Abstract This paper addresses the question of an ethics of fatherhood and develops the concept of feminist fatherhood in response. Such feminist fatherhood is grounded in a notion of feminist masculinity, which draws on feminist ethics and advocates for equality, gender equity, care, and the dismantling of injustice. Fatherhood becomes feminist, then, when fathers embody these ideals in their role as fathers. I propose that feminist fatherhood can be understood across three dimensions. First, feminist fatherhood involves a specific way of relating to one’s children—namely, an engaged, present, and empathetic approach to parenting that aims for equality and justice in child-rearing. Second, feminist fatherhood is reflected in the father’s relationship with the mother and partner. It is also about how caregiving responsibilities and domestic labor are shared. Third, there is a societal and political dimension to feminist fatherhood, which is expressed in fathers’ engagement for gender justice more broadly, and in their support for the structures, institutions, policies, and laws that make feminist fatherhood possible and sustainable.
Gottfried Schweiger (Wed,) studied this question.