Dadhood: When Do We Live, How Do We Get What We Want? Deriving the Power of Dadhood From His Pseudo-Christian Expectations
All this generosity is dependent on lowered expectations. Gomez seems to be giving the same reinforcement for changing a person’s diaper as he does for someone else’s first time using a spoon. Dadhood has evolved from stern authoritarianism and menacing threat to bumbling inadequacy in recent times. The modern, middle-class, liberal dad subject is usually seen as a figure of education. He is doing his best to learn, to catch up, to be better. He is a well-intentioned person, but he probably isn’t aware of his kids’ next dentist appointments. Gomez is aware of the power of today’s dad, his jokes, his rock music and his hats. Professional moms are pilloried for the domestic duties they are perceived to have abandoned, but dads like me and Gomez are credited for social perks we’re perceived to have valiantly given up: coolness, independence, masculine command.
The dads caucus is not bipartisan, and this is a notable aspect of the vision. An influential segment of today’s conservative movement is allergic to such embarrassment. These conservatives recognize a similar transformation in contemporary dadhood, but they register it as diminishment and decay. In the last two years, Tucker Carlson has both released a series called “The End of Men” and mocked Pete Buttigieg for taking paternity leave by saying he was “trying to figure out how to breastfeed.” Father refusals for instructions for Ikea furniture is what Matt Walsh refused to believe in the very concept of paternity leave. The Missouri senator Josh Hawley has written a forthcoming book entitled “Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs” — “A free society that despises manhood,” the promotional copy reads, “will not remain free.”
Look of the Week: Inside the Pseudo-Paragonal Father: Pascal Called His “Daddy” Through “The Mandalorian”
Featuring the good, the bad and the ugly, ‘Look of the Week ‘ is a regular series dedicated to unpacking the most talked about outfit of the last seven days.
Now, the actor is fueling the fire sartorially, too. At another red carpet promoting “The Mandalorian” earlier this month, he donned a brown collared waffle knit shirt and red tailored trousers, both from Acne Studios. Against a sea of black blazers, these low-key colorful, cozy knits read as unconcerned, comfort-driven and evidencing a mature man fully in control of his aesthetic. For Pascal, being Daddy isn’t only a state of mind, but also a state of dress.
Pascal’s ensemble gave off soothing parental vibes, transforming the Chilean American actor into a well-to-do, Ivy League dad. His calendar is blocked with parent-teacher meetings at his child’s school and he dates his book club bros at his local natural wine bar.
The fact that he has a child looks good on him. While he may not have children of his own, the 47-year-old has been capturing hearts playing the surly-yet-soft surrogate father type, whether as bounty hunter Din Djarin in “The Mandalorian,” or as Joel Miller in HBO’s post-apocalyptic drama “The Last of Us.” (HBO and HBO Max are also owned by CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.)
Many social media users think that these psuedo-parent performances have made Pascal the “daddy” of them all. (The hashtag “PedroPascalDaddy,” for example, has more than 18 million views on TikTok alone.) It’s a status Pascal has embraced with open arms. Daddy is in a state of mind. He told Vanity Fair during a 2022 interview, adding boldly, “I’m your Daddy.” Pascal’s recognition of his status didn’t stop there. He said: “I’m your cool, slutty daddy” during a red carpet interview with Entertainment Tonight in January.