Contemporary contradictions and challenges facing married fathers and mothers

Part one of this review chapter provides a brief historical overview of the fathering role. Following this overview, some cultural contradictions and challenges facing fathers, particularly married fathers, are outlined and discussed. Key issues of focus in this section include married fathers balancing economic provision, household work, and involvement in child rearing. Part two of the chapter will overview cultural challenges and contradictions facing mothers, particularly married mothers. The contradictory challenges often inherent in marriage-based mothering include the pressures to simultaneously provide "intensive mothering" and to be extensively involved in a career. In sum, the chapter will illustrate how married parents, both individually and as couples, face several novel challenges and contradictions that must be creatively and cooperatively negotiated as a married couple.