Abstract
What is a feminist? According to Franny’s father, it means that girls deserve “all the same rights, freedoms, and opportunities” as boys. We learn this on the second page of the children’s book Franny’s Father Is a Feminist. Franny is an active girl who likes painting, fishing, and playing in the mud. But the star of the book is Franny’s father—a burly man with ridiculously large arms and a full reddish-orange mustache and beard. He looks like the kind of guy who would like chopping down trees for fun, and yet he is a feminist who “knows that girls can do anything boys can do” despite having grown up in a more gender traditional household where his chores included mowing the lawn while his sister did dishes and laundry. Franny’s father, a budding feminist even as a boy, offered to switch chores with his sister, who has always wanted to mow the lawn but has been told it’s a boy’s chore (it also turns out that he likes doing laundry). Franny’s father is somewhat of a “Renaissance Man,” as he is equally comfortable teaching Franny to work with tools to fix bicycles and cars and telling stories about trailblazing feminists around the campfire.
Franny’s father is an exemplar of today’s involved dads. He helps Franny get ready for school in the morning, picks her up in the afternoon, and goes to her after-school activities (which include the more “masculine” ice hockey as well as the more “feminine” ballet). One might think that Franny’s father is an at-home dad, but we know that he works only because it’s mentioned indirectly (they do fun things on the weekend when he’s not working). We don’t know what his job is or what his schedule is though we can infer that he has quite a bit of flexibility given his active role in routine caregiving activities. On the other hand, we meet Franny’s mother for the first time about halfway through the book, only to learn that she has “an important job.” Franny’s mother is working on a big computer project, when Franny and her father stop at her office on the way home from school. Not solely focused on individual gender flexibility, we learn about four female historical figures—park ranger Claire Marie Hodges, astronaut Sally Ride, desegregationist Ruby Bridges, and activist Malala Yousafsai—during a sleepover. And there is a nod to recent women’s activism in a scene where one man is protesting kittens while Franny and her father don pink “pussy hats” and signs (note that some women, particularly transwomen and women of color, find pussy hats exclusionary or offensive).
This story does a nice job of challenging notions of masculinity by having a large, hirsute, “manly” man embrace “feminine” activities, from doing laundry to crying at movies. At the same time, it places the mother in the main breadwinner role. While caregiving and other household work are often undervalued in our society, the book highlights the worth of parenting when Franny’s father responds to her question about whose job is more important by stating: “We both share the most important job in the world, and that’s raising you.” It celebrates the involved father who spends time with his daughter, not only in the fun activities but also in daily childcare. Although some suggest that involved fathers are unduly applauded for doing work that they should be doing (in all three scenes with the entire family Franny’s mother’s gaze shows clear admiration for her partner), it is important to acknowledge and encourage changing gender norms. Apart from spending time with his daughter, Franny’s father is a positive role model because of his unconditional support for letting his daughter do and be the person she wants to be. He is, after all, a feminist!
There are some limitations on presentations of race, gender, and sexuality. The story focuses on a white heterosexual family. There is some attempt at racial diversity with the inclusion of Franny’s black friend Sasha who is featured in three scenes and also has a feminist father. Of the four featured historical figures, two are women of color. In terms of gender, the story has so many great lessons, but I’m still wondering how would Franny’s father raise a son? My guess is that he would support his son fully as he played with dolls, but some research shows that it is easier for parents to support their gender nonconforming daughters than their gender nonconforming sons. And while the book challenges the sex/gender binary in some ways, the exaggerated physical presence of Franny’s father supports notions of gender dimorphism. Finally, I get that it is easier to challenge gender roles by positioning a mother as the one who goes to work and the father as the one who makes sure Franny gets to school and activities, but it would be nice to see more representations of different family forms.
All in all, there is a lot to admire about Franny’s Father Is a Feminist. It’s a fun, colorful, positive portrayal of a father–daughter relationship.