Reproductive labour and fatherhood : the case of stay-at-home dads in Singapore

• Main Authors: Lim, Yan Xiu, Wong, Meng Hui
• Other Authors: Premchand Varma Dommaraju
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Social sciences::Sociology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/78828
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This paper seeks to examine the experiences of stay-at-home-dads (SAHDs) in Singapore through a combined lens of hegemonic masculinity and gender performativity. Notably, we are interested in how fathers (re)negotiate their identity in their unconventional role. SAHDs present themselves as an interesting community within the institution of family as they represent a bold progression in challenging the existing gender order through their engagement in reproductive labour, thereby contributing to an ongoing reversal of gender roles. Interviews were conducted with a total of eight SAHDs. While major findings suggested a progressively positive consensus of parenting as a gender-neutral task, there exists a degree of gender-role incongruity yet to be resolved. In supporting the fatherhood journey, our interviewees have expressed their wishes for more practical and dynamic support including state policies that segmentalize less on the individual social units but rather, the family as a whole.