How Does Being a Single Mother Differ From Being a Single Father? - Answer

My second essential question is, " how does being a single mother differ from being a single father?" I mentioned in my fourth double entry journal that I had a hard time finding the differences of single mothers and fathers, so I decided to look at the differences between mothers and fathers and come up with my own conclusion. Yes, I do realize that their genders are different, but what I really wanted to know was what makes them different besides gender, and why I constantly read that children need two parents in order to be successful.

While researching the differences between single mothers and fathers, all I found was that single mothers tend to be disadvantaged financially, and that single fathers often receive huge amounts of praise for the same job single mothers do every day. In my research, I found that mothers are usually the teachers, and fathers tend to be better at discipline. A mother will teach you how to tie your shoes or how to zip your jacket, but a father is more likely to teach a child during interactive play. ("Fathers Are Not Like Mothers…But Together They Make A Great Team")

Personally, I believe that there is hardly any difference besides gender. After all, we are humans, and if I think back to our unit on shared human experience, we are all capable of feeling the same emotions. The article "Fathers Are Not Like Mothers…But Together They Make A Great Team," mentioned that parents could adopt maternal and paternal styles of parenting. If a single parent is able to do this, then their children will still be getting the same quality of parenting that the opposite gender could have offered. If a single mother or father can both consider their child's feelings, and help them develop social skills, then is there really a difference in how they parent? When answering this question, I also had to consider the fact that we are currently living in a society where we are more accepting of change and gender roles are evolving. Yes, there will always be people believing that women are the protectors and men are the rule enforcers, but if the quality of parenting they can both give is the same, I'd say that single mothers and fathers are quite similar.