Shawn Johansen

I ran across this book by chance while on another research project and I must say that it was one of the best reads I've encountered yet on the emerging field of the history of fatherhood. Although taken from Prof. Johansen's dissertation, his narrative style is engaging and his choice of sources is broad and revealing. HIs main argument is to debunk the prevailing notion of the distant, stern Paterfamilias among middle class Midwesterner / Northerners in the mid Nineteenth century. Indeed, he cites numerous examples of men tending babies, doing housework, even changing diapers. Because an early part of his research involved husband's participation in their wives' delivery through childbirth, he includes a chapter on this subject. Most readers would be surprised at how these men coped with a situation we often assume they distanced themselves from. His fascinating descriptions suggest that the husband and father associated only with the late twentieth century appeared in the family lives of men a century and a half earlier. Johansen gives an insightful, sensitive glimpse into the lives of nineteenth century American husbands and fathers through their diaries and letters. Through his research I was led to read several works including the Cormany Diaries http://www.librarything.com/work/1292507&book=14323489 Rotundo's American Manhood http://www.librarything.com/work/5214&book=14339591 and a host of other works. Highly recommended to anyone reading about family life, sex roles, and relationships in Nineteenth Century America.… (mehr)