Why Dads Are the New Heroes

Thirty years ago, when I first began teaching about masculinity, I’d ask my students who their heroes were. I’d get a predictable response: a near-equal split among athletes (Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan), rock stars (Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson) and movie stars (Clint Eastwood, Arnold Schwarzenegger), with the occasional smattering of public figures, both living and dead (Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Jesus).