The changing culture of fatherhood in comic-strip families: A six-decade analysis

A content analysis of 490 Father's Day and Mother's Day comic strips publis hed from 1940 to 1999 indicates that the culture of fatherhood has fluctuat ed since Would War II. "Incompetent" fathers appeared frequently in the lat e 1940s, early 1950s, and late 1960s but were rarer in the late 1950s, earl y and late 1970s, early 1980s, and early 1990s. Fathers who were mocked wer e especially common in the early and late 1960s and early 1980s but were le ss common in the late 1940s, early and late 1950s, and early and late 1970s . Fathers who were nurturant and supportive toward children were most evide nt in the late 1940s, early 1950s, and early and late 1990s, with the longi tudinal pattern resembling a U-shaped curve. Differences between fathers an d mothers also oscillated from one decade to the next.