Journal Articles

Fatherhood and Youth Sports: A Balancing Act between Care and Expectations

---

Youth sports have been recognized as an arena for men to meet increased cultural expectations of being involved in their children’s lives. Indeed, in contrast to other child care practices, many men are eager to take part in their children’s organized sports. Drawing on an ethnographic study of middle-class families in the United States, this study examines how men juggle two contrasting cultural models of masculinity when fathering through sports—a performance-oriented orthodox masculinity that historically has been associated with sports and a caring, inclusive masculinity that promotes the nurturing of one’s children. Through a detailed analysis of how fathers’ sports involvement unfolds on the ground, we show how men, in order to portray themselves as “good” fathers, attempt to strike a balance between pushing their children to excel and supporting them regardless of their performance. We propose that although men may value inclusive masculinity when fathering through youth sports, at the same time they exercise orthodox masculinity in other domestic domains.

---

Availability

No copy data

Detail Information

Series Title

Gender & Society

Call Number

-

Publisher

Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage Publications., 2012

Collation

p. 639-664

Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

0891-2432

Classification

-

Content Type

-

Media Type

-

Carrier Type

-

Edition

Volume 26 Number 4, August 2012 p. 639-664

Subject(s)

Family
Masculinity

Specific Detail Info

-

Statement of Responsibility

-

Other version/related

File Attachment

Comments

---

You must be logged in to post a comment