The less a society values fathers, the more maudlin will be the sentiments expressed on Father’s Day?

by philg

Facebook today is a collection of maudlin postings about fathers.

One links to “Happy Father’s Day, Dad. Boy, did you matter.” (Washington Post):

I could bring up his heroic willingness to waken me, a teenage morning monster, at 6 o’clock every day. Or the fact that he came to all of my high school basketball games even though that wasn’t a common thing for dads to do in that era — and even though neither I nor my team was any good. In the end all of my memories would testify to the same simple fact, the single most important thing that a father can give his child: his presence.

Family breakdown seems to affect child well-being even in Scandinavian countries with lavish welfare states. In the United States, research consistently shows that children without fathers in the home do worse on a variety of measures, including poverty and behavior problems. The effect is so powerful that it spills over to nearby houses; in economist Raj Chetty’s landmark work on how location affects income mobility, one of the strongest predictors of low-mobility areas was the percentage of single-parent households, even for kids who are themselves raised with two parents.

Here’s one from the mother of two college students:

Happy Father’s Day to this fine man and father of our fabulous boys!

(She previously sued this “fine man” for divorce so that she could continue to spend his income while simultaneously having sex with a guy 15 years younger.)

From a college student…

Happy Father’s Day, Dad! I love you!

(Her mom sued said father so that she could have sex with some new friends.)

From the mom/plaintiff:

Happy birthday Dear [Jane]!!! And happy Father’s Day to [husband of “Jane”]. Double celebrations for you guys!!!

From a (white) tenured literature professor who spends 20 hours/week denouncing Trump and the rest of what she refers to as “the white patriarchy” on Facebook:

HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO MY AWESOME DAD

(it is the other 100 million white males who are the problem?)

From a childless academic:

Almost any male can be a father… but a man who is empathetic, caring, (non-malignant narcissist), and puts his children first, is a dad… To all dads, past or present, Happy Father’s Day.

(So there will be a test, administered by childless academics like himself, before a biological father can be celebrated as a “dad” on Father’s Day?)

From a friend of a friend:

Shout out to all the Single Moms on Father’s Day.

(It is not enough to celebrate the heroic acts of single mothers only 364 days per year?)

It seems safe to assume that the Romans, with their pater familias concept, did not have a Father’s Day. Can we infer from our own Father’s Day and the accompanying outpouring of treacly sentiment for 1/365th of the year, that fathers are actually not valued in the U.S.?

More evidence: the one segment of our society where emotions are never faked is among Canine-Americans. For dogs that do have a human “father”, every day is Father’s Day!

Readers: What have you seen this year? Has Facebook turned a Hallmark holiday into something even more maudlin?

13 thoughts on “The less a society values fathers, the more maudlin will be the sentiments expressed on Father’s Day?”

  1. I was under the impression that mother’s and father’s day are just a trick to encourage gift buying by those who sell said gifts. As a highly evolved and civilised European I like to believe that the poor simpletons in the colonies (or former colonies) are just more susceptible to this kind of devious marketing.

    I really cannot say if my opinion that the celebration is actually marketing is true, but the sentiments you report do prove credence on the assumption that the people in the colonies are emotional, dramatic, and gullible fools.

  3. Separately, why are we up in arms over the migrant children issue when we separate over half of our own children from at least one of their parents?

  4. > Separately, why are we up in arms over the migrant children
    > issue when we separate over half of our own children from
    > at least one of their parents?

    Because all people born outside the USA or Europe are assumed to be good people, and men born within the USA or Europe are assumed to be monsters. If you question this assumption, you are a monster.

  6. Phil, you seem like a thoughtful and sensitive person, so why do you surround yourself with such toxic people? I can see that this blog is an outlet for your frustrations in this regard, but how much better would it be to cut the toxicity out of your life entirely?

  8. AC, philg is a thoughtful sensitive person who figured out trolling about 1989…

  10. I propose these women take a simple test for whether there father is part of the patriachy or not. It’s called the diaper test. If their father never had to change a diaper in their life, then their father is part of patriachy.

  11. As you devalue the meaningful you elevate the superficial, see also the near-simultaneous rise of the wedding and divorce industries

  12. I’m thinking, maybe the wedding experience is something women can just buy for themselves? You know, just call it “Rent-a-hunk” and use some male models to pose as the groom. She gets the dress, professional pictures & video, and a reception party, etc.

    Then afterwards nobody gets hurt in a divorce and it’s out of her system.

  13. It must be the End Times when a Catholic website gives Spy magazine a run for its money for snarky yucks.

    National Lampoon will always hold the crown, because boobies.

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