Men and Parenthood

Ron Howard’s Parenthood obviously deals with anxieties surrounding parenting in the United States in the past two decades. However, the issue of masculinity stands out in the recent television version. It seems that the new adaptation is tackling growing anxieties about the role of men in society and what masculinity means, whereas the earlier film has strong, secure men. In the 21st century, it seems that the role of masculinity in society is under debate, as evidenced by the recent Atlantic article, “The End of Men.”
Central to the pilot episode of Parenthood is the youngest son discovering a sperm sample in his girlfriend’s freezer. This prompts him to promise to have a child with her, and causes extreme anxiety for him and his male relatives. Clearly, this echoes of emasculation fears and anxiety over virility for the characters in the show. In the film version, a dildo appears but never to threatens the masculinity of the fathers in the movie.
Zeek, the patriarch of the family seems to contain a dangerous and threatening virility that hearkens back to an older conception of manhood. While this is a minor theme in the film version, the television show makes it into a larger drama in the pilot. Even Joel seems to have an ambiguous role in the show, as he usurps the “mother” role for his young daughter while his wife is a driven career woman. Even Adam appears to be confused and frightened by traditional forms of masculinity, carefully protecting his son from his own father’s violence while privately falling into fits of rage.
Despite this, the show never contests the central role men play in raising children. Sarah laments the failure of her former husband as a father, and her children seem to be the biggest trouble makers on the show (perhaps because the lack of a strong father figure). Heteronormative marriage seems to be held up as ideal in raising children on the TV show, but the show still seems anxious about what men are supposed to do.