Fathers: Locating Smoking and Masculinity in the Postpartum

Abstract

Many fathers mitigate the harm of their smoking by physically separating their smoking from their children and child care activities.The aim of this study was to empirically locate smoking and masculinities by detailing the highly gendered nature of the everyday places where fathers smoke. A masculinities framework was used to interpret interview and photovoice data drawn from an ethnographic study of fathers who smoke. Twenty participants completed individual interviews and contributed a total of 308 photographs to illustrate smoking through the eyes of fathers. The data were analyzed to describe the locations and contexts that facilitate and restrict participants’ smoking. Three thematic findings—smoking on the job, the bifurcated domestic sphere, and solitary confinement—were drawn from the analyses to provide insights about when and where smoking does and does not occur, and offer direction for father-centered tobacco reduction interventions.