Masculinity - Traditional Masculinity

Traditional Masculinity

Traditional avenues for men to gain honor were that of providing adequately for their families and exercising leadership. The traditional family structure consisted of the father as the bread-winner and the mother as the homemaker. During World War II, women entered the workforce in droves to replace the soldiers who were sent overseas. While some returned home to resume their positions as homemakers if their husbands survived the war, others remained in the workplace. Over the decades since, women have risen to high political and corporate positions. This shift has caused an increase in women becoming the primary income-earners and men the primary care-givers—a process author Jeremy Adam Smith calls "the daddy shift" in his 2009 book of that title. As of 2007, 159,000 dads were primary care-givers in the U.S. and this number is increasing. Dubbed stay-at-home dads, these men are performing duties in the home which are not being done by women. Regardless of age or nationality, men more frequently rank good health, harmonious family life and good relationships with their spouse or partner as important to their quality of life.