MAN

“Mater semper certa; pater est quem nuptiae demonstrant.” Some Famous Roman Dude

The concept of fatherhood has been written about since ancient times. The famous bit of Latin above roughly translates to: “The mother is always certain; the father is whom the marriage shows.”
Two thousand years on, we live in the most exciting of times, complete with cool genetic science and technology. So now this famous phrase can be altered to read something more like this:
The mother is always certain; the father is whom the marriage shows; or DNA proves without a shred of doubt in the case of paternity lawsuits.”

Father vs. Fatherhood
“Any fool with a dick can make a baby but only a real man can raise his children.” Furious Styles, Boyz n the Hood

I think it’s fair to say that we’re more broad-minded about the notion of fatherhood than in the past. The legitimacy of being the man who provided the sperm is far less important than being the man who actually cares for and raises children. Better, obviously, to be both.
So, in writing a definition of fatherhood for the modern man, it is probably best to say that fatherhood is more about the act of being a father than actually fathering a child.

Perhaps the dictionary should read;
father [fah-ther] – verb (previously a noun) male parent.

Find your Fatherhood Classification
“Father, Dad, Daddy, Pa, Pop, Pappy or even the Old Fella; children have so many names for the same man.” Michael Gardner, Writer

Okay, so I couldn’t find a suitable quote for this section but it’s interesting to note that like the many names we call our fathers, we also have dozens of ways to classify them too. Here is a small selection…

Natural father: The man who performed the deed of procreation.
Birth father: The man who performed the deed and then buggered off.

Surprise father: The man who did the deed, buggered off, didn’t leave a phone number or forwarding address, and then got the fright of their life when Inland Revenue arrived with a child support bill.

Father-in-law: The man who did the deed to create your spouse. This category has many other sub-headings, many of which are unprintable.

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Collector's Issue Out Now

Man on The Street - Pablo Arrasco Paz