Call for Abstracts - Edited Collection on Father Figures in Animated/Cartoon TV Shows for Mature Audiences
“The handy thing about being a father is that the historic standard is so pitifully low.”
- Michael Chabon, Pulitzer Prize Winner
The trope of the “hapless dad,” clumsy and useless with his own children, appears in storytelling across several mediums—especially in animated cartoons on TV. For many contemporary cartoon shows for adult audiences, however, this trope appears especially pronounced, often leaning into the stereotype that competent childrearing is "women's work" for the benefit of comedy.