Suburban Dads
IN 1983, MICHAEL KEATON STARRED IN “MR. MOM”. MICHAEL PLAYS JACK BUTLER, A HUSBAND AND FATHER WHO LOSES HIS JOB. UNABLE TO FIND OTHER WORK, ECONOMIC NECESSITY LEADS TO HIS WIFE HAVING TO ENTER THE WORKFORCE LEAVING HIM TO TAKE CARE OF THE HOUSE AND KIDS. JACK WAS A NEW PHENOMENON, THE STAY-AT-HOME DAD. THE STAY-AT-HOME WAS SOON FOLLOWED BY OTHER TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY “DAD VARIATIONS” SUCH AS THE NOW PREVALENT WORK-AT-HOME DAD. THE ADVANTAGES OF TIME, PROXIMITY, AND THE FLEXIBILITY THAT TECHNOLOGY BRINGS TO MODERN LIFE ALLOW THESE DADS TO BE FULLY ENGAGED WITH THEIR KIDS.
THIS KIND OF TOTALLY ENGAGED DAD IS A RELATIVELY NEW PHENOMENON. IN PART, IT WAS SPAWNED BY THE LOSS OF THE LARGELY MALE HELD MANUFACTURING JOBS THAT BEGAN IN THE 1970’S, THE ENTRY OF WOMEN INTO THE WORKPLACE TO REPLACE INCOME LOSS, THE ACCEPTANCE OF MORE DIVERSIFIED GENDER ROLES BY SOCIETY, AND THE TECHNOLOGY THAT FREES US TO WORK ANYWHERE, MOST IMPORTANTLY, AT HOME.
THIS WAS NOT ALWAYS THE CASE. PRIOR TO 1950, DADS WERE MORE DISTANT CHARACTERS. WITHOUT CELL PHONES, THE INTERNET, AND OTHER TECHNOLOGY, THEY WERE TETHERED TO THE WORKPLACE WHERE THEY TOILED LONG HOURS. ONE OF THE QUINTESSENTIAL DADS OF THIS ERA WAS FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT. AT ONE POINT IN HIS CAREER, IT IS SAID HIS CHILDREN HAD TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT TO SEE HIM!
POST 1950, DADS BECAME MORE INVOLVED BUT STILL REMAINED A BIT ALOOF. TELEVISION SHOWS SUCH AS “FATHER KNOWS BEST” AND “THE ADVENTURES OF OZZIE AND HARRIET” DEPICT SUCH FATHERS. THE LANDLINE, SNAIL MAIL, TYPEWRITERS, AND PAPER AND PEN STILL BOUND THEM TO THEIR PLACES OF WORK; HOWEVER, THEY WERE FAR MORE ENGAGED WITH THE FAMILY THAN THEIR PREDECESSORS. THANKFULLY, NO APPOINTMENT WAS NECESSARY TO SEE THEM! THEY WERE WHAT I LIKE TO CALL “SUBURBAN DADS”. MOM AND THE CHILDREN RESIDED IN THE CITY OF THE FAMILY WHERE MOST OF THE BUSTLE AND ACTION TOOK PLACE. THE DADS WERE IN THE SUBURBS OF THE FAMILY USUALLY SEARCHING FOR TREASURE TO FUND FAMILY CONSUMPTION. THE SUBURBAN DADS WERE ABSENT FROM DOWNTOWN A LOT OF THE TIME AND WERE CERTAINLY NOWHERE NEAR AS ENGAGED AS MICHAEL KEATON’S JACK BUTLER. THEY DID, HOWEVER, MAKE FREQUENT TRIPS INTO THE CITY FOR FAMILY TIME. IT IS THESE GUYS WHO EVENTUALLY MORPHED INTO THE “STAY-AT-HOME/WORK-AT-HOME DADS” OF TODAY.
THE QUINTESSENTIAL FATHER FIGURE IN THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION IS ST. JOSEPH. HIS ROLE IN MARY AND JESUS’S LIFE IS WELL CHRONICLED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. HE IS VOICELESS. HE IS NEVER QUOTED AS SAYING ANYTHING. YET, IT WAS HE WHO FOUND LODGING IN BETHLEHEM AND WHO TOOK THE FAMILY TO EGYPT TO PROTECT FROM HEROD’S SCOURGE. WATCHING, LOVING AND GUIDING, ST. JOSEPH IS A MODEL FOR FATHERS IN ALL PLACES AND IN ALL TIMES.
LIKE THE SEINFELD SHOW, THIS WEBSITE IS ABOUT NOTHING IN PARTICULAR. IT IS AN ECLECTIC COLLECTION OF “STUFF” OFFERED BY A SUBURBAN DAD FROM HIS PLACE IN THE SUBURBS OF THE FAMILY.
SUBURBAN DAD
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