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= You Suck! =
{{about|the male parent}}
It's true.
{{redirect2|Dad|Fathering|other uses of Dad|Dad (disambiguation)|other uses of Fathering|Fathering (journal)}}

[[File:Paternal bonding between father and newborn daughter.jpg|thumb|360px|alt=Father holding daughter in swaddling clothes|[[Paternal bond]]ing with newborn daughter.]]
A '''father''' (or '''dad''') is defined as a male [[parent]] or Individual progenitor of human offspring. The [[adjective]] "paternal" refers to a father and comparatively to "maternal" for a [[mother]]. The [[verb]] "to father" means to procreate or to sire a child from which also derives the gerund "fathering". Fathers determine the gender of their [[child]] through a [[sperm]] cell which either contains an X chromosome (female), or [[Y chromosome]] (male).<ref>[http://www.uic.edu/classes/bms/bms655/lesson6.html HUMAN GENETICS, MENDELIAN INHERITANCE] retrieved 25 February 2012</ref> Related [[term of endearment|terms of endearment]] are ''dad'', ''daddy'', ''pa'', ''pop'' or ''pops''.

==Etymology==
From Middle English ''fader'', from Old English ''fæder'', from Proto-Germanic ''*fadēr'' (cf. East Frisian ''foar'', Dutch ''vader'', German ''vater''), from Proto-Indo-European ''*ph₂tḗr'' (cf. Irish ''athair'', Tocharian A ''pācar'', B ''pācer'', Lithuanian ''patinas'' ("male animal")), akin to Latin ''pater'', akin to Ancient Greek ''πατήρ'' (''patēr''), akin to Sanskrit पितृ (''pitṛ'').

==Relationship with children==
{{Section OR|date=February 2012}}
[[File:Father and child, Dhaka.jpg|thumb|200px|upright|Father and child, Dhaka]]
Traditionally, fathers act in a protective, supportive and responsible way towards their children. Involved fathers offer developmentally specific provisions to their sons and daughters throughout the life cycle and are impacted themselves by doing so. Active father figures may play a role in reducing behavior and psychological problems in young men and women. An increased amount of father–child involvement may help increase a child's social stability, educational achievement, and their potential to have a solid marriage as an adult. Their children may also be more curious about the world around them and develop greater problem solving skills. The father figure does not always have to be a child's biological father and some children will have a biological father as well as a step- or nurturing father. When the biological father dies, or divorces, the mother may marry a second man who becomes the stepfather of the child. Where a child is conceived as a result of sperm donation, the donor will be the "biological father" of the child, and if the mother has a male partner, he will be the nurturing father.

According to the anthropologist [[Maurice Godelier]], the parental role assumed by human males is a critical difference between human society and that of humans' closest biological relatives—[[chimpanzees]] and [[bonobo]]s—who appear to be unaware of their "father" connection.

==Determination of parenthood==
{{Section OR|date=February 2012}}
Since [[Roman law|Roman times]] fatherhood has been determined with this famous sentence: ''Mater semper certa; pater est quem nuptiae demonstrant'' ("The [identity of the] mother is always certain; the father is whom the marriage vows indicate"). The historical approach has been destabilised with the recent emergence of accurate scientific testing, particularly [[Genetic fingerprinting|DNA testing]]. As a result, the [[family law|law on fatherhood]] is undergoing rapid changes.

Like [[mother]]s, human fathers may be categorized according to their biological, social or legal [[personal relationship|relationship]] with the child. Historically, the biological relationship [[Paternity (law)|paternity]] has been determinative of fatherhood. However, [[Evidence (law)|proof]] of paternity has been intrinsically problematic and so social rules often determined who would be regarded as a father, e.g. the [[Marriage|husband]] of the [[mother]].

An individual who is a [[genetic chimera]] could theoretically have more than one biological father. No example of this has been reported but human chimeras were unknown to exist until recently and scientists are currently uncertain as to the extent of chimerism within the human population.

== History of fatherhood==
[[File:06-09-09(27).jpg|thumb|320px|left|Father with child]]
The discovery of fatherhood<ref name="ReferenceA">[[Jacques Dupuis]], Au nome du pére. Une histoire de la paternité, Lo Rocher, 1987</ref><ref>[[Jacques Attali]], Amours, Fayard, 2007</ref> is likely to have been as important for the development of the human race as the discovery of fire.<ref name="ReferenceB">[[Jean Markale]], La femme Celt/Women of the Celts, Paris, London, New York, 1972</ref>
The discovery of fatherhood took place in a historical period for which information sources are rare, but the few scholars focusing on that period gave us a sufficiently clear picture of this discovery.<ref>[[Jacques Dupuis]], Au nome du pére. Une histoire de la paternité, Lo Rocher, 1987</ref>

The link between sexual acts and procreation can be empirically identified, but it is by no means of immediate evidence. In fact, the conception of life cannot be observed, whereas its birth is obviously visible. The extended time lag between the former and the latter certainly does not help to identify their link, but on the contrary it makes even more difficult to assume any kind of relationship between these two events. As a result, human beings ignored that males impregnate females for thousands of years.<ref>[[James George Frazer]], The Golden Bough, vol. 5-6, Robarts, Toronto, 1914</ref> During this extended period procreation was considered to be an autonomous 'ability' of women: men were essential in order to ensure the survival and defence of the social group, but only women could enhance and reintegrate it through their ability to create new individuals. This gave women a role of primary and indisputable importance within their social groups.<ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref>[[Jean Przyluski]], La Grande Déesse, Payot, Paris, 1950</ref>

This situation probably persisted during the whole Palaeolithic age. Some scholars believe the well-known Venus figurines of that age to be clear witnesses of it. During the transition to the Neolithic age, agriculture and cattle breeding became the core activities of a growing number of human communities. Breeding in particular is likely to have led women{{spaced ndash}}who used to spend more time than men taking care of the cattle{{spaced ndash}}to observations and considerations which gradually allowed them to discover the procreative effect of the sexual act between a male and a female.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

For communities which looked at sexuality just as a source of pleasure and an element of social cohesion without attaching any taboo character to it, this discovery must have led to a sense of upset<ref>[[Margaret Mead]], Male and female, William Morrow & C., New York, 1949</ref> with consequences not only on the regulation of sexuality itself, but on the whole political, social, and economic system. The time to arrive to sufficient certainty about the mechanism of life conception must have been very long, but this time length cannot have prevented the implications of this acquired certainty from being extremely dramatic.<ref>[[Jean Przyluski]], La Grande Déesse, Payot, Paris, 1950</ref> Eventually, these implications led to the model of society which{{spaced ndash}}in different times and shapes{{spaced ndash}}was adopted by most human cultural communities.

Still today, this social model founded on the capacity of the man to fecundate women tends globally to prevail:<ref>[[Rosalind Miles]], Who Cooked the Last Supper? The Women's History of the World, Three Rivers Press, New York, 2001</ref> this capacity allowed men to free themselves from the secular frustration derived from having recognized only to women the ability to generate life and led them to configure a society affirming their supremacy over women. And, of course, their supremacy over the human beings they created: their children.<ref name="ReferenceC">[[Pierre Moussa]], Notre aventure humaine, Grasset, 2005</ref> We find an enlightening example of this social development in [[Aeschylus]]'s tragedy ''[[The Oresteia#The Eumenides|The Eumenides]]''. The [[Coryphaeus]] of the [[Erinyes]] blames matricidal [[Orestes]] for having shed his own blood, but God [[Apollo]] replies that this is absolutely untrue because the mother is only a wet-nurse and not a progenitor of the child, whose blood derives from his/her unique parent: the father. This argument is accepted by the judges and Orestes finally obtains a verdict of not guilty. The extreme position taken here by God Apollo did not find complete acceptance, not even in Athens. In the regions where this position originally prevailed, it was gradually abandoned facing improving scientific explanations of human procreation. But traces of this position can still be found today in some cultural systems.

The discovery of fatherhood led to the supremacy of the father lineal over the matrilineal descent{{spaced ndash}}which is still characteristic of most models of family we observe today{{spaced ndash}}and, most of all, to the sacral character assigned to the sexual act which was rapidly regulated by severe norms. These norms revoked the absolute freedom human beings used to enjoy with respect to their sexual behaviour, thus blaming and prohibiting all sexual acts not aimed at a fecundation of the woman. Moreover, the discovery of fatherhood and the sedentary forms of living developed during the Neolithic Age led the man to develop the first forms of private property and to defend them through conflicts{{spaced ndash}}and eventually wars{{spaced ndash}}with competing human beings.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>

==Father–offspring conflict==
In early human history there have been notable instances of father–offspring conflicts. For example:
* [[Tukulti-Ninurta I]] (r. 1243–1207 B.C.E.), [[Assyria]]n king, was killed by his own son after sacking [[Babylon]].
* [[Sennacherib]] (r. 704–681 B.C.E.), [[Assyria]]n king, was killed by two of his sons for his desecration of [[Babylon]].
* King [[Kassapa I]] (473 to 495 CE) creator of the Sigiriya citadel of ancient Sri Lanka killed his father king Dhatusena for the throne.
* [[Emperor_Yang_of_Sui#Did_Emperor_Yang_kill_Emperor_Wen.3F|Emperor Yang of Sui]] in Chinese history allegedly killed his father, [[Emperor Wen of Sui]].
* [[Samvel Mamikonian]] killed his father [[Vahan]], who converted to Christianity and joined the Zoroastrian Persian Empire.
* [[Beatrice Cenci]], Italian noblewoman who, according to legend, killed her father after he imprisoned and raped her. She was condemned and beheaded for the crime along with her brother and her stepmother in 1599.
* [[Lizzie Borden]] (1860–1927) allegedly killed her father and her stepmother with an axe in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1892. She was acquitted, but her innocence is still disputed.
* [[Iyasus I of Ethiopia]] (1682–1706), one of the great warrior emperors of Ethiopia, was deposed by his son [[w:Tekle Haymanot I of Ethiopia|Tekle Haymanot]] in 1706 and subsequently assassinated.

In more contemporary history there have also been instances of father–offspring conflicts, such as:

* [[Chiyo Aizawa]] murdered her own father who had been [[rape|raping]] her for fifteen years, on October 5, 1968, in Japan. The incident changed the [[Criminal Code of Japan]] regarding patricide.
* Toru Sakai (age 22) murdered his 54-year-old father Takashi (Glenn) Sakai on April 20, 1987, in [[Beverly Hills]], [[California]]. Toru Sakai was never captured and is currently wanted for the crime by the [[Los Angeles Police Department]].
* [[Kip Kinkel]] (1982- ), an [[Oregon]] boy who was convicted of killing his parents at home and two fellow students at school on May 20, 1998.
* [[Sarah Marie Johnson]] (1987- ), an [[Idaho]] girl who was convicted of killing both parents on the morning of September 2, 2003.
* [[Dipendra of Nepal]] (1971–2001) reportedly massacred much of his family at a royal dinner on June 1, 2001, including his father [[King Birendra]], mother, brother, and sister.
* [[Christopher Porco]] (1983- ), was convicted on August 10, 2006, of the murder of his father and attempted murder of his mother with an axe.

==Categories==
===Biological fathers===
* '''Baby Daddy'''{{spaced ndash}}A biological father who bears financial responsibility for a child that the mother has little or no contact with.
* '''Birth father'''{{spaced ndash}}the biological father of a child who, due to adoption or parental separation, does not raise the child or cannot take care of one.
* '''Biological father'''{{spaced ndash}}the genetic father of a child
* '''Posthumous father'''{{spaced ndash}}father died before children were born (or even conceived in the case of artificial insemination)
* '''[[Putative father]]'''{{spaced ndash}}unwed man whose legal relationship to a child has not been established but who is alleged to be or claims that he may be the biological father of a child
* '''[[Sperm donor]]'''{{spaced ndash}}the anonymous biological father used during [[In vitro fertilisation]] or similar type procedures. Also used as a slang term meaning "baby daddy".
* '''Surprise father'''{{spaced ndash}}where the men did not know that there was a child until possibly years afterward
* '''Teenage father/youthful father'''{{spaced ndash}}associated with teenage sexual intercourse

===Non-biological (social and legal relationship)===
* '''Adoptive father'''{{spaced ndash}}a father who has [[adopted]] a child
* '''Cuckolded father'''{{spaced ndash}}where the child is the product of the mother's adulterous relationship
* '''DI Dad'''{{spaced ndash}}social/legal father of children produced via Donor Insemination (where a donor's sperm were used to impregnate the DI Dad's spouse)
* '''Father-in-law'''{{spaced ndash}}the father of one's spouse
* '''Foster father'''{{spaced ndash}}child is raised by a man who is not the biological or adoptive father usually as part of a couple.
* '''Mother's partner'''{{spaced ndash}}assumption that current partner fills father role
* '''Mother's husband'''{{spaced ndash}}under some jurisdictions (e.g. in [[Civil Code of Quebec|Quebec civil law]]), if the mother is married to another man, the latter will be defined as the father
* '''Presumed father'''{{spaced ndash}}Where a [[Presumption of paternity |presumption of paternity]] has determanined that a man is a child's father regardless of if he actually is or is not the biological father
* '''Social father'''{{spaced ndash}}where a man takes ''de facto'' responsibility for a child, such as caring for one who has been abandoned or orphaned (the child is known as a "child of the family" in English law)
* '''Stepfather'''{{spaced ndash}}wife or husband has child from previous relationship

===Fatherhood defined by contact level===
* '''Absent father'''{{spaced ndash}}father who cannot or will not spend time with his child(ren)
* '''Second father'''{{spaced ndash}}a non-parent whose contact and support is robust enough that near parental bond occurs (often used for older male siblings who significantly aid in raising a child)
* '''[[Stay-at-home dad]]'''{{spaced ndash}}the male equivalent of a [[housewife]] with child, where his spouse is breadwinner
* '''Weekend/holiday father'''{{spaced ndash}}where child(ren) only stay(s) with father on weekends, holidays, etc.

==Non-human fatherhood==
For some animals, it is the fathers who take care of the young.
* [[Darwin's Frog]] (''Rhinoderma darwini'') fathers carry eggs in the vocal pouch.
* Most male [[waterfowl]]s are very protective in raising their offspring, sharing scout duties with the female. Examples are the [[geese]], [[swan]]s, [[gull]]s, [[loon]]s, and a few species of [[duck]]s. When the families of most of these waterfowls travel, they usually travel in a line and the fathers are usually the ones guarding the offspring at the end of the line while the mothers lead the way.
* The female [[seahorse]] (''hippocampus'') deposits eggs into the pouch on the male's abdomen. The male releases sperm into the pouch, fertilizing the eggs. The embryos develop within the male's pouch, nourished by their individual yolk sacs.
* Male [[Emperor Penguin]]s alone incubate their [[egg (biology)|eggs]]; females do no incubation. Rather than building a [[nest]], each male protects his egg by balancing it on the tops of his feet, enclosed in a special brood pouch. Once the eggs are hatched however, the females will rejoin the family.
* Male [[beaver]]s secure their offspring along with the females during their first few hours of their lives. As the young beavers mature, their fathers will teach them how to search for materials to build and repair their own dams, before they disperse to find their own mates.
* [[Wolf]] fathers help feed, protect, and play with their pups. In some cases, several generations of wolves live in the pack, giving pups the care of grandparents, aunts/uncles, and siblings, in addition to parents. The father wolf is also the one who does most of the hunting when the females are securing their newborn pups.
* [[Dolphin]] fathers help in the care of the young. Newborns are held on the surface of the water by both parents until they are ready to swim on their own.
* A number of [[bird]] species have active, caring fathers who assist the mothers, such as the waterfowls mentioned above.
* Apart from [[human]]s, fathers in few [[primate]] species care for their young. Those that do are [[tamarin]]s and [[marmoset]]s.<ref name="Fernandez-Duque">Fernandez-Duque E, Valeggia CR, Mendoza SP. (2009). Biology of Paternal Care in Human and Nonhuman Primates. Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 38:115–30. {{doi|10.1146/annurev-anthro-091908-164334}}</ref> Particularly strong care is also shown by [[siamang]]s where fathers carry infants after their second year.<ref name="Fernandez-Duque"/> In [[titi monkey|titi]] and [[owl monkey]]s fathers carry their infants 90% of the time with "titi monkey infants developing a preference for their fathers over their mothers".<ref>Mendoza SP, Mason WA. (1986). Parental division of labour and differentiation of attachments in a monogamous primate (Callicebus moloch). Anim. Behav. 34:1336–47.</ref> [[Silverback gorilla]]s have less role in the families but most of them serve as an extra protecting the families from harm and sometimes approaching enemies to distract them so that his family can escape unnoticed.

Many species,{{Citation needed|date=March 2007}} though, display little or no paternal role in caring for offspring. The male leaves the female soon after mating and long before any offspring are born. It is the females who must do all the work of caring for the young.
* A male [[bear]] leaves the female shortly after mating and will kill and sometimes eat any bear cub he comes across, even if the cub is his. Bear mothers spend much of their cubs' early life protecting them from males. (Many artistic works, such as [[advertisement]]s and [[cartoon]]s, depict kindly "papa bears" when this is the exact opposite of reality.)
* Domesticated [[dog]] fathers show little interest in their offspring, and unlike wolves, are not monogamous with their mates and are thus likely to leave them after mating.
* Male [[lion]]s will tolerate cubs, but only allow them to eat meat from dead prey after they have had their fill. Few are quite cruel towards their young and may hurt or kill them with little provocation.{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}} A male who kills another male to take control of his pride will also usually kill any cubs belonging to that competing male. However, it is also the males who are responsible for guarding the pride while the females hunt. It should also be noted however that the male lions are the only felines that actually have a role in fatherhood.
* Male rabbits generally tolerate kits but unlike the females, they often show little interest in the kits and are known to play rough with their offsprings when they are mature, especially towards their sons. This behaviour, however, may also be part of an instinct to drive the young males away in order to prevent incest matings between the siblings. The females will eventually disperse from the warren as soon as they mature but the father does not drive them off like he normally does to the males.
* [[Horse]] stallions have little to no role in parenting, nor are they monogamous with their mates. They will tolerate foals to a certain extent, but because of their aggressive stallion nature, they are generally annoyed by the energetic exuberance of foals, and may hurt or even kill foals. Thus, stud stallions are not kept in the same pen as their foals or other mares.

Finally, in some species neither the father nor the mother provides any care.
* This is true for most [[insect]]s and [[fish]].

==See also==
{{Wiktionary}}
{{Commons category|Fathers}}

* [[Putative father]]
* [[Paternal bond]]
* [[Putative father registry]]
* [[Sociology of fatherhood]]
* [[Responsible fatherhood]]
* [[Father complex]]
* [[Fathers' rights movement]]
* [[Paternity fraud]]
* [[The Guy's Guide to Surviving Pregnancy, Childbirth and the First Year of Fatherhood]]
* [[Misattributed paternity]]
* [[Sperm donation]]
* [[Mother]]
* [[Patricide]]


Father can also refer metaphorically to a person who is considered the founder of a body of knowledge or of an institution. In such context the meaning of "father" is similar to that of "founder". See [[List of persons considered father or mother of a field]].

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
* S. Kraemer (1991) [http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1111/j.1545-5300.1991.00377.x/abs/ "The Origins of Fatherhood: An Ancient Family Process"]{{Dead link|date=April 2010}}. ''[[Family Process (journal)|Family Process]]'' 30 (4), 377–392. {{doi|10.1111/j.1545-5300.1991.00377.x}}
* M.J. Diamond (2007) ''My Father Before Me; How Fathers and Sons Influence Each Other Throughout Their Lives''. New York: WW Norton.

{{Family}}

[[Category:Divorce]]
[[Category:Human development]]
[[Category:Family]]
[[Category:Marriage]]
[[Category:Terms for males]]
[[Category:Fatherhood]]

[[af:Vader]]
[[ar:أب]]
[[arc:ܐܒܐ (ܒܝܬܝܘܬܐ)]]
[[ay:Awki]]
[[az:Ata]]
[[bn:পিতা]]
[[bjn:Abah]]
[[ba:Атай]]
[[be:Бацька]]
[[be-x-old:Бацька]]
[[bh:बाबुजी]]
[[bg:Баща]]
[[bo:ཨ་ཕ།]]
[[bs:Otac]]
[[br:Tad]]
[[ca:Pare]]
[[cv:Атте]]
[[cs:Otec]]
[[sn:Baba]]
[[pdc:Paep]]
[[de:Vater]]
[[et:Isa]]
[[es:Padre]]
[[eo:Patro]]
[[eu:Aita]]
[[fa:پدر]]
[[fr:Père]]
[[gd:Athair]]
[[gl:Pai]]
[[gan:爺]]
[[hak:Â-pâ]]
[[ko:아버지]]
[[hr:Otac]]
[[id:Ayah]]
[[it:Padre]]
[[he:אב (משפחה)]]
[[kk:Әке]]
[[ht:Papa]]
[[la:Pater]]
[[lv:Tēvs]]
[[lt:Tėvas]]
[[lij:Poæ]]
[[ln:Ába]]
[[hu:Apa]]
[[mk:Татко]]
[[ml:അച്ഛൻ]]
[[mr:वडील]]
[[ms:Ayah]]
[[nah:Tahtli]]
[[nl:Vaderschap]]
[[nds-nl:Vaor]]
[[new:अबु]]
[[ja:父親]]
[[no:Far]]
[[nn:Far]]
[[nrm:Péthe]]
[[oc:Paire]]
[[or:ବାପା]]
[[pa:ਪਿਤਾ]]
[[pl:Ojciec]]
[[pt:Pai]]
[[ro:Tată]]
[[qu:Tayta]]
[[ru:Отец]]
[[scn:Patri]]
[[si:තාත්තා]]
[[simple:Father]]
[[sk:Otec]]
[[so:Aabe]]
[[sr:Отац]]
[[sh:Otac]]
[[su:Bapa]]
[[fi:Isä]]
[[sv:Fader]]
[[tl:Ama]]
[[ta:தந்தை]]
[[tt:Ата]]
[[te:తండ్రి]]
[[th:พ่อ]]
[[tg:Падар]]
[[tr:Baba]]
[[uk:Батько]]
[[ur:باپ]]
[[vi:Cha]]
[[war:Amáy]]
[[yi:טאטע]]
[[yo:Bàbá]]
[[zh-yue:阿爸]]
[[diq:Pi]]
[[bat-smg:Tievs]]
[[zh:父親]]

Revision as of 02:03, 14 February 2013

You Suck!

It's true.

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