Global narratives of fatherhood. Fathering and masculinity on the Internet

ABSTRACT

There is currently an increasing amount of research on online fatherhood. In this article, we have used international blogs as our empirical data, in order to investigate and create an in-depth picture of fatherhood as it is expressed in various men’s stories about their everyday lives. Three distinct conceptions of fatherhood and masculinity emerge. The first of these positions could be described as a nostalgic position in relation to hegemonic masculinity. The second position is referred to here as complicity. This position indicates a changing landscape of fatherhood and family politics, moving towards gender-equal conditions. Thirdly, we have an inclusive position that reflects a gender-neutral position, and are understood less in terms of masculinity, heteronormativity and gender-divided responsibilities.

KEYWORDS:

• Fathering blogs
• masculinity
• gender
• netnography
• family politics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Jesper Andreasson has a PhD in Sociology and is associate professor in sport science at the Department of sport science, Linnaeus University, Sweden. He has written mainly in the field of gender studies, the sociology of sport and about fatherhood. Recently he has published ‘The Global Gym. Gender, Health and Pedagogies’, with Thomas Johansson (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).

Thomas Johansson has a PhD in Sociology and is a professor of Education in the Department of Education, Communication and Learning at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. He has written extensively in the field of gender studies, the sociology of the family, and youth research.

ORCID

Jesper Andreasson http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1631-6475