Are no show dads and single moms to blame?

[factfindingmission]

Does anyone else think that the decline of the robust, masculine, American male can be attributed to fathers who leave and single mothers? I have great respect for single moms who do their best to raise a child after the father has left, but what kind of ideals and upbringing are these young men receiving?

I truly believe that even moms with the best of intentions can never teach a boy how to be a man. Strong fathers teach by example. They encourage their sons to participate in sports, show them how to defend themselves and teach them the basics of how to become a good man.

Many men today were brought up by single moms. They never had a positive, male role model and it shows. Their heads are filled with misconceptions about how to deal with women. They're views tend to be much more feminized and liberal than boys who had a father. I truly think it's a sad state of affairs. Our country was great when fathers raised their families. When ideals and morals were taught by caring and compasionate parents. Mothers were the nuturers and fathers were the disciplinarians and bread winners. Boys knew their roles and so did girls. That's not to say either one couldn't grow up to be exactly what they wanted, but each had a sense of their indentiy firmly in place.

In this world where everything is OK and we're supposed to walk on egg shells around certain kinds of people, it's easy to see why we've become a soft, wimpy, feminized country.

 

[Captain Harlock]

I doubt it. I know guys who lost their dads at a young age and it made them become the men of the family. Then again they lived in a rural area with lots of work so I wouldn't know how it works in a urban area.

 

[Kerpal]

I definitely agree with the OP. I never had a father figure and grew up one of the few white kids in a relatively bad neighborhood so didn't have many friends. I'm very different now than I was when I was younger, but I think not having a father figure really screwed me up in a lot of ways. I feel like I missed out on that part of my life and I always get jealous when I see a kid doing stuff with his dad

 

[FairShake]

No. Obviously the generation that wasn't around for their boys (and girls) didn't know what being a man was all about either.

Way before self-defense, sports, and spitting game to a woman, a man must be a provider and a guide for his children. Forget our movie definitions of what a man is, THIS is the most important thing a man can do to prove his strength, savvy, and style. The most important mark someone can make in this life is raise positively contributing members to our ****ed up experiment of life. Their handywork is on display before us everyday and it is jerry-built and crumbling at the foundation.

The generation before us, with whatever skills they may possess that are sadly lacking today, did not retain the skill of staying power that real men in the past have.

 

[Ken785]

This is what happens when you date "bad boys". She has no one to blame but herself and now the children have to suffer....