Remember the late Rodney Dangerfield? The fellow whose comedic tag line was “I don’t get no respect.” He must have been a dad. In my opinion American fathers today don’t get the respect and honor most of them deserve.
Back in the 50s, sit-com dads were usually portrayed as positive influences upon family dynamics. Andy Taylor, Ward Cleaver, and Jim Anderson represented a semi-realistic, yet kindly view of fatherhood in that they could lose their tempers and occasionally be wrong but could ask forgiveness from their children, make wise decisions, model values, and teach moral lessons, all in 26 minutes.
Never were they depicted as buffoons.
With feminism, that characterization shifted. Suddenly, mom knew best; in fact, she knew everything. In the entertainment media, dad became a total moron. In Home Improvement, Yes, Dear, Everybody Loves Raymond, etc., dad-as-idiot became a standard formula for humor.
Recently, there’s that obnoxious Breyer’s commercial where the little boy wants to share gelato (“caramel and crunchy stuff”) with his mom and dad, and the father says, “It’s not for kids … I’m a grown-up.” My reaction: “No, you’re mean and selfish.” Mom’s no prize either.
Or take the Berenstein Bears. Poor Papa Bear is the resident dupe for the entire family in that series of children’s books. He looks like the rest of the clan, but his head holds considerably fewer brains. In one storyline, he crams his face with junk food, becoming ill right along with his cubs. Mama Bear then has to teach them all the virtues of a healthy diet. When the little bears make noise, get into a fight, or mess up the house, Dad Bear is in the middle of the chaos making the situation worse. Mama has to take control and discipline her mate right along with her children.
I’m the first to admit I never showed my own father the respect he deserved. And when I see him again in eternity, I going to let him know what a terrific dad he was. Strong, generous, brave, stoic, patient, loving — he was all that and more. I wish I had told him how proud I was of him for his patriotism, serving in
One woman who knew how to respect her dad was Sonora Smart Dodd. She had the original idea of celebrating Father’s Day in June, her father’s birth month. She got the idea while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909. Little did she know that as she was trying to get Congress to enact the appropriate legislation, Anna Jarvis was already regretting her part in the establishment of a national Mother’s Day because of the crass commercialization that soon attached to it.
By 1924, President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Father’s Day. Then in 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed a Presidential proclamation declaring the third Sunday of June as the official day. President Richard Nixon signed the law which made it permanent in 1972.
Tomorrow, June 20, will mark over a century since the first Father’s Day observance, a day set aside to show respect for our fathers. A day to say “I love you” and “I think you’re the best Dad a kid could ever have.” Like me, some of you no longer have the opportunity to say that face to face on this side of the Eastern Gate. But if you still have your father with you, and if he’s even half as terrific as my dad was, then don’t let the day slip by without making a fuss over him.
And by the way, aren’t you glad I told you about Sonora Smart Dodd? Otherwise, you’d have gone on thinking that Father’s Day was started by a neck tie salesman.
Mary Ready of Destin is a twice-retired English teacher and long-time area resident. Her columns are published on Saturdays.