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Analysis of parents’ roles may be derived from diverse theoretical approaches operating in the field of human reproduction. They can be categorized as the evolutionary-biological, theory of rational choice, social norms and value of the child approaches. Our own stance is mainly drawing from social norm approach, stressing the importance of parental stereotypes.
Data from a pilot study (4 “task” focus-group discussions: 2 male, 2 female, aged 25-32, with a play-role instruction to simulate family-planning negotiation between two engaged partners) confirm the importance of stereotypes – mainly about men’s untrustworthiness. Paradoxically, women on the one hand feel limited by expectations that they should have dominant responsibility for childrearing, on the other hand they reproduce and foster negative stereotypes consisting of assumptions that man: (1) excuse from conceiving a child because of feeling not prepared/mature for fatherhood, (2) prefer enjoying life and seek work-fulfilment, and (3) are unreliable and threaten the family by leaving the women with full responsibility for offspring. All these components may serve women (a) as a base for hesitation to found a family and reproduce, and (b) to raise the value of marital status as compared to alternative forms of unions.
Our data also suggest that there is an important challenge to the above described stereotypes: participants-fathers who actively reflect their own responsibility/commitment in family, reproduction and childcare and behave according to it, were highlighting the value of the child. Moreover, these men actively question the overall distribution of the negative stereotypes about men in general. Deconstruction of the negative stereotype about men’s fatherhood potential may be a key element in pursuing a sustainable reproduction. These preliminary findings are further explored on a broader sample consisting of ten focus groups, where the different perspectives of women and men are compared.