Stereotypes such as ‘women belong in the kitchen’ and ‘fathers are neglectful caretakers’ are blatantly erroneous and outdated yet, they still have a pervasive presence in modern-day society. It’s for this reason Jenny and Brandon Harshe launched Fatherhood Without Fear (@dontforgetdads), which seeks to visually explore and highlight how special present-day relationships between real-life fathers and their children are.
The Instagram account showcases heartwarming photos of men both emotionally connecting and physically engaging with their children. The ultimate aim is to disprove the myth that men merely “babysit,” while women “parent,” reports ATTN. By combatting the hurtful stereotype that men are emotionally disconnected and incapable of forming deep, loving relationships with others, a new status quo is upheld. Each photo (below) does a perfect job conveying the project’s message: “don’t forget dads.”
January, the co-founder of the account, explained:
“In our culture, it’s very much like mom has her role and dad’s role is outside of the home. The more and more we can show in social media that dads are engaged, the more we can break through the stereotypes.”
Fatherhood Without Fear was founded in 2015 and is a sequel to Birth Without Fear, which raised awareness about the important role fathers play in a newborn’s life. January commented,
“When a woman is pregnant, it’s all about her and the upcoming birth. Then the baby is born — and it’s all about the baby — and, a lot of times, the moms are forgotten in the postpartum…so where does that leave dads? I know that women feel a lot of times that they’re alone in this whole journey. And men definitely do too.”
Following are 15+ dads who are absolutely rocking fatherhood:
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