Details, Details

Posted on 26. Jan, 2006 by rebel in General

So the Details Magazine story on at-home dads has dropped (not available online), and I’m not entirely sure what to make of it. On the one hand, the piece by Ian Daly does a pretty good job of sketching out what the at-home dad convention is like — a strange combination of boys-weekend-out antics and serious convention-style self improvement. There’s nothing in the story that’s inaccurate, so far as I can tell, but it’s weird to read about the antics of the weekend as if they, you know, *say something* about who we are as SAHDs. It’s tempting to say that the ongoing joke about Noonan’s tattoo somehow speaks to a part of the at-home dad psyche, but it just ain’t so. I’m sure the same sort of fraternal silliness goes down at conferences for accountants.

But ultimately, the article was not all that filling. A couple of anecdotes aside, I didn’t get a feeling for what the life of a stay-at-home dad was like or how dads in society had changed. The reporter focuses solely on the convention, which is — for better or worse — not the most representative setting with which to assess dad-dom. Still, there are bits of wisdom throughout — the idea that Gen Xers may be more amenable to the idea of staying home, the increasing support on the web for SAHDs, and so on. And there are bits of head-scratching “Desperate Househusband”-type stereotypes.

I guess I could have expected it. I’ve been wondering for two months now how anyone could craft a dead-on narrative from the convention, which goes in so many directions and speaks to so many personality elements of the guys there. That’s what makes it interesting, and the upcoming event should be even more so. Hope to see you there.