Equal parenting in the context of femininity and masculinity

The early childhood period between the ages of 0-6 is an important period for individuals to develop their personality. During this period, the parenting roles of the women and men and the way they are involved in child care have great effects on the individual's future life. Today, due to the change in parenting roles, examining the role distribution of mothers and fathers in raising new generations and investigating the effects of this role distribution in case of equal participation becomes an important subject. Parents can generally be involved in child care in accordance with the division of labor based on gender determined by the society. Thus, even if women or men want to share parenting responsibilities equally with their partners, equality may not be realized within the scope of gender-based division of labor. However, some parents may resist to traditional gender-based role stereotypes and move away from these stereotypes that society tries to impose on them and exhibit parenting roles with more equal participation. Based on the fact that gender equality is one of the necessary conditions for living in an equal and just society, it is important that future generations are raised by men and women with equal participation parenting practices. From this point of view, this study aims to examine the phenomenon of equal involvement parenting in the context of femininity and masculinity. In the study where qualitative research method was used, a phenomenological research design was adopted. Face-to-face interviews were held with heterosexual parents who have children between the ages of 0-6 living in Antalya. Semi-structured questionnaire and observations were used in the interviews. Parents' motherhood/fatherhood experiences were examined in the context of equal parenting. As a result of the research, it was seen that men's participation in child care is supported, but women do not trust men enough in child care. This situation was seen as an obstacle to the realization of the equal participation parenting model. In addition, participants stated that the mental and physical burden of child care falls more on mothers and that fathers' participation in child care has positive effects on both the child and the parents.