David Morgan
Fathers, Fatherhood, Fathering: Exploring and Unpacking Distinctions

In this talk I want to explore the differences and connections between three very similar terms: fathers, fatherhood and fathering. Very roughly, the term “father” refers to the identification or location of a man in social space, “fatherhood” to the discourses (including statements of rights, duties, responsibilities and statuses) attached to fathers and the more recent term, “fathering”, to the practices associated with fathers. Clearly there is a lot of overlap between the terms and the significance of making the distinctions in the first place is to see how they interact with each other and how these explorations may help us to understand fathers in history. I illustrate some of these themes by considering the different and complex relationships between fathers and masculinities and the different meanings that might be attached to the term “father figure”.