Throwaway Dads: The Myths and Barriers That Keep Men from Being the Fathers They Want to Be

by Ross D. Parke and Armin A. Brott

Book Overview

Are fathers really important? Of course they are. Yet we as a society have wittingly and unwittingly built nearly insurmountable barriers that restrict men's involvement with their children and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0395860415
• ISBN13: 9780395860410
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 252 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Shattering Myths

This book is an incredible affirmation of what fathering can truly be.

Thank You for Your Insight

In my time of need, this book opened my eyes to what society really thinks of divorced and single dads. I knew, after reading this book, that it wasn't anything I was or wasn't doing; it was simply the way the system works. I thank these two wonderful authors for their time and effort in researching and writing a book that I will never give away. Thank you so much for confirming that I am the good father I knew I was.

Parke and Brott have captured the essence of Fatherlessness.

For the millions of fathers who have experienced the intimacy of involved fatherhood, and its subsequent loss through divorce, this book will give them the validation they can find in few other places. Throwaway Dads stridently touches a nerve that neither Blankenhorn (Fatherless America) nor Popenoe (Life Without Father) have fully explored. Expanding on Sanford Braver (Divorced Dads), Throwaway Dads takes us another step closer to understanding the degree to which the contemporary myth of the unfeeling, macho, uninvolved, "deadbeat", if not "dangerous" dad belies the frequent, tragic-reality of the post-divorce, disenfranchised, "visiting father." And, notably, it courageously exposes the social engineering which decimated the families caught up in the wake of the "Great Society" - and the genesis of Braver's "driven-away" dads. In this case, you can tell a book by its cover.

A stunning counterpoint to the "deadbeat dad" myth

At last, a book on fathers that shows insight and compassion on the challenges facing fathers. Provides a good historical perspective. Good antidote to radical feminism.

Thoughtful... Thought Provoking... Truthful...

Well researched and written in a similar voice as Sanford Braver and Diane O'Connell's "Divorced Dads : Shattering the Myths", Park and Brott's "Throwaway Dads" should be considered a necessary companion volume. "Throwaway Dads" adds to the latter in many important ways. It includes a full discussion of the sociopolitical origins of the current climate of "dad bashing", as well as a "eye's open" criticism of the inability of the fractured factions of men's and father's rights organizations to do anything effective to counter it thus far. Parents and policy makers should read this book while thinking about the climate of paradox, inequity and, often outright hatred of fathers we have created. A climate that await our own sons. All the inequities in the treatment of fathers currently found in the media, courts, state and federal government agencies will likely be visited upon them too, once they become fathers. The authors offer many suggestions for changes to the legal and political climate that would serve to reposition fathers as significant, valuable and necessary partners in parenthood. This book is a well written addition to discussion of the topic.While reading this book at the local coffee house, I witnessed the following exchange between two women in their early twenties. An exchange that illustrates one of "Throwaway Dads" basic premises. That, with the exception of financial support, father's are now oftentimes extraneous. I was at the same time, shocked and saddened.Woman One (ecstatic) - "I'm pregnant!" Woman Two (also excited) - "Really... Do you know who's it is?"Woman One (more ecstatic) - "No!"Woman Two - "Do you care???"Woman One (even more ecstatic) - "No!"It was a clear illustration of how little perceived value fathers have to many people today. Especially those who have grown up within a culture that dismisses so readily their value. This woman clearly did not perceive any value in her child knowing who her father is, let alone having him in her life.While considering the scene I had just witnessed, a play on the phrase "Out of sight, Out of mind" came to mind. "Out of Sight (Invisible), Out of Mind (Insanity)"... "Invisible, Insanity".We have made our fathers "Invisible", and it is... "Insanity".