ABSTRACT
Fatherhood is a role with great flexibility and wide variations. This chapter explains that one should not interpret the historical flexibility of fatherhood to mean that it will be easy to further increase fathers' nurturing behavior toward young children. It's also true that the movement of production out of the home and off the farm reduced fathers' authority considerably. The fundamental reason that fathers were the primary parents was that fathers legally owned all of the household property and children were a form of property. Family structure in the western nations has continually evolved over the past several centuries as economic, cultural, and political changes have occurred. The historical record also suggests that fathers have been important figures in their children's daily lives; until the mid-19th century, they were considered the primary parent Childrearing manuals were addressed to them The key task for the father was to break the young children's will before it became part of the child's character.
