families and households

• what do feminists think about family structure?

  • families have negative impact on lives of women
  • families socially construct gender differences - canalisation
  • children learn gender expectations through the division of domestic labour
• what are the 6 types of families?

  • nuclear
  • same-sex
  • extended
  • beanpole
  • lone parent
  • reconstituted
• what are the common patterns of divorce?

  • changes in the law
  • changing social attitudes
  • impact of secularisation
  • changes in status of women
  • influence of media
• how have families changed?

  • rise of feminism
  • diversity
  • technology (contraception)
  • changing norms + values
  • secularisation
• what are the common patterns of marriage?

  • decline
  • later in life
  • civil partnership / same-sex
  • increase in cohabitation
  • increase in births outside of marriage
• Walby's 6 structures of patriarchy:

  • the state
  • sexuality
  • paid work
  • culture
  • housework
  • violence
• what do radical femisists say about the roles of women in family?

  women will always be expected to fulfil stereotypical roles due to the patriarchal nature of families.
• what are the reasons for the rise on symmetrical families?

  • money, increase in male wages and employment in women (better living standards)
  • decrease is male mortality and unemployment rate
  • increased geographical mobility
  • less children, enable wives to get work, economic equality between spouses
• what do functionalists ignore in society?

  inequalities
• what are examples of inequalities that functionalists ignore?

  • inequalities in families (domestic violence, child abuse)
  • inequalities in society (ethnic, gender, class, age)
• according to marxists, what is the function of the family?

  to support the capitalist system.
• what do marxists view families as?

  consumer units.
• how do families feed into the capitalist system?

  by buying into the economy, the proletariat help the bourgeoisie increase their profits.
• why are marxist views on the family outdated?

  women no longer necessarily rely on men for financial stability. they also may no longer be relevant to modern-day society as people tend to marry due to love rather than out of personal interest. They also ignore the positive aspects of the family.
• what do feminists believe about the traditional family structure?


  it oppresses and exploits women.
• what do marxist-feminists focus more on?

  the inequalities than women face in families. For example, women taking time off during materinity leave which leads to less financial stability. Meaning women have less work experience, putting them at a disadvantage when competing with men for jobs.
• what do radical feminists believe about families?

  promote gender roles where girls are taught to follow the expressive role whilst boys are taught to take on the instrumental role.
• what do liberal feminists generally believe?

  more needs to be done to ensure equality between the 2 genders, for example, creating legislation that promotes equality.
• what are the issues with mainstream feminism?

  doesn't consider the combine impact of gender along with other inequalities such as ethnicity or class.
• what are the 3 types of feminists?

  • liberal feminists
  • radical feminists
  • marxist feminists