Author
Great Britain
As a result of largely feminist ideas, the provider role has received a great deal of opprobrium in the past few decades. In the UK this resulted in a series of policies which strengthened the role of the state and a weakened of the role of the father. The huge increase in fatherlessness is one of its fruits.
The perspective I try to introduce is that the provider role is a very positive thing and is fundamental to our understanding of the father. Being able to provision and care for others is a primary expression of masculinity, which pulls men (and boys) into a reciprocal web of social relationships through which they can take a central place in society, rather than being regarded as anti-social elements to be left on the edge.
Furthermore, once in the family fathers have a distinctive role in the socialisation of children. In a whole range of ways, fathers act as a bridge enabling a child to move from the haven of the mother and home, into taking their place in the wider world.