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36 Syracuse L. Rev. 1265 (1985-1986)
Fathers and Families: Expanding the Familial Rights of Men

handle is hein.journals/syrlr36 and id is 1285 raw text is: NOTES FATHERS AND FAMILIES: EXPANDING THE FAMILIAL RIGHTS OF MEN Nathalie Martin I. INTRODUCTION Sex roles in America have changed drastically during the past twenty-five years.' For the most part, laws have kept pace with these changes.2 Women, traditionally confined to the home, are now being afforded more opportunities and legal protections in the workplace than ever before.3 In one important area, however, the 1. Twenty-five years ago, only one and a half million mothers were employed, as com- pared to fourteen million in 1980. Honig, The Importance of Fathering, 1980 DIMENSIONS 33, 34. More than half of all mothers with children under six work outside the home. Id. A re-examination of fathers' roles seems to flow from the rapid increase in working wives and mothers, increasing the need and desire for men to work in the home. Id. at 34. This is not to say that everyone is pleased with this change. See generally H. VOTH, THE CASTRATED FAMILY (1977). In his book, psychologist Voth advocated patriarchy as the only healthy system. In his first chapter, entitled The Normal Family, Voth states that: It is both practical and consistent with the basic qualities that Nature has given male and female that the woman who bears and nurses the baby should care for the young and for the dwelling in which the young live, and that the man who is larger, physically more powerful and more aggressive, should provide the shelter, food and protection for his family.... All advanced levels of animal life show some form of organization with the male in the dominant position. Id. at 1. 2. See generally L. KANOwrrz, SEx ROLES IN LAW AND SocmrY (1973), where the rela- tionship between law and society regarding changes in sex roles is discussed at length. See also Van Dusen & Sheldon, The Changing Status of American Women: A Life Cycle Per- spective, in FAMILY IN TRANSITION 169 (A. Skolnick & J. Skolnick eds. 2d ed. 1977) (a dis- cussion of the many ways in which women's new roles are changing their status in the work- place, resulting in less importance being placed on a woman's marriage and family over the course of her lifetime). 3. See generally N. McGLEN & K. O'CONNER, WOMEN'S RIGHTS: THE STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY IN THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES 149-95 (1983) (outlines various leg- islation that has been passed furthering equal employment rights and gives examples of cases that have been decided pursuant to the Equal Pay Act of 1963, The Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Title VII); V. PENDERGRASS, WOMEN WINNING: A HANDBOOK FOR ACTION 1265

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