“I’m a 100 percent Dad, 50 percent of the Time”: Symbolic Capital, Distinction, and the Performed Legitimacy of Fatherhood on Dating Apps

This article examines how midlife single fathers in Norway present themselves as parents on dating apps. Drawing on a multimethod design including interviews, qualitative content analysis, and app walkthrough, the study examines how fatherhood is selectively staged in intimate digital spaces shaped by market logics and cultural ideals of gender equality. The analysis reveals that the men engage in a form of reflexive, caring masculinity, with dating profiles that emphasize both paternal dedication and autonomy. Classed and culturally valued forms of fatherhood function as symbolic capital within an economy of attraction. Among the most powerful signals was the mention of 50 percent custody, strategically invoked as shorthand for personal dedication and cultural legitimacy. The study contributes to scholarship on both masculinity and digital dating, by centering an overlooked subject position: midlife single fathers in Norway.