I've been significantly "involved" in this area in the last few years, and as far I see it, it's pretty much the standard blend of gender roles and nature-vs-nurture.
Most of the western societies are still based on the mother educator and father provider model. On top of this, I personally agree that mothers tend to have the qualities that makes it easier to deal with children (in a wide sense), which creates a positive feedback (or negative, depending on the POV).
None of this is out of reach for fathers. My opinion is that with some effort and an equal amount of dedication, binding and influence on children are equal (although of course, different in nature). However, it's generally uphill.
Keep in mind that once you start to notice the gender role, even more than hearing little about fathers, you'll see the negative stereotypes: check out how are the separated fathers are depicted in the cinema - it's something that "can't be unseen".
Having said that, there's movement of course, primarily in/from the Scandinavian countries. Generally speaking, gender equality increases towards the north of Europe. American countries are, I suppose, a bit of a patchwork (definitely some countries are very "behind").
I'm not sure how much time, and if ever, genders will equalize, in particular in the literature/arts depiction. Ultimately, it's also a choice - fathers being providers is not implicitly negative, it's a cultural choice (in the context of a country). Laws, they definitely need to adapt, though!
Most of the western societies are still based on the mother educator and father provider model. On top of this, I personally agree that mothers tend to have the qualities that makes it easier to deal with children (in a wide sense), which creates a positive feedback (or negative, depending on the POV).
None of this is out of reach for fathers. My opinion is that with some effort and an equal amount of dedication, binding and influence on children are equal (although of course, different in nature). However, it's generally uphill.
Keep in mind that once you start to notice the gender role, even more than hearing little about fathers, you'll see the negative stereotypes: check out how are the separated fathers are depicted in the cinema - it's something that "can't be unseen".
Having said that, there's movement of course, primarily in/from the Scandinavian countries. Generally speaking, gender equality increases towards the north of Europe. American countries are, I suppose, a bit of a patchwork (definitely some countries are very "behind").
I'm not sure how much time, and if ever, genders will equalize, in particular in the literature/arts depiction. Ultimately, it's also a choice - fathers being providers is not implicitly negative, it's a cultural choice (in the context of a country). Laws, they definitely need to adapt, though!