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The first study of its kind, this book traces 150 years of the history of fatherhood in Scandinavia and shows how Scandinavian gender equality policy has important implications for the rest of the world. Among other interesting findings, Lorentzen reveals that the modern-day rise in equality fathering can be traced back to the 19th century.

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Introduction PART I: 1850-1927 1. The Patriarchal Father at the Hearth 2. Separate Spheres 3. Father´s Involvement During the Birth 4. Father as the Dearest Company 5. The Home as Man´s Refuge 6. Quantity of Time 7. The Distant and Authoritarian father 8. Early Changes in Gendered Relationships 9. Ibsen and Fatherhood 10. The Patriarchal Father 11. The Fallen Father 12. The Loving Father 13. The Father´s Declining Presence in the Home PART II: 1927-1970 14. The Golden Age of the Housewife and the Banishment of the Father from the Home 15. The Era of the Housewife Reaches its Highpoint 16. Optimism about the Future in the Absence of the Father 17. The Father as Laughing Stock 18. Murmurings of Criticism about the Father´s Absence 19. Sigurd Hoel´s Culturally Pessimistic Family Revolt 20. The Heterosexual Harmony PART III: 1970-2012 21. The New Father and the Democratization of Intimacy 22. Fatherly Feelings 23. A New Trend - ´Dad books´ 24. Men as Humourists 25. Mens´ Differences 26. The Similarities in Fathers´ Practice 27. Recent Research on Fathers 28. Political Initiative to Strengthen the Father´s Nurturing Role 29. Absent Fathers in the Era of Fatherly Intimacy 30. The Great Fatherhood Paradox 31. My Struggle; the Struggle over Fatherhood 32. The Opening 33. Masculine Inadequacy and the Fear of the Feminine Afterward

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J›rgen Lorentzen, is Professor at the Center for Gender Research at the University of Oslo, Norway.

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