Sturdy New Balances, roomy cargo shorts, and weekend barbecues. These might be stereotypes, but let’s be honest, they’re the ones we’ve all grown to love. And judging by the 2 million people following Rad Dad on Instagram, we’re not alone in finding these “dad classics” both funny and relatable.
The question is, though, how did these things become so tightly linked with fatherhood? Why do dads love them so much and why do we secretly love it when they do?
There isn’t exactly a body of academic research on this (at least, not yet), but there are plenty of cultural clues that help explain it.
Let’s start with the famous New Balances, aka the dad shoe. According to Active Parenting, the brand began back in the early 1900s in Boston as an arch support company, which explains why comfort has always been at the core of its identity. By the 1960s, they had released the “Trackster,” the world’s first running shoe sold in multiple widths.
Fast forward to the 1970s and ’90s, and jogging was having a huge moment. People wanted durable, comfortable sneakers, and New Balance built up a loyal following. Or, as Active Parenting put it, these were the “pre-dad days” when New Balance was laying the groundwork for its eventual destiny.
Because when those loyal runners from the ’90s and early 2000s became fathers, their sneakers came along for the ride. The shoes stuck, and with them, the stereotype of dads in New Balances was born.
Cargo shorts follow a similar story of practicality over fashion. Dads aren’t exactly keen on carrying bags, so naturally, pockets became their best friends. And cargo shorts have plenty of them. (As a woman, I can’t help but admit I’m a little jealous of all that storage space.)
First popularized in the 1980s for outdoorsmen and athletes, cargo shorts broke into mainstream fashion in the mid-to-late ’90s, and they’ve been glued to dads’ wardrobes ever since.
And then there’s the barbecue. How did it become such a man thing when, historically, cooking was seen as women’s work? You can thank mid-20th century marketing for that.
Rebecca Jennings wrote a great piece for Vox digging into this. In it, she cites Meghan Casserly, who explained in a Forbes article that grilling as a masculine activity is actually a pretty recent American invention.
Backyard barbecues became popular in the 1950s as suburban homes with lawns spread across the country. Parenting books at the time promoted the idea of “involved fathers,” while advertisers linked grilling to masculinity and even virility.
One Canadian ad, for instance, showed an older man cuddling a blonde while serving her a steak, making grilling look less like family cooking and more like a display of male pride.
