In the United States, at least, the 1980s endured the GOP constantly tearing away at "welfare mothers", as if poor, single mothers were the number-two threat to the United States, behind consciences. The focus on deadbeat dads, at least during my lifetime, arose in this context. One day, someone finally made the obvious point, that these single mothers obviously needed to be getting sperm from somewhere. Add to that that many fatherless minorities during that time found their male role models in exploitative criminals (e.g. gangs).
For some reason, Republicans were obsessed with painting the welfare life as a glorious one, in order to stir resentment against these women. Absent from the dialogue almost entirely was consideration of the fathers.
These days, the numbers aren't balanced, so people tend to reject the argument when an anti-feminist or misogynist whines and moans about horrible, horrible women oppressing these lovely gentlemen who never did harm to anyone.
Recently, for instance, a couple of people in another topic raised an argument in about the law punishing people for being unable to pay child support. Faced with a demand to cite such a law, and, furthermore, to cite such a law under such circumstances as the sum the man can't afford to pay is not, in fact, a delinquent sum, and, furthermore, challenged to show that the law applies only to fathers, they freaked out.
Truth is that as the numbers balance out, so will the discussion. In the meantime, while there are plenty of bad mothers, when it comes to what we officially call "deadbeat", the majority are and always have been fathers. In the meantime, most of the focus on deadbeat mothers is raised by desperate misogynists trying to distract attention from more substantial issues. That, in the end, detracts from the issue in general, so that people are cynical when they hear about it.
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