In this episode we talk with Kathalene Razzano about the history and implications of the argument that “children need fathers,” how this has been repeatedly (and especially recently) reappropriated by politicians, and how it can be seen in popular television talk show tropes where DNA tests solve paternity disputes. Katy is a media and cultural studies scholar who teaches at University of Maryland, Baltimore County. 

Sources / Show Notes

In the episode, Katy’s 2014 article that fleshes out this topic more. It is available here. There is  lot written on the Moynihan Report, which we discuss quite a bit. But the best place to start might be the Wikipedia article on it (and the bibliography at the bottom.) Though we don’t talk about it, one of the most important articles critiquing this report and its ahistorical, apolitical understanding of gender and the Black family is Hortense Spillers “Mama’s Baby, Papa’s Maybe.” A lot has been written on the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025,” but one place to start is just to look at the number of times the word “father” appears in the document. Finally, if you so choose, you can find the 2020 podcast with J.D. Vance that we discuss at the end here - or here if you’d just rather read the transcript.

The screenshot is from an episode of the May 7, 2023 episode of the The Steve Wilkos Show, titled “That Baby Looks NOTHING Like Me!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOp2yUwTVoA.

Which Katy has written about elsewhere. FYI - The baby is his!

Credits:

Hosts: Sean Johnson Andrews, breakingculture.substack.com

Madhurima Chakraborty

madhurimachakraborty.net

Show music: composed by Kris Stokes