LIFESTYLE LIFESTYLE
How Did June Become a Celebration of Fathers? story by Cynthia Ford
What does it mean to be fathered or to have a father? Depending on who you are speaking with, the answer varies. Our world has become a part of a semicultural shift. From the beginning, all cultures have defined roles that belong to mothers and fathers. For the most part, many roles remain intact today. However, we are finding a cross-exchange between mothers and fathers and observing that they are participating in roles that are considered out of the ordinary. Fathers have traditionally been observed as the provider and protector for the family. The push to involve fathers more in nontraditional duties has caused a merging in the divide. Even with the merger, fathers are still celebrated less than mothers. The struggle to celebrate fathers on the same level as the celebration of mothers has been 44
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June 2021
an uphill battle since its inception. Father’s Day did not become a national holiday until 58 years after Mother’s Day was announced as a national holiday. Surprisingly, it was a woman who initially ventured out to honor fathers. In the early 1900s, Sonora Smart Dodd took on the challenge after seeing the trend of mothers celebrated on Mother’s Day. She was sixteen years old when she lost her mother, who was giving birth to the sixth child. She honored her father and recognized that he had to pick up a dual role as a result of the death of his wife. Sonora assisted him in caring for her younger siblings before starting her own family. Mrs. Dodd was in her 90’s when President Richard Nixon made Father’s Day a national holiday in 1972.
