Kelly G. et al. uses men's feedback on the nature of their relationships with their fathers and son to assess the change in family communication patterns over the generations. The communication patterns include conformity and orientations in conversations, while gender doctrines entail masculinity, femininity, and androgyny. Their assessment bore significant results as they found out that men tend to emulate their fathers' conformity orientations (Odenweller et al., 2013). Still, they neither replicate nor model the conversational orientation for their father's conversations. Kelly G. et al.'s findings depict the relationship between the various communication patterns and gender-based ideologies. Their results also demonstrated how the gender ideologies welcomed and transmitted within men's' families significantly impact their identities.
The concept of gender ideologies is an essential aspect of contemporary society that influences people's enactments and thinking and defines society's narratives on gender roles (Odenweller et al., 2013). I believe that gender narratives shape how people perceive how both male and female gender ought to be. For instance, the authors state, "the masculinity gender ideology is characterized by attributes such as strength, control, emotional ineptness, self-sufficiency, and sexual prowess." On the other hand, femininity gender ideology perceives women as physically attractive, nurturing, submissive, and quite emotional compared to the masculine gender. The most exciting thing about the gender ideologies in contemporary society is that both men and women have learned to adapt to the androgynous gender ideologies. The androgynous gender ideologies mainly value the characteristics that define both the feminine and masculine gender identities.
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Although mothers are significant figures in child growth, fathers play a critical role in their children's development and well-being. I can attest to this statement from a personal experience. As a child raised in a family of five siblings, I could feel the difference between how my father and mother interacted with us, the forms of punishment they gave us, and the kinds of assignments. The interactions between our mother and us were more feminine and nurturing as compared to my father's. Our interactions with our father were quite physical, masculine, and boisterous. He made a distinct male impact in our lives. He also made a significant contribution to the physical and emotional toughness I have today.
I concur with the authors' idea that family communication plays an essential role in giving children insights into gender. Offering teaching to children regarding the issues of gender is not adequate, and they need to learn it through experience with their close relatives (Odenweller et al., 2013). Bruess and Pearson state, "to understand the family is to understand the deeply embedded meanings of gender continuously communicated by parents." Parents and guardians need to pass their messages and teachings regarding gender through which children have a strong attachment. Some of the most significant components that parents can manifest their messages to children are their toys, the clothes they wear, and the types of decorations they place in their rooms (Young et al., 2016). By conveying messages through such components, children can conform to their gender identities as soon as possible.
In conclusion, reading offers many insights into fathers' roles in their children's growth and development. As masculinity continues to dominate the American culture, it has brought about some good results. Through the reading, I have understood the various ways in which the culture of fatherhood has undergone significant changes over the years. For instance, it is interesting to learn that today's fathers are nurturing, loving, and actively participating in raising their children with mothers, duties that traditionally, people never thought were only for females. It is immensely encouraging that fathers are now showing some level of closeness, relational well-being, and feeling of love and affection to their children, their sons in particular.
References
Odenweller, K. G., Rittenour, C. E., Myers, S. A., & Brann, M. (2013). Father-son family communication patterns and gender ideologies: A modeling and compensation analysis. Journal of Family Communication , 13 (4), 340-357.
Young, J., & Schrodt, P. (2016). Family communication patterns, parental modeling, and confirmation in romantic relationships. Communication Quarterly , 64 (4), 454-475.
