Men, Fatherhood & the Internet

A lot has been written on women writing and blogging about their experience as mothers. A couple of my friends have been very consistent about sharing their lives for the past year.  

Many people argue that the Internet has seen an increase in women writing on motherhood whereas some say that women were always writing about this even in a non-digital age. Still others say that it is a new trend - women who have active careers writing about motherhood.  

But what happens to men when they become fathers today? How do they look at this experience? Is it any different from my Dad’s generation? I started thinking about this when my parents observed how my brother spends a lot of time with his children. When pointed out that Dad was equally involved with us while growing up the discussion  became very confused. But question still remained - what do men think of being a father today?

Since my brother does not blog, I started to look  among friends. But none of them actually write about  fatherhood. Two men whom I have know for some time have a different approach. One of them actually has his FB identity as his “child’s father”. That according to me is the ultimate celebration of fatherhood online. Where your online personality only exists as your child's father. 

The other friend has opened an FB account in his child’s name and regularly updates photographs about activities in the child’s life. They do not have other FB accounts where they write updates about themselves. Am sure you would know of such fathers around you. The photographs they upload have a lot to tell.

When I talk to young parents, both men and women agree that parenthood has changed them but the way they express it online is very different. Women are articulate about their experience whereas men generally do not want to discuss their inner stuff.

Oh.

Women want to talk about it. And men would rather not open up.

That sounds very familiar.