Father is an often misused word that therefore become a target of a wide range of attacks.
Father, with a capital F, is often used to signify authority or origin, both senses of which have little to do with the experience of a biological father. I think the biological father is a strange figure, an identity which is still in its experimental stages (beta tester fathers), a role which progresses towards becoming a necessity while still leaving open the possibility that he is optional so long as resources are provided to the truly necessary caretakers.
father, with a lower case f, veers toward friendship at times, a benefactor, a mentor, but other times, he could seem more like an exploiter or dominator. Not every child is lucky enough to have a benevolent father. Such children are the most likely to misuse the word to refer to something other than his or her father, to defer the man to an idea, to displace the trauma that could have been unnecessary had fatherhood not been demanded upon societies (why does he exist in such a role?). The rejection of the Father (the displaced, misperceived father) could potentially return fatherhood to its rightfully ambiguous place.
father as a symbol; realistically rendered as father, not the father or Father or fathers, is a thing very few people (only siblings) have in common. To attempt to distill universal characteristics, enough to fill a potent symbol, isn't easy. Symbols based upon fatherhood tend less to be one liners and tend more to express themselves as tomes and ouvres. The Father is one of our oldest and most entangled symbols.
More interesting than the subject of fathers is pretty much most of everything from video games to sex. Just now, I saw a group of people downstairs standing in a circle watching a small dog fuck a tiny dog. Everyone found it very amusing. Concomitantly, we are all very amusing2.
Father, with a capital F, is often used to signify authority or origin, both senses of which have little to do with the experience of a biological father. I think the biological father is a strange figure, an identity which is still in its experimental stages (beta tester fathers), a role which progresses towards becoming a necessity while still leaving open the possibility that he is optional so long as resources are provided to the truly necessary caretakers.
father, with a lower case f, veers toward friendship at times, a benefactor, a mentor, but other times, he could seem more like an exploiter or dominator. Not every child is lucky enough to have a benevolent father. Such children are the most likely to misuse the word to refer to something other than his or her father, to defer the man to an idea, to displace the trauma that could have been unnecessary had fatherhood not been demanded upon societies (why does he exist in such a role?). The rejection of the Father (the displaced, misperceived father) could potentially return fatherhood to its rightfully ambiguous place.
father as a symbol; realistically rendered as father, not the father or Father or fathers, is a thing very few people (only siblings) have in common. To attempt to distill universal characteristics, enough to fill a potent symbol, isn't easy. Symbols based upon fatherhood tend less to be one liners and tend more to express themselves as tomes and ouvres. The Father is one of our oldest and most entangled symbols.
More interesting than the subject of fathers is pretty much most of everything from video games to sex. Just now, I saw a group of people downstairs standing in a circle watching a small dog fuck a tiny dog. Everyone found it very amusing. Concomitantly, we are all very amusing2.
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