‘I am a traditional but caring father’: narratives of paternal masculinity in urban Chinese families

Abstract

Against the backdrop of an international trend of increased paternal involvement in caregiving and a national setting in which the role of disciplinarian and authoritarian are still centralized, the main aim of the current study is to investigate the paternal masculinities of contemporary Chinese fathers. Based on interviews with 30 urban Chinese fathers, our results reveal that paternal masculinity can be understood in contemporary Chinese society as a hybrid version encompassing caring masculinities, but also aspects of protective masculinity and/or masculine care. Our participants perceived themselves as caring fathers who were physically and emotionally involved in routine caregiving activities and who provided companionship for their children, which embodies the traits of caring masculinity. At the same time, some fathers also emphasized their roles as good providers, whereas others highlighted their roles as gender role models, whilst some stressed all three dimensions. By embracing these different elements simultaneously, urban Chinese fathers both confirm and challenge traditional notions of masculinity, but through enacting this hybrid form of masculinity they perpetuate the system of gender inequality in a new and softer way. The findings from this study expand our understanding of hybrid masculinity and masculine care from a local perspective.