University of Virginia Library

Money Pump

This overexposure to feminine influence
and power is frequently made possible by the
psychological abdication of the Father from his
male role. Dad spends much of his time at the
office, in front of the TV, or pursuing hobbies
that take him away from his wife and family
because they offer greater self-esteem than the
uncertainties of intimate familial roles. Good
old Dad becomes identified with a money
pump because this is only function his son has
observed.

Another equally disastrous situation is encountered
when Father, invoking his myths of
male superiority, tries to over direct his son's
life. Usually the wife/mother "rescues" the boy
with misguided, overprotective, dependency
producing, love and attention. Little wonder
that numbers of young men want to attend an
all male school and literally get away from the
de-masculinizing influences they have known!
However, it is a short lived escape and the real
world demands more effective adjustments.