I recently came across a series of Instagram posts that brilliantly shatter stereotypes about dads. These posts came from the same source: The Equality Institute, a non-profit organization that “bring together the world’s best minds to make violence against women and girls a thing of the past.” These posts resonate deeply with me. They mirror my journey as a father and the many experiences I shared on this platform. From emotional expression, to caregiving role, from the father / daughter relationship to the “superdad” complex, these posts are truly spot on.
This is the reason why it felt very important to share them. I am also sharing the captions because they are really appropriate. While The Equality Institute is an Australia based organization, I feel that the trends they are describing are relevant worldwide. In just a few days, The Equality Institute Instagram account became one of my favorites. I truly hope you enjoy these posts as much as I did.
Note: each post has two slides. Make sure you read both! ?
1. Stereotypes about dads and emotional expression
Men and Fathers are full emotional beings who need to give and receive love like anyone else. Old visions of Fathers as distant and dominating benefit no one. Today’s Dads care deeply, show compassion and give and receive affection in equal measure.
2. Stereotypes about dads and their caregiving role
“Leave should be guaranteed for all caregivers of all genders, in equal duration. It should be mandatory, adequately paid and protected for employees. It’s not just up to Dads, but all governments, employers and corporations to create a system that recognizes and supports care giving as real work.”
3. Stereotypes about dads and housework
The good news in Australia is that we are becoming less traditional in our views of gender roles around the house. The annual Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey based on 17,000 interviews, have shown considerable drops over the last 10 years in people who think housework is women’s work. If you live in a house, you should be contributing to its upkeep, no matter your gender.
4. Stereotypes about dads and cooking
More men are cooking than at any point in the last 30 years. Men get it. Dads get it. Now we just need advertisers to get it: that marketing the weekly shop, family recipes and food preparation to women and mums is just not reality.
5. Stereotypes about involved dads being “superheroes”
If you’re about to call a dad a “superdad” for cooking dinner for their family and putting the kids to bed singlehandedly one night – think about how often the other parent does it and whether or not they are praised in the same way. Praising dads for pulling their weight in parenting isn’t beneficial, it just reinforces the stereotype that parenting is the mother’s role. Parents should have equal roles in child-rearing and deserve to be praised in equal measure for doing a great job.
6. Stereotypes about dads and the responsibilities of parenting
The inequalities in unpaid work are not the fault and responsibility of individual Dads to fix, but are a product of laws and workplace policies that inhibit many men from taking part in their children’s lives as much as they would like. Men who have been surveyed have said they spent too little time with their children due to their job. And 46% of Fathers felt they weren’t spending enough time with their children. Dads want to be more involved with their children! Let’s all to work towards creating equal paid parental leave and flexible work schemes that support them to do so.
7. Stereotypes about dads and their relationship with their daughters
A good dad raises his daughters to be individuals with the capacity and right to make their own choices. They are not possessions to be “protected” – but people who need to live and learn and be given the space to make mistakes and succeed.
About The Equality Institute:
The Equality Institute is a social enterprise that brings together the world’s best minds to make violence against women and girls a thing of the past. They conduct rigorous research to understand what causes violence against women and pin point strategies to stop it from happening. By designing projects, developing creative approaches to share information, and connecting people, they are working within the international community towards social change at every level. Follow them on social media: Facebook| Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn