Undoing fatherhood: postdivorce fathering practices in Lithuania

Abstract

Drawing on empirical data from biographical interviews with divorced Lithuanian men, this article examines how they undo fatherhood based on the breadwinner ideology. In a Lithuanian culture of strong economic obligations of men for child support and alimony and weak paternal rights to custody and care, the divorced fathers’ role consists primarily of their financial responsibility. By using the theoretical framework of undoing gender (Butler, J. (2004). Undoing gender. New York: Routledge; Deutsch, F. (2007). Undoing gender. Gender & Society, 21(1), 106–127), the authors argue that the economic aspects of fathering remain most important in the successful doing of fatherhood. However, in undoing the traditional fatherhood and refuting the widespread assumptions about men's secondary role as caregivers, the divorced men not only defied gendered perceptions of individual competencies but also clashed with gender normativity. Moreover, our research demonstrates that besides socio-legal constraints the fathers’ cooperative relationships with their former spouses were also a decisive factor in undoing fatherhood.

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