The Impact of Absent Fathers in Black Female Upbringing

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A father’s role in a child’s life is extremely important when it comes to a child’s development. With so much emphasis placed on young black boys needing their fathers during crucial developmental ages, the rate of our young black girls growing up without fathers is staggering and overlooked. What is an absent father? The definition is quite simple; an absent father can be defined as a father who is not present in the life of their child whether it is physically, emotionally, or both. Although the absence of a father is detrimental in any child’s life, the absence of such in a young black girl’s life is even more crucial. The absent father in a black girl’s life leads to, in some cases, promiscuity and teenage pregnancy, poverty, and emotional affects such as feelings of unworthiness and unable to be loved, fear of abandonment, and issues with rejection and commitment. The ways in which they view the opposite sex, the outside world and their self are forever tainted as a result of missing the key element of a father. I do not have any memories of my own father as a child. I met him when I was about fourteen years old. My mother and grandmother, with the help of my uncles and aunt, raised me. Although I had strong positive male role models in my life, there was always the void of my father that I dealt with on a daily basis. I can remember at a young age, before blowing out the candles on my birthday cake, I would wish that my father would show up to my party. I had elaborate daydreams of him coming back into my life and doing things with me like I saw on television. It never happened. While walking to the train station one evening my uncle casually said to me “there’s your father” as if I saw him on an everyday basis. I didn’t... ... middle of paper ... .../p/articles/mi_m1272/is_n2572_v121/ai_13358877/ Ellis, B.J., et al. 2003. Does father absence place daughters at special risk for early sexual activity and teenage pregnancy? Child Development 74(May/June):801-821. Hogan, D., P., and Kitagawa, E. M. (1985). The impact of social status, family structure, and neighborhood on the fertility of black adolescents. Am. J. Sociol. 90: 825-855. Kost K, Henshaw S and Carlin L, U.S. Teenage Pregnancies, Births and Abortions: National and State Trends and Trends by Race and Ethnicity, 2010. Stanton, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Center for Health Statistics."National Health Interview Survey." Hyattsville, MD, 1988. Toppo, Greg, “Obama urges absent fathers to re-engage in children's lives”. USA Today. 19 Feb, 2011. http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-06-22-obamafathersday22_ST_N.htm

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