ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the key ideas and ideological perspectives that inform cultural representations and public discussion of men’s care for children. Two dominant and opposing ideological perspectives are identified, a conservative perspective based on an essentialist understanding of gender roles and emphasising the importance of traditional family, and a progressive perspective informed by a belief in the socially constructed nature of gender identities and emphasising gender equality. The strengths and weaknesses of each perspective are explored, and the alternative theoretical resources provided by psychoanalysis and phenomenology used to suggest a ‘third way’ that moves beyond these two dominant ideological positions.
