Who needs a father? South African men reflect on being fathered

Abstract

The legacy of apartheid and continued social and economic change have meant that many South African men and women have grown up in families from which biological fathers are missing. In both popular and professional knowledge and practice this has been posed as inherently a problem particularly for boys who are assumed to lack a positive male role model. In drawing on qualitative interviews with a group of South African men in which they speak about their understandings of being fathered as boys, this paper makes two key arguments. The first is that contemporary South African discourses tend to pathologize the absence of the biological father while simultaneously undermining the role of social fathers. Yet, this study shows that in the absence of biological fathers other men such as maternal or paternal uncles, grandfathers, neighbours, and teachers often serve as social fathers. Most of the men who participated in this study are able to identify men who – as social rather than biological fathers – played significant roles in their lives. Secondly, we suggest that while dominant discourses around social fatherhood foreground authoritarian and controlling behaviours, there are moments when alternative more nurturing and consultative versions of being a father and/or being fathered are evident in the experiences of this group of men.

Keywords::

• father
• fatherhood
• patriarchy
• masculinity
• gender
• South Africa

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Corrigendum

Acknowledgements

This material is based upon work supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF). Any opinion, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors, and therefore the NRF does not accept any liability in regard thereto. We would also like to thank the reviewers at the Journal of Gender Studies for their comments.

Notes

^1. We would like to thank Tasneem Seboa, Stacy Mclean, Qiqa Mcilongo, A.J. Matthews, Olwethu Mabhanga, Sandisiwe Lutya, Nondumiso Kwinana, Sinako Flatela, and Xolani Dodi for giving us permission to draw on their transcripts.

^2. In using these racial distinctions we acknowledge them as social constructs that have (and continue to have) a profound impact on material lives and experiences and the meanings attributed to them by South African citizens.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lindsay Clowes

Lindsay Clowes holds a PhD in History and is currently the Chairperson of the Women's and Gender Studies Department at the University of the Western Cape. She is interested in South African women's history as well as change over time in identities built around gender, race, and sexuality.

Kopano Ratele

Kopano Ratele is a Professor at the Institute of Social and Health Sciences at the University of South Africa (UNISA), Co-director of the Medical Research Council-UNISA Safety and Peace Promotion Research Unit, and Editor-in-chief of African Safety Promotion: A Journal of Injury and Violence Prevention.

Tamara Shefer

Tamara Shefer is a Professor in Women's and Gender Studies and Psychology at the University of the Western Cape. Her research and publications are in the areas of heterosexuality; gendered, raced, and sexual identities and practices; masculinities; and critical and feminist psychology.