A Journey towards Fatherhood: The importance of embodying a new role

Abstract

This thesis explores the complex transformations involved in first-time fatherhood, when adult men undergo one of the most important changes of status in their lives. How is this new status reached? What are the stages of this transition? What other social factors influence the way this transition takes place? The study is primarily based on audiovisual material of my husband, a Spanish researcher living in Norway, collected from one month before the birth of our son through the first four months of his life. This footage allows me to examine the psychological and physical evolution of this newborn father, who, during the process, will have to redefine and understand himself and his new status, as well as his privileges and expectations as a man. This case study of my husband-collaborator, together with fieldwork material from focus groups and interviews with other fathers and medical staff in Norway and Spain, forms the basis of an analysis of fathering and masculinity that explores, among other things, the degree to which this status change is dependent on embodied knowledge, and how this requires an amount of time and practice that fathers do not always experience.