Do you think dads secretly worry about being the best dad? Do you ever hear men talking about their insecurities with their bodies? Then I questioned, “Well maybe dads do worry about these topics but not at the level women do?” Maybe their feelings on these topics are not as magnified as women.
Men are taught at a young age to suppress their feelings.
“Men are socialized to be more I-focused than we-focused,” Dr. Josh Coleman, a psychologist and senior fellow at the Counsel for Contemporary Families at the University of Texas in Austin, told Fatherly. “Making that switch once you have a child can be difficult for dads, and leads to unexpected stress.”
Men have insecurities. Men have guilt about being a good dad. Men want to have a good body. The difference? Men don’t vocalize it like women do. Men keep it inside while women wear more feelings on their sleeves.
Men have depression, shame and guilt. We typically focus on women’s mental health during child bearing years. This new role of todays male parenting adds another mental component that is typically not discussed.
Men experience many questions regarding their children’s development:
- Am I feeding my kids the right foods?
- Do I spend enough time with my kids?
- Am I showing my kids enough love?
- Do my kids spend too much time on their devices?
I think it’s important to understand both men and women have guilt and doubt, but it shows up differently.
