Gender and Sexuality Studies

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the gender performance of stay-at-home fathers in India.India has lacked extensive research on a man’s masculinity when he becomes a father,especially if he is a stay-at-home, unemployed father. A very restrictive hetero patriarchal family set-up has always seen fathers as the breadwinners of the family,while the mother stays at home and takes care of the domestic sphere. But what happens if the father makes a conscious choice of not being employed and staying at home in order to take care of the children? How does this affect the family dynamics? How does this impact his masculinity and his gender performance?  And more importantly, is society as accepting of a stay-at-home father as it is in case of a stay-at home mother? This research is located within the larger framework of masculinity studies, family studies and care-work. It reflects on a man’s masculinity and his gender performance when he chooses to be a stay-at-home father in order to take care of his children. This paper tries to explain a man’s masculinity as a social construct, shaped by a multitude of factors. In doing so, it brings in references from the theory of gender performativity by Judith Butler. Central to this theory is the idea that an individual’s gender is a fluid, non-essentialist construct which is shaped by her/his embodied experiences and symbolic representations. This paper also delves deep into the man’s experience as a stay-at-home father and how he looks at  fatherhood.  Since this paper is on fatherhood and masculinity, it also references Connell’s theory of hegemonic masculinity. This research is solely based on the Indian context and, it will examine the urban middle-class men. In  short, this paper aims to look at fatherhood and domestic masculinity in India. 

Biography

Suvangee Gupta is a PhD candidate of Sociology at Manipal Academy of Higher Education . Her area of interests are Sociology of Gender and Sexuality and Masculinity Studies and her topic for research is Fatherhood 2.0 : Exploring the Masculinities of stay-at-home fathers in Urban India.