MAN TALK
DADDY UNCOOL
Dads get stick for ever y thing, from their bodies to their terrible jokes. Isn’t it about time we stopped the mocking?
WORDS BY MICHAEL DONLEVY
THE EXPERTS
DR JEREMY DAVIES is head of communications at the Fatherhood Institute. fatherhood
institute.org
SUE ATKINS is a parenting expert and author who regularly appears on
This Morning and
Good Morning Britain. thesueatkins.com Inside, you feel the same. In your head, you’re still the 25-year-old wearing the latest gear and raving every weekend. Physically, you’re shuffling around the dancefloor at your niece’s wedding and your children are watching with expressions that veer from horror to hysterical.
You are dad dancing. Welcome to the club.
Society has coined a number of terms for fathers that may seem to be gently mocking but are potentially quite nasty. There are dad jokes (incredibly corny, as if only a five-year-old would find them funny), dad bods (men who have let themselves go) and dad rock (Paul Weller fans). Dad dancing is in the Oxford English Dictionary. ‘Why dads and not mums?’ asks Dr Jeremy Davies of the Fatherhood Institute think tank. ‘The advertising and media industries have changed in recent years, to package masculinity in a more “in your face” way. Actors and TV stars all look like bodybuilders compared to 20 or even 10 years ago. The qualities of a good father sit uncomfortably with that narrative. The traits you want in a father – softness, playfulness, loving, sharing fun, wisdom and time – are at the opposite end of the scale to these sexual predators with big guns.’