptions about the past

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Sammyuni · 14/07/2010 23:30

History is not so clear cut women have always worked it's just the professions differed not only for gender though a persons class also affected the type of work they would get.

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ElephantsAndMiasmas · 18/07/2010 20:28

I watched the middle (I think) episode of this, and also "disappearing dads" or something which was about the demise of fathers in fiction.

What struck me was how, if these programmes had been about mothers, it would have been all stories from domestic situations. None of the real or fictional fathers were actually involved in raising their children - caring for them, telling them off, washing and feeding them, helping them with their homework - only in playing with them (or not). I think there was one exception of a dad who had enjoyed bathing and walking his kids around, but for the most part it seemed that the absence from kids lives might have been a result of failing to get involved in them in the first place .

It was very syrupy stuff IMO. That guy in the middle episode who loved his daughter to bits and then, er, went off and left her. We're supposed to feel sympathy towards him? If that was a mother abandoning her child it would have been the subject of far more discussion.

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dittany · 18/07/2010 22:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

tabouleh · 19/07/2010 00:00

Just thought I had better check my facts - a quick google confirms. See here and here.

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EightiesChick · 19/07/2010 00:04

I recorded episodes 1 and 3 (missed 2 for some reason) but haven't yet watched them. Think 3 may still be on iPlayer, just about. But it is BBC4 so they will all be on again sometime in the next few months. Worth keeping a look out - you can see the schedule a week ahead on the website.

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