postmodernist perspective on family

• the postmodernist view of family sees it as fragmented and diverse with different types of relationships existing alongside traditional nuclear families

  not one family type is the best
• lyotard and baudrillard - post mod


  contemporary society is rapidly changes and people are questioning traditionally accepted morals, values and norms

  individuals no longer constrained by social structures and reject ideas about traditional family
• beck-gernsheim and stacey - diversity and consumer choice reflected in disintegration of traditional family


  traditional family is being replaced by a wide diversity of relationships in which people are choosing to be in

  no longer feel bound by traditional ideas and expectations or traditional sexual identities
• postmodernist view on increased divorce, cohabitation, lone parents etc


  these changes reflect individuals making consumer choices

  individuals are free agents who pick and choose and mix and match relationships as it suits them, and change them over time

  rise in alternative family units makes the notion of traditional family as a social institution redundant
• giddens - pure relationships (post mod)


  structure and functions of the family is decided by individuals and their needs at the time

  pure relationships last as long as both partners are satisfied and exist solely to meet partners' needs

  confluent love = relationships based on love and respect
• beck - negotiated family (post mod)


  families that don't conform to traditional family norms but vary depending upon wishes and needs of members via negotiation
• 2 ways negotiated families are less stable


  emphasis on individual needs over needs of family

  individuals leave if needs aren't met = increased divorce and lone parents
• stacey - silicon valley (post mod)


  greater freedom and choice enables women to shape family around their needs

  women are driving force of change

  study showed many women rejected traditional roles, returned to education, married and divorced

  identified emergence of divorce extended families - families connected by divorce
• 6 characteristics of postmodern families 


  liberated sexual attitudes

  voluntary childlessness

  reproductive technology

  diversity in parenting arrangements

  crisis of masculinity (mac an ghaill)

  consumption
• postmodern families characteristics - liberated sexual attitudes


  women less likely to view love and marriage as primary goal

  evidence women are more sexually experienced before marriage = higher expectations
• postmodern families characteristics - voluntary childlessness


  increasing number of women prioritising careers
• postmodern families characteristics - reproductive technology


  older women and homosexual families can have children
• postmodern families characteristics - diversity in parenting arrangements


  rise in divorce, single parent families, reconstituted families = rise in coparenting
• postmodern families characteristics - crisis of masculinity (mac en ghaill)


  led to emergence of alternative masculinity which challenges traditional notions of masculinity
• postmodern families characteristics - consumption


  families more concerned with what insignificant others think of them

  consumption of materialistic items becoming more important than family intimacy and interaction

  increasing evidence of kids being viewed as an accessory
• evaluation of postmodernist perspective on family


  over emphasises change

  based on assumptions > evidence

  pick'n'mix isnt the norm as most people prefer stability long term

  arguably choice is still bound to existing structures and expectations