Over the past decade, we have begun to talk more openly about the widespread harm inflicted by men on women. But little has been said about the fact that many of these men are also fathers.
In Daddy Issues Katherine Angel draws on thinkers and writers from D. W. Winnicott to Valerie Solanas, from Virginia Woolf to Alison Bechdel, as she examines the place of fathers in contemporary culture. She tracks how the relationship between fathers and daughters is so often presented as a twisted romance, with the burden falling always on the daughter.
Bold, challenging and nuanced, Daddy Issues asks how the mixture of love and hatred we feel towards our fathers can be turned into a relationship that is generative rather than destructive. If we are to effectively dismantle patriarchy, it is vital that fathers are kept on the hook.
About the Author :
KATHERINE ANGEL is the author of Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again, and Unmastered: A Book on Desire, Most Difficult to Tell. She teaches creative and critical writing at the University of London, and her writing has appeared in Granta, The White Review, and Los Angeles Review of Books, among other publications.
Review :
‘In this impressive and intelligent examination of the father figure, Angel expertly intersects the subject with feminism, mythology, Donald Winnicott, Brett Kavanaugh and more. Her unstinting eye and intellectual vigour make Daddy Issues an engaging interrogation. It feels utterly vital in the context of #MeToo and the political flux the world currently finds itself in.’ Sinéad Gleeson
‘This is a brave and brilliant book by one of the most insightful and articulate writers at work today. Katherine Angel is unafraid to look head on at the forgotten figure in feminism’s critique of patriarchy: the father. All of us, daughters and sons, mothers and fathers, are enriched by confronting these libidinal energies, these daddy issues at the centre of all of our lives.’ Lauren Elkin
‘A timely, necessary work from one of our most vital thinkers. Moving with ease across psychoanalysis, popular culture and literary criticism, weaponising the thought of Woolf, Winnicott and Solanas, Daddy Issues flips the familial script and takes aim at all our Daddies: domestic, cultural, patriarchal, even presidential.’ Sam Byers
‘In this probing and erudite essay, Katherine Angel asks “Is it ever possible to get rid of the father, or is he forever internalised?”’ Emilie Pine
‘A brilliant investigation into the father figure in culture that is also a powerful intervention in the #MeToo debate. Through it all, I think, sounds a call to be present for each other, attentive and open, willing to work for each other’s full personhood.’ Adam Foulds
‘In Daddy Issues, Katherine Angel holds the image of the father in a steady, critical gaze, generating both questions and hesitations, and opening up a vital space in which to challenge how power works in the family.’ David Hayden
