Modern Fatherhood: No Longer Hapless Dad

June 13, 2013

By Rita Fuerst Adams, National Executive Director, National Parents Organization

According to the Café Mom’s at the Stir, Subaru, Clorox, Tide and Downy, Oreo, and Google Chrome “get” dads. These ads have our vote, too.

In her article, 5 Sweet Commercials That Really Get Modern Fatherhood, author Jeanne Sager says she became a champion for fathers after she became a mom. There is nothing like having to defend your husband to make you more aware of how American advertising makes men look like hapless dads. Speaking about her husband, Jeanne Sager said, “He’s a man who is every bit as involved in his daughter’s life as I am, and when companies insult him, they’re insulting our whole family dynamic.”

Perhaps these companies, or their advertising agencies read, Fathers’ “Maternal” Instinct Just as Reliable as a Mother’s. New research reveals that, “the amount of time a parent spends with his or her child, not the parent’s gender, has the greatest impact on whether the parent is able to identify the cry of a baby as his or her own.” It appears the long applauded maternal instinct has been “proven” through research focused solely on mothers or research that did not account for the amount of time each parent spent with the child.

It is definitely a long way to these ads from the Huggies ad last year. Kimberly-Clark, maker of Huggies diapers, changed its ad campaign after it brought a firestorm of protest from fathers.

Just as the advertisers are applauding modern fatherhood, it appears that Gloria Steinem may be leading feminism to this next frontier — parental equality. In an interview last year, Gloria Steinem noted that we, as a society have, “realized that women can do what men do but not that men can do what women do.” This, we assume, includes parenting.

Perhaps we are getting closer to parental equality when the advertisers “get” dads.

Happy Father’s Day to you, your dad, your son, your nephews, and all the men in your life.