Father

A father is defined as a male parent of any type of offspring.[1] The adjective "paternal" refers to father, parallel to "maternal" for mother.

Father-child relationship

The Father-child relationship is the defining factor of the fatherhood role.[2][3] The majority of Fathers are naturally protective and supportive responsible parents who are able to engender a number of significant benefits for themselves, their communities, and most importantly, their children.[4] Involved fathers offer developmentally specific provisions to their sons and daughters throughout the life cycle and are impacted themselves by their doing so.[5] Active father figures have a key role to play in reducing behavior problems in boys and psychological problems in young women.[6] For example, children who experience significant father involvement tend to exhibit higher scores on assessments of cognitive development, enhanced social skills and fewer behavior problems.[7][8][9] An increased amount of father-child involvement has also proven to increase a child's social stability, educational achievement, and even their potential to have a solid marriage as an adult. The children are also more curious about the world around them and develop greater problem solving skills.[10] Children who were raised without fathers perceive themselves to be less cognitively and physically competent than their peers from father-present families.[11] Mothers raising children without fathers reported more severe disputes with their child. Sons raised without fathers showed more feminine but no less masculine characteristics of gender role behavior.[12] According to the anthropologist Maurice Godelier, the parental role assumed by human males is a critical difference between human society and that of humans' closest biological relatives - chimpanzees and bonobos - who appear to be unaware of their "father" connection.[13][14]

Authority figure

The father is often seen as an authority figure.[15][16][17][18] According to Deleuze, the father authority exercises repression over sexual desire.[19] A common observation among scholars is that the authority of the father and of the political leader are closely intertwined, that there is a symbolic identification between domestic authority and national political leadership.[20] In this sense, links have been shown between the concepts of "patriarchal", "paternalistic", "cult of personality", "fascist", "totalitarian", "imperial".[20] The fundamental common grounds between domestic and national authority, are the mechanisms of naming (exercise the authority in someone's name) and identification.[20] In a patriarchal society, authority typically uses such rhetoric of fatherhood and family to implement their rule and advocate its legitimacy.[21]