Introducing dadness

ABSTRACT

Based on interviews and a focus group with fathers¹ who attended four dads’ groups in the South of England, this paper introduces the concept of ‘dadness’. Dadness is in circulation in the public sphere and has been noted in a handful of published sources, yet it has not received academic attention. This article conceptualizes ‘dadness’ and presents it as a useful concept within contemporary fatherhood and family studies, as well as noting the term’s accessibility. The term dadness is understood by men in this study as combining their individual fathering identity and their values about the fathering role, with actual day-to-day fathering practices. Interpretation of the data infers eight aspects of dadness that draw together existing conceptualizations of fathering and fatherhood in terms of accessibility, engagement and responsibility; ‘active fathering’; warmth, positive engagement activities, decision-making, responsiveness, care; intimacy; and embodiment. Dadness describes both how men think about fatherhood and enact their fathering practices, and is accessible (it is a term men readily understand and feel able to use). This article invites a debate about whether the concept of dadness has a wider potential outside of the specific context of a small-scale study in southern England.

KEYWORDS:

• Fatherhood
• identity
• dadness
• parenting
• dad

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1 While acknowledging the diversity of people who play a fathering role (regardless of biological sex), this study explores the identities of 24 biologically male parents (see Table 1).

2 https://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/20/arts/television-radio-more-than-sight-gags-and-subversive-satire.html.

3 https://www.fatherhood.org/bid/173846/Let-MarchDadness-Begin.

4 https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Dadness.

5 https://www.facebook.com/Dadisahipster.

6 The numbers in the SES column (Table 1) refer to a one to ten score placed on the drawing of a ladder. The description that accompanies the ladder invites participants to consider personal views of socioeconomic status and social position, such as education, income, employment and social standing in their community. Participants marked their score (an ‘X’) on the ladder on (or between) a rung on the ladder. Eight fathers scored themselves 5 or lower on the SES ladder.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded through the University’s Doctoral Scholarship fund.