This week saw the annual Dad 2.0 Summit – that began as an off-shoot to the Mum 2.0 Summit in 2012 – take place in San Francisco. The summit aims to bring together dads who write about their experiences of parenthood and is seeking to change the unfair stereotype of dads as the blundering extra child in the family unit. The summit wants to encourage ‘Dad 2.0’ the father who articulates his experiences, and shares with honesty, humour and insight with others online. The success of the summit is testament to how the funny and engaging reflections on dad blogs have shed light on a new generation of fathers who are as engaged at home as they are at work, and also on the fathers who take on the role as primary carer in their families.
The summit is an interesting concept as the founders John Pacini and blogger, Doug French, formerly of Laid-Off Dad – now writing at Mr.DougFrench, are seeking to discourage leading brands from propagating the hackneyed hapless idiot dad stereotype in their advertising. It is also a platform to show global brands that the burgeoning Dad 2.0 market is every bit as influential and potentially lucrative as the mum blogosphere. It’s a commercial slant that may surprise some but with so many intelligent and witty mum bloggers achieving success through book deals and sponsorship why shouldn’t dads get a piece of the action?
As commercial and engineered as that may seem, at the heart of any commercial enterprise of this nature is a unique product, and the dad blogs are just such a product. We need the perspective of dads in the parenting discourse. For far too long the dad figure has been the victim of this irritating reverse sexism, too often depicted as childlike fools incapable of even changing a nappy. Dad 2.0 is giving us a new dad that men can relate to and a narrative that more accurately reflects many of our own situations where both partners have equal input. It is also giving our children a better, more equal blueprint for their families. The summit also highlights important issues like paid paternity leave and exploring men’s issues.
