Abstract
This chapter brings out the struggles in the fundamental and hegemonic paternal arena—economic provision—among Chinese fathers. This area is, on the one hand, the way fathers show love and care to their families and children, and on the other, a justification of fathers’ absence from home and caregiving, and emotional detachment from children. This act of invisible love brings social recognition, status, authority, and power to the father. Failure to provide creates feelings of shame and inadequacy yet also offers an opportunity to develop conscious deliberation to face the new conditions. However, middle-class fathers who are more resourceful in getting themselves back onto a conventional track show more reluctance in assuming the primary caregiver role for a sustained period than their working-class counterparts.
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Liong, M. (2017). Power of Invisible Care. In: Chinese Fatherhood, Gender and Family. Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Family and Intimate Life. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-44186-7_3
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