The latter, I think. Children are socialized from the earliest ages to expect that the only real family role for men is to earn money.
Fathers have no actual authority or purpose, except possibly to fix things, ineptly.
Mostly they are just underfoot, like big children. The only real family role for fathers is working, out of the house. A high percentage of American women believe this. Our legal system has fully adopted the idea that fathers are not important as parents, only as checkbooks. The first thing lawyers tell divorcing parents is to break off all communication with the other spouse.