Newnham Family Forum 2015: ‘Fathers & Fatherhood’

 

Seeking once again to explore the issues facing parents today, 2015’s Family Forum handled the subject of Fathers and Fatherhood for the 21st Century. Our speakers included a househusband who supports a Newnham career woman, a recently retired City Lawyer who sees the ongoing demands of the workplace, and an Oxford Chaplain who has worked with men from all walks of life. Alumna Gill Gorrell Barnes (NC 1962) joined the panel and drew on her extensive experience of working with fathers to discuss what performing fatherhood might mean, and the importance of changing expectations of what fatherhood entails- both for men and for women.

Joanna Trollope, read by Penny Hubbard (NC 1979)

 

Bob Merrill (husband of Dame Fiona Reynolds (NC 1976)), on being a househusband:

 

Jonathan Scott (former managing partner at law firm Herbert Smith), on the need for employer support for young families:

 

Bruce Kinsey (Chaplain at Balliol College, Oxford) on ‘maleness’ in a caring profession, and breaking the traditional roles of gendered parenthood:

 

Gill Gorell Barnes (NC 1962) on changing expectations of roles for fathers and what ‘performing fatherhood’ means today: