family and households Flashcards
(18 cards)
Feminism
-Conflict theory
-based on the inequality between genders
-many different types of feminists
Marxist feminists
-they believe that the inequality is due to capitalism
-women contribute to marxism in many ways ( producing next generation of workers, doing unpaid labour, caring for the working husband)
- believe the only way to get rid of gender inequality is to have a revolution against capitalism
radical feminist
-they believe that gender inequality is due to the patriarch and men’s power compared to women
- some radical feminists believe they only way to he’s rid of the patriarchy is to get rid of men
-some radical feminists become political lesbians just so they’re not with men
- exploitation of women
liberal feminists
-have a more moderate view of feminism
-believe that no one benefits from gender inequality
- women don’t get opportunity to reach potential in workplace
-men don’t get pleasure of having close relationships with their children
-they believe there should be changes in laws to help with gender inequality
difference feminists
-ague that other feminists fail to recognise diversity of family form that exist today
- variations of family situation and women has a huge impact on their experience
evaluation on feminist views
strengths•
- talks about the difference in responsibilities compared to men and women
-talks about the hours of work women do that is unpaid and why it’s unfair
-talks about reason why women are given lower roles than men in the workplace
evaluation of feminist views
-ignores positive aspects of family life ( many women enjoy raising their family)
- ignores trend towards gender inequality
marxism
Inheritance of property
Engels
- argued that earliest societies shared means of production and no private property
- lived in tribes, no restrictions on sexual behaviour
-monogamous nuclear family,capitalist society after industrial revolution
-men wanted to know who legitimate heir was so monogamous marriage emerged - keep the wealth with the wealthy, separation between bourgeois and proletariat
marxism
ideological functions
Althusser
-repressive state apparatus -coercive/ physical/ violent power to remove dissent and rebellions
-ideological state apparatus- institutions that spread bourgeois ideology and ensure that the proletariat is in a state of false class consciousness
- family acts as part of ideological state apparatus
marxism
Unit of consumption
- families are consumers of goods and services- fuels capitalist economy- generates property
-advertisers urge families to compete w/ friends for latest status power - target children who have poster power
evaluation of marxism
strengths
- marxist recognise darker sides of family life , how it might be disfunctional
- identify the ways women are exploited by capitalism in their role of producer of children
- shows ways family acts as consumers
-relevant to our materialistic culture and socialises children into it
evaluation of marxism
weaknesses
- functionalists argue marxists ignore the real benefit and positive contributions of the family
- feminists argue that marxists underestimate the importance of gender in shaping people’s experiences in family
- post modernists argue that marxists assume the nuclear family is the dominant type and ignores family diversity
- some argue that capitalism isn’t unjust- overall create wealthier happier societies
-engels assumptions about primitive communism is questionable
Functionalism Murdock
the family is a social group characterised by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least to of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children , own or adopted , of the sexually cohabitating adults
Murdock 4 functions
Sexual- provides sexual gratification for couple, helps stablise society by limiting sexual activities
reproduction- gives the couple a family dynamic to provide parental instincts , gives next generation of society to help maintain production
socialisation- build your own personality and communicate w others, helps society interact and communicate and social order is maintained
economic- everybody in family is provided for, families are independent financially
Parsons 2 functions
stability of adult personalities-
warm bath theory- family is comfort from work , socialisation
primary socialisation- life long process of learning norms and values of society, family is the first pace that happens
parsons loss of functions
roles of families were replaced by institutions so there was no longer a need to extended families
evaluation parsons
strengths
idealistic family
the norm and most common family type
explains how social order is maintained
evaluation parsons
weaknesses
ignores family dysfunctions
theory based on american middle class families- unrepresentative of other families
fails to explore alternatives to the family
can be criticised as sexist
