Lecture 7: Family in Society

• Main points


  • There is no one 'natural' family form
  • Family structure is shaped by cultural, economic, political structures, and global processes throughout history
  • Families influence social structure, and social structure influences the family
  • Nuclear family very recent, uncommon in history
• Patterns of Authority

  • Patriarchy: "rule of the father"
  • Matriarchy: "rule of the mother"
  • Matrilineal
  • Patrilineal
• Nuclear Family


  • Western-European in origin
  • Marriage by choice and based on romantic love
  • Man and woman with strict gender roles
  • Children are socialized and cared for by only this man and woman (not neighbours, extended family, government etc.)
  • The house is the private domain of this family
  • Other members of community or even extended family are just visitors and are not involved in childcare, cleaning, family business
• Family in History

  • Hunting / Gathering Families
  • Early and Later Agriculture
  • Inca
  • Paris (Ontario)
• Different economic social systems do seem to change the institution of the family
• Europe before industrialization and capitalism, family: Tended to be based on arranged marriage, Had less privacy/autonomy (was not separate from community), Little or no private property (family house / land), Less patriarchal for the most part (especially pre-agricultural family)
• The Great Transformation (Karl Polanyi)


  Change to industrial capitalism from agricultural feudalism
• Colonialism made capitalism and industrialization possible in Europe (especially Britain)
• Capitalism

  • An economic system in which property is held privately and exchanged through markets for the purpose of making profits
  • Buying goods in one place to sell them at a higher price elsewhere (mercantalism or Merchant Capitalism)
  • Production and exchange of products. (Industrial Capitalism)
  • Clear distinction between capitalists and labour
  • Capitalists: Those who own capital ($$, investments, factories). (bourgeoisie)
  • Labour: Those who own only their labour power (proletariat)
  • Ideology: Individualism, private property, private sphere
  • Main institutions: Free market, nuclear family, government can be democratic OR dictatorial
• Capitalism / Industrialization needed labour to work for pay, long hours, in factories
• Nuclear Family


  New gender division of labour: Man = labour, Work man can do = labour power, Male children = future labour, Woman = nurturer of man's labour power, Woman = nurturer of new labour, Female children = future nurturer
• Why does the combination of capitalism and nuclear family exist?

  • Compensate for disintegrated community bonds
  • Capitalism = individualistic; so is romantic love
  • May be much older however
  • Does seem to be associated with Britain and Christianity
  • Heteronormativity
  • Home as private sphere
  • Individualism
• Romantic love

  • Idea of "romantic love"; end of the middle ages (5th-15thC.); from "courtly love" (12th C.)
  • Chivalrously expressing love and admiration; amongst nobility; not between married spouses
  • The lover accepts the independence of his mistress; tries to prove worthiness; by acting bravely and honourably and by doing whatever deeds she might desire, subjecting himself to a series of tests (ordeals) to prove to her his love and commitment
• Enlightenment/Capitalism/Romanticism


  • Enlightenment (16th-early 19thC): Ideas of personal liberty, democracy, freedom from 'custom', rationality
  • Capitalism (beginning late 18thC): Needed the nuclear family and individualism
  • Romanticism (beginning late 18thC): Artistic movement that focussed on individual emotion as the source of artistic beauty and creativity
• Result: "true romantic love" being associated with marriage, individualism, and the capitalist system (starting mid 19th century)
• People began to demand the right to chose their own mates based on "love"
• This idea was transported globally through colonialism (1500-1950) and neo-colonialism (1950-current)
• Ideology of romantic love

  A "vicious principle" because it places the wishes of the individual beyond those of the group (McFarlaine)
• People have always fallen in love, and throughout the ages many couples have loved each other deeply. But only rarely in history has love been seen as the main reason for getting married (Coontz, 2005)
• Canada Divorce Rates


  • 1st marriages: 50%
  • 2nd marriages: 72%
  • 3rd marriages: 85%
  • Arranged Marriage Divorce Rates: 5-7%
• Bruckner (2013) argued that marriage used to be sacred and love, unnecessary. Now love is sacred and marriage unnecessary. Love has triumphed, but may be causing unstable lives
• Why?


  Romantic love is a short-term, unsustainable, period that can cause all sorts of bad decisions
• Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914): 'love, n. A temporary insanity curable by marriage … This disease … is prevalent only among civilized races living under artificial conditions; barbarous nations breathing pure air and eating simple food enjoy immunity from its ravages'
• Patriarchal "Marriage Trap"?


  • Men marry younger women on average – "mating gradient"
  • Men marry women with lower income on average
  • Men are required to 'court' women as with courtly love; pay for dates, events, rings, to show their worth
  • The man's career is favoured in the relationship
  • Women's economic input (and independence) is lowered gradually relatively
  • Result: woman has no equivalent career; can't afford the lifestyle she is accustomed to; has diminished power in relationship; may be a serious problem if she becomes unhappy (which is common – 50% divorce rate)
• Modern capitalist system has declined, required stable nuclear family. Post-modern capitalist system has increased, requires flexible individuals working multiple jobs, requires very individualistic consumers
• Changing Canadian Family


  • Living Alone: 1961: 9% of all households; 2012: 27.6%
  • Couples with Children: 2001: 30.5% 2006: 28.5%; 2012: 26.5% of households
  • Nuclear Family (married parents with children) 2001: 43.6% of families; 2012: 39.2%
  • Common Law Couples: up 14% since 2006
  • Increase in single parents
  • Same sex: up 42.4% since 2006!(was made nationally legal in 2005)
• Main Points


  • Not one 'true' or 'proper' type of family
  • The dominant form of family in any society is related in a complex way to economic, cultural, political, aspects of that society
  • The dominant form of family in Western society is very new and uncommon in human history
  • It does, nonetheless, feel very natural to most North Americans
  • Basing families on "romantic love" is also a new thing
  • Because of gender inequalities, marriage can become a 'trap'
  • The classic "nuclear family" seems to be in decline – possibly due to economic, cultural, and political reasons
• Courtly love


  A chivalrous expression of love and admiration between nobility, originating in the 12th century and not typically associated with marriage.