Stay at Home Dads: How fatherhood is evolving in Irish society.

This research project is an investigation of the changing role of fatherhood in Irish society, with a particular focus on stay at home dads. The main research question was “is masculinity an issue for stay at home dads in Ireland?” My aim was to look at how men experience at home parenting in a society that is only beginning to recognise the validity of such a phenomenon, and how this effects their place in the social world. In the literature review, I look at how fatherhood was viewed in the past and how much of this was socially constructed, and at fatherhood in Irish society today. I also look at ideas concerning masculinity and what that word means, and how feminism has affected men. The experiences of stay at home dads in America are also looked at, as this is where the largest concentration of them exists. The methodology section deals with the research methods I chose for the project, and their suitability for the cause. Details of how I went about conducting the research and gathering my data are provided.The data analysis section deals with the issues that were raised as being important by my interview participants, and also my participant observation calls into question some of the old myths about men and their ability to care for children while out in public. In my conclusion, I discuss my how my research questions were revised after the conducting of the actual research, and what the implications for this are. I look at the support that these men receive, what are the problems that they encounter, and what is it that drives them to take this role. It is clear that the government need to stop discriminating by gender when it comes to parental leave and social welfare, and the reasons for this are discussed in detail.

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

masters

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

National University of Ireland Maynooth

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• McCann, Deirdre

• Sociology

Language dc:language

en