Feminism

• feminists believe that the nuclear family socialises children into adopting gender stereotypes by propagating the idea that they must harbour personality traits respective to their gender & gender roles, these benefit men at the expense of women
• girls are encouraged to be passive, docile and “ladylike” whereas boys are encouraged to be assertive, dominant and competitive
• the nuclear family transmits these gender norms through the way that children observe these gender differences between their parents, implying that such differences are inevitable and biological
• beliefs learnt during socialisation can manifest into gender roles in society;

  the belief that women are nurturing has led to men evading responsibility in their children’s care, leaving it to the mothers to be the primary care taker
• gender roles within the family reinforce patriarchy, as the roles are tailored to the interests of men at the expense of women;

  • women are discharged from work and forced to be financially reliant on husbands
  • women cannot make big decisions for the family, as its reserved for the “man of the house”
• feminists argue that there is disparity in decision-making power between men and women, men tend to handle bigger decisions such as holiday destinations, house relocation and car choices, whereas a woman’s decision solely revolves around her domestic duties
• women do not get a break, housework duties and childcare does not finish at the end of the day in the same way that paid employment does
• Emotional Labour;

  • Benston asserts that part of the wife’s role is to provide emotional support for the husband
  • Leonard suggests that women are expected to celebrate their husbands success & accomplishment, and offer themselves sexually as a means of de-stressing him
  • the “triple shift” is a term coined by Marsden & Dunscombe to denote the responsibilities women take on; housework, childcare & emotional labour
• liberal feminists believe that family life is not inherently oppressive, with adequate legal reforms and changes in society, disparity in family life can be eradicated;

  • Equal Pay Act and 1975 Sex Discrimination Act made gender discrimination in employment illegal
  • women have more power in their reproductive choices, they can make choices on their own terms
  • marital rape made illegal in the UK in 1991
  • changes in divorce laws made it easier for women to make decisions regarding her marriage
• Somerville argued that changes in work culture and hours need to be made for working parents, so that household duties are equally distributed
• Oakley argues that forms of socialisation that involve highlighting distinctions between boys and girls through gender-specific behaviours, words and toys are detrimental to society and must be challenged
• marxists feminist believe that women are oppressed in the family due to the convergence of the patriarchy and capitalism, this is because capitalism benefits from the oppression of women
• unpaid labour

  • women are exploited for unpaid labour (housework, childcare) by their husbands so that the current workers (the husbands) can work and be exploited by a capitalist system
  • Benston argues that women have been socialised to be compliant, and so allow it to go unchallenged
• marxists believe that due to a woman’s primary role of reproducing children, they uphold capitalism as they are potentially reproducing the next generation of workers
• reserve labour

  married women are discharged from employment and left to their domestic duties at home, but are treated as a reserve labour force, expected to be at a capitalist system’s beck & call
• absorption of anger

  • women‘s function is to absorb their husband’s stress and anger towards the capitalist society, this allows for men to keep working and mitigates the chances of revolt
  • Ansley argues that a man‘s frustration towards capitalism is often misdirected towards women, this is manifested as domestic violence
• radical feminists believe that oppression in the family is inherent and that liberation can only be achieved through the total destruction of the patriarchy