In this important new work, Nicholas Townsend explores what men say about being fathers, and about what fatherhood means to them. He shows how men negotiate the prevailing cultural values about fatherhood, marriage, employment, and home ownership that he conceptualizes as a "package deal". Townsend identifies the conflicts and contradictions within the gendered expectations of men and fathers, and analyzes the social and economic contexts that make emotionally involved fathering an elusive ideal. Drawing on the lives and life stories of a group of men in their late forties who graduated from high school together in the early 1970s, "The Package Deal" demystifies culture's image of fatherhood in the United States. These men are depicted as neither villains nor victims, but as making their best efforts to achieve successful adult masculinity. This book shows what fathers really think about fatherhood, the division of labor between fathers and mothers, the gendered difference in expectations, and the privileging of the relationship between fathers and sons. These revealing accounts of how fatherhood fits into the rest of men's lives help us better understand what men can and cannot do as fathers. And they clearly illustrate that women are not alone in trying to "have it all" as they strive to combine work and family. Author note: Nicholas W. Townsend has investigated the connections between men and families in the United States and southern Africa. He is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Brown University.
The Package Deal
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"The Package Deal is one of the best books about fatherhood to come out in a decade...Townsend is both an excellent interviewer who captures the voices of his informants and an insightful critical analyst who interprets the men's accounts in light of research on gender and families." Men and Masculinities "The Package Deal makes a powerful contribution to ongoing debates about the roles, values, and meanings of fatherhood in contemporary American society...Townsend does a magnificent job of bringing forth the voices of his respondents and providing emic views of contemporary fatherhood. His ethnography is masterful - deep, systematic, and insightful...Townsend's study breaks new ground." Anthropology of Work Review "Townsend definitively delivers an excellent contribution." INTAMS Review "Nicholas Townsend has produced an elegant, insightful, occasionally heartwrenching portrait of what it means to be a man in late twentieth-century America. His interviews reveal, as no mere statistics could, the tensions and contradictions that fathers face as they try to conform to a predominant cultural script. Neither villains nor victims, these men earn our sympathy as we witness their struggle to conform to The Package Deal." - Stanley Brandes, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley "What do men want? In this provocative and thoughtful book about a group of men who graduated from high school in the early l970s, the gifted anthropologist Nicholas Townsend gives us an answer. Despite powerful pressures on them to spend more time with their children, to share more chores with their working wives, to cut their commutes, to give up their part in suburban sprawl, the men Townsend came to know were keeping their eye on another ball - the package deal. Stubborn? Retrograde? Yes. But with a deep appreciation for the contradictions they face, the system of pride and dignity with which they live, Townsend explains why. This is a highly important book for men, and for those who are trying to change them." - Arlie Russell Hochschild, author of The Second Shift and The Time Bind "By listening so carefully to men and women, by so carefully assessing the complex inter-connection of their lives and our cultural ideals, Townsend adds welcome nuance to the ongoing social and political discussion about fatherhood in America." - James A. Levine, Ed.D., Director, The Fatherhood Project, Families and Work Institute
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A book about understanding men's lives in the modern world
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Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
It was refreshing to read about fatherhood for a change. I found the book quite interesting and insightful. Great for upper level college course, although a bit dated.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By jferg2013
Format:Paperback
the books a lil used but i knew it was a used book and I knew it wouldn't b perfect thank you!
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By SweetZoe3454
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
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The When I purchased the book, I was confident that I ordered it far enough in advance to have it by the time that I needed it. (I ordered all of my books for the class at the same time, and I have recieved all of the other books a while ago) However, do to the seller's irresponsible tendencies, not only have i not received the book from her, I am unable to purchase or borrow the book in other methods by the time that I need it either. Also because of the seller's irritability, I am out a lot of time and money by trying to find the book somewhere else.
IF I WERE A FUTURE buyer, I WOULD NNNNOOOOTTTT BUY A BOOK FROM THIS SELLER. The Seller has cost me too many hardships, and i would not wish these hardships on anyone else.
