De nya fäderna. Om pappaledighet, jämställdhet och nya maskulina positioner

This article explores the way different groups of Swedish men experience and relate to issues concerning fatherhood, paternity leave and gender equality – how they together construct fatherhood in the field of tension between normative societal visions and their own lived reality. The study included four groups of men: men working in a centre for men in crisis, men involved in a network organization for masculinity issues, men in an assohoodciation promoting security and social justice in a multiethnic suburb (a majority of the men had immigrant background) and men involved in a Christian church. Conceptions of fatherhood and gender equality were explored through focus group interviews. As starting point for the interviews the groups were confronted with materials from the last 30 years of state initiated paternity leave campaigns. The result confirms conclusions made in previous research, namely that Swedish men in general have a positive attitude to active parenthood. With few exceptions the groups expressed a child orientation and a positive approach to gender equality and shared parental responsibilities. Despite common ground on the importance of fathers taking active part in child care, the four groups displayed differences in the way they conceptualized the question. They related to different experiences and often used different ways of expressing thought, emotions and observations. The result points toward the influence of factors such as age, social and professional position, ethnic background and religion. The group of men working at the crisis centre primarily used individual rather than societal perspectives. Their main concern was the impact of the campaigns on men’s psychological well-being. The group of men from the Christian church placed the question of fatherhood in the context of preserving and promoting the family. In the group dominated by men with immigrant background, the fatherhood question was mainly framed through references to the economic hard-ship and social exclusion distinguishing many multi-ethnical Swedish suburbs.