This story is authored by Andrea Parra, Director of Fatherhood México.
In 2020, Fatherhood México is committed to continuing our mission of empowering father figures in Mexico, which is why we are starting this year by collaborating with representatives of the Mexico City Congress on consulting initiatives around responsible fatherhood and gender equity in parenting.
We are learning from fathers’ experiences, getting close to them, and hearing about their day-to-day realities as fathers in México to see how we can improve their presence in our community. Our goal is to consult the representatives on how to empower fathers to be involved, in an inclusive and positive way.
We are in a time when fathers are looking for more support, and they appreciate that we are looking after them in a positive way. In our country, we are used to seeing men and fathers as “machos”, as tough men, as only playing the role of the mother’s support in the family, as authorities, and as being emotionally absent, to say the least. As we have seen throughout the world, I have known firsthand that Mexican men are tired of being seen only through the machismo culture: they want to be included, be seen as more than a support, be able to show their emotions without being seen as weak, and mostly they are eager to be seen in a positive way.
We hope that with our efforts and your help we can achieve our mission to empower Mexican dads in a positive and inclusive way, and to impact our children’s lives with responsible, good, and strong examples.