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Ideals of parenthood: Analysis of the factors that influence the growth and development of a child
Introduction
Over the years, the family has been the core of parenthood with the responsibility of a child primarily lying on both parents. The parents have always been the most critical source of guidance to a child, and the level of responsibility that parents have on the children greatly determines how a child grows and who they end up to be as they get older. Traditionally, the mother has always taken up the role of nurturing a child and taking care of the child, with the father primarily being the provider to the child and the mother. However, as times go by and with the increasing focus on the equality of men and women, the roles of parents have changed considerably, which in turn has significantly changed the ideals of parenthood in the recent past (Stubley et al. 34). Over the past twenty years, the ideals of parenthood have greatly evolved with parents having more diverse knowledge of parenting and expectations for their children due to the changes in the family setup, the increasing role of women in society, reorganization of roles in the family and the evolving motherhood.
Ideals of parenthood
Family structures
The change in family structures has positively impacted parenthood. Traditionally, a family was established through a union between two people of the opposite gender. In this regard, heterosexual marriages set the baseline in the formation of policies touching on families. As argued by Biblarz and Judith, the government and the society have been holding strongly on the notion of families made of a male and female (42). However the rise in the number of same-sex families has helped to promote parenthood by ensuring the society is focused on the welfare of a child, rather than focusing on the parties involved. Different research studies examine the connection between the structure of a family and growth and development of a child. Society has come to realize that there is not much difference between children brought up in the same-sex marriages and those in heterosexual marriages. Therefore, the formation of new family structures has made parenthood to be focused more on physical and psychological needs that are pertinent for the growth and development of a child.
Role of fathers in parenting
The changing role of a father in family has helped to considerably enhance parenthood. Unlike in the past, fathers have increasingly moved from playing the role of solely providing for the family to taking active roles in the upbringing of the children. Sari argue that father have increasingly started taking supportive duties on their children by constantly being physically and emotionally present (1137). Sari found out that fathers have become strongly involved in the growth and development of their children. However, the involvement of the fathers is largely influenced by their ethnicity and personal orientation. Unlike western countries, patriarchal societies such as Asians are relatively held to the traditional distinction of duties between fathers and mothers. Additionally, fathers that are brought up in families where fathers only focused on providing are also to less likely to take up nurturing roles.
The change in the fatherhood duties, according to Stubbley et al., has been contributed by the change in the perception of society towards fathers (34). Unlike the past, fathers are not seen as a equal parents to mothers, and therefore expected to cater for other needs that include emotional support (Stubbley et al. 35). Although fathers are still expected to provide for the family, their change of perception has made them to help in other responsibilities at home such as dish washing and changing of diapers. In this age of changing roles between men and women, some fathers have even taken a step further of becoming stay-at-home dads. The mixing of roles between men and women in the society has contributed to the switching of roles of fathers and mothers in the family.
Change of social-demographics and parenthood
There are different social-demographics that can impact the parenting in the society. Ideal parenting is influenced by factors related to children, parents and the social context. For instance, the age and employment of the parents can be a determinant in the parenting approach, which factors such as age and gender of a child can influence the approach used by the parents. Additionally, the society at surrounding children can influence the kind of support they are offered for effective parenting. The research by De Graaf et al., showed that fathers and mothers respond differently to the social demographics, although there are some aspect that they act in a similar manner (2317). With regard to employment, Poduval explains that high presentation of women in workforce is also a change in the social-demographics.
In the research findings by De Graaf et al., both fathers and mothers interact with a young child in a similar manner (2318). However, as the child develops, the parents change their approaches, whereby a mother remains being sensitive and emotional supportive, while the father turns out to be more logical when engaging with the child. The contextual factors that influence parenting include the rising number of divorce in the society and emergence of single parents. For instance, raising a child in a society whereby they can easily access support can help to ensures effective growth and development (De Graaf et al. 2319). The society can help to growth and development by helping the parents in instilling the right morals to the child.
Counterarguments on parenthood
Changing role of women
The increase in the participation of women in different matters in the society, has presented new challenge in parenthood. Over the last decades, women have continued to be empowered therefore gaining diverse roles in the society. For instance, there has been an increase in the number of women taking political positions, in addition to having more women in labor force. For instance, the research Toossi and Teresa points out that the number of women stood at 56.4%, which means, more women are in labor force compared to the number of women that were in labor force in early 20th century (3). The empowerment of women has been contributed through the established of agencies such as Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), have helped to empower women in the society. This means, women are not able to care their children and give them enough attention that is needed for better growth and development. As argued by DeJong, women have been forced to delegate their parenting duties to other parties such as nannies and stay-at-home dads (9). Career women are faced with a huge challenge of providing their children with care and support they required therefore affecting their parenthood.
However, participation of women in politics and workforce has not affected their parenthood but rather powered it. For instance, given that women are not now able to virtually earn as much as men, it means, that they are able to not only play the role of nurturing but also providing for their family. Reddy et al. argues that with good planning, parents can still manage to play their motherhood roles effectively (112). In this regard, women are also exposed to similar opportunities as men, therefore eliminating the traditional status that men have in the society (O’Reily 37). Therefore, it has forced women, to establish ways of maintaining their positions as mothers at home (Poduval 67). Therefore, amid the changes taking place in the society, mothers can still incorporate their motherhood roles to safeguard the growth and development of their children. Therefore given that more women are the labour force, it means, that their attention on parenting is divided. By establishing a work-life balance, as currently established by corporations across the world, it means, that women can still have adequate spare time to commit to their parenting duties.
Conclusion
The parenthood has continued to evolve based on the transformations taking place in the society. A good example of the changes in the society is the structure of the family, which is especially characterized with the increase in same-sex marriages. Although children with same-sex parents may experience social stigma, research has shown that parenting is not affected by gender of the parents but rather on the quality of support provided by the parties involved. Another aspect is that the role of fathers in the upbringing a child has changed significantly, whereby they are increasingly becoming active participants rather just focusing on providing and leaving all the other duties to the mother of the child. The society has also experienced the changes on roles of women in parenthoods, because of factors such as increased participation of women in politics and labor force. In this regard, women are required to adopt a work-life balance, in a bid to avoid forsaking their parental duties. Additionally, the changes in social-demographics also impact parenthood such as age, gender of a child and social context. For instance, factors such as high divorce rates can affect psychological development of a child; factors such as employment of the parents can affect their parents. In a situation where both parents are working, they may be forced to reorganize their parenting, so that both become providers and nurtures.
Work Cited
Biblarz, Timothy J., and Judith Stacey. “Ideal families and social science ideals.” Journal of Marriage and Family 72.1 (2010): 41-44.
De Graaf, Jacobien Van Holland, et al. “Socio-demographic correlates of fathers’ and mothers’ parenting behaviors.” Journal of child and family studies 27.7 (2018): 2315-2327.
Deason, Grace, Jill S. Greenlee, and Carrie A. Langner. “Mothers on the campaign trail: Implications of politicized motherhood for women in politics.” Politics, Groups, and Identities 3.1 (2015): 133-148.
DeJong, Amanda. “Working mothers: cognitive and behavioral effects on children.” The Journal of Undergraduate Research 8.1 (2010): 9.
O’Reilly, Andrea, ed. Twenty-first-century motherhood: Experience, identity, policy, agency. Columbia University Press, 2010.
Poduval, Jayita, and Murali Poduval. “Working mothers: how much working, how much mothers, and where is the womanhood?” Men’s Sana monographs vol. 7, 4 (2014): 63-79. doi:10.4103/0973-1229.41799
Reddy, N. Krishna, et al. “Work–Life balance among married women employees.” Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine 32.2 (2010): 112.
Sari, Muthia. “Father Involvement in Early Childcare: a review of the literature.” International Conference on Elementary Education. Vol. 2. No. 1. 2020. pp. 1136-1140
Stubley, Tammy Lynn, Marcela Rojas, and Cassandra McCroy. “Father’s perceptions about their fathering role.” Journal of Arts and Humanities 4.4 (2015): 33-39.
Toossi, Mitra, and Teresa L. Morisi. “Women in the workforce before, during, and after the Great Recession.” Spotlight on Statistics (2017).