This research is about men with a disability in our rural landscape, about their lives as fathers and the stories they tell to define and enact their fathering.

This study of 16 men with an acquired disability living in rural locations in Queensland and NSW reveals stories of past work lives where masculinity was defined by being industrious, reliable, competent and a dutiful economic provider.  The significance of employment to fathering, as ‘what fathers do’ resonated throughout the stories shared.

Men with a disability who were able to explore alternative constructions of fathering in new spaces and via new activities in rural areas, meant that they were able to reconfigure their environment through modified equipment and reformulate their role as a father, often through the sporting activities of their children.  For men with a disability in rural locations whilst negotiating these changing masculinities can attract attention and unsettle gendered behaviours of others, it can enable them to enjoy the pleasures and engaged lives that fatherhood can offer.

Pini, B. Conway, M-L, Masculinity and fathering in the lives of rural men with a disability, Journal of Rural Studies (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2016.12.005