‘A horror movie with a happy ending’: childbirth from the father’s perspective

ABSTRACT

This article analyzes how men in Chile narrate the birth of their first child in order to understand how they elaborate their masculine identity in the feminized field of reproduction. It seeks to make a contribution to masculinity studies by (a) describing the position that men have in childbirth and (b) applying the concept of hegemonic masculinity to the context of reproduction. We conducted in-depth interviews with 22 first-time fathers, before and after the baby’s arrival. Our findings show how interviewees feared falling short of gendered expectations. During labor, they hoped to protect the woman but later realized they had no control. In their accounts of the birth, the men: (a) incorporate elements of hegemonic masculinity in order to present a more respectable masculine identity and (b) incorporate elements associated with the feminine in order to put themselves in a more central position in relation to the baby. For these fathers, hegemonic masculinity is valid as an ideal with which they seek to align themselves so as to give legitimacy to their position in the reproductive context. There are, however, signs that this ideal is changing so that a deep early bond with the newborn child becomes ‘the manly thing to do.’

KEYWORDS:

• Masculine identities
• childbirth
• hegemonic masculinity
• fatherhood
• reproduction

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the men who trusted us and so generously shared their experiences. I want to express my gratitude to Yanko Pavicevic and Sofía Atria for their help in conducting this research and Ruth Bradley for translating into English the original manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributor

Florencia Herrera studied sociology at the Catholic University of Chile and holds a PhD from the University of Barcelona. She is a lecturer at the School of Sociology of the Diego Portales University. Her research interests are related to the different forms families take, including particularly non-hegemonic types of parenting, reproduction, gender and qualitative methods. She has published articles on these subjects in journals in Chile and other countries. The main studies she has undertaken are: (1) ‘Being and forming a family: the lesbian view of intimate relationships,’ PhD thesis (2002-2006); (2) ‘Social construction of the parental bond: Adoption and assisted reproduction in contemporary Chile,’ National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development, (FONDECYT) (2008-2010); (3) ‘Assisted reproduction in Chile: Analysis of the cultural repertoires used to evaluate what is correct, moral and legitimate in the field opened up by new reproductive technologies,’ FONDECYT (2011-2014); and (4) ‘Becoming a father today: Male experiences of transition to paternity in Chile,’ FONDECYT (2015-2019). Most recently, her experience as a researcher and a mother with visual disability has drawn her to be interested in the parental experiences of people with disabilities in Chile.

Notes

1 The International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES) in Chile shows that, out of the 18–24 year-olds surveyed, 90% indicated that they had been present at the birth of their latest child while, for 50–59 year-olds, the figure dropped to 31% (Aguayo et al., 2011). According to IPPF/WHR and Promundo (2017), 75% of women are accompanied by the father or another person.

2 In Chile, more than 50% of fathers between 18 and 59 years of age were present at the birth of their latest child as compared to 24% in Mexico and 9% in Brazil (IPPF/WHR and Promundo, 2017). It is difficult to compare data produced by different methodologies but it is worth mentioning that, in England, the figure reaches 90% (Redshaw & Henderson, 2013).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FONDECYT-CHILE) under Grant FONDECYT Regular N° 1150554.