family sociology

Feminist Perspectives on the Family

• Ainsley: Women are the primary caregivers and managers of emotions, often taking on the stress of their husbands after a long day of work.
• Greer: Radical feminist view that even in egalitarian relationships, women still perform a disproportionate amount of emotional labor and household chores.

Marxist and Liberal Feminism

• Benston: Marxist feminist view that wives are used as a means of producing and reproducing cheap labor, perpetuating capitalist ideals.
• Somerville: Liberal feminist view that although significant progress has been made, inequalities still exist within marriage, criticizing Marxist and radical feminist perspectives.

Family Structure and Relationships

• Calhoun: Gay families are often happier due to being chosen families, rather than biological ones.
• Wilmott and Young: The symmetrical nuclear family has emerged due to rising wages, welfare, and geographical mobility, leading to smaller families and increased entertainment within the home.
• Beck and Beck-Gernsheim: Individualization has led to more choices and opportunities in life, affecting family dynamics.

Postmodern and Critical Perspectives

• Lyotard: Postmodern view that metanarratives are no longer credible, and universal truths are rejected.
• Stacey: Families are diverse, fluid, and unresolved, with no fixed structure, and are constantly changing over time.
• Allan and Crow: Increased separation between sex, marriage, and parenthood, leading to rising divorce rates, decreased marriage rates, and an increase in step families and cohabitation.

Family and Society

• Bhatti: Asian families value family loyalty and cultural traditions.
• Chester: The neo-conventional family is a response to changing family structures and values.
• Morgan: The New Right view that the traditional family is under threat due to increasing divorce rates, decreasing marriage rates, and changing fertility patterns.

Functions and Roles

• Duncombe and Marsden: The triple shift, emotional work, and dual burden faced by women in managing work and family responsibilities.
• Murdock: The four functions of the family are sexual, economic, educational, and reproductive.
• Engels: The family serves to control women's sexuality, ensure the paternity of their children, and pass down belongings through the bloodline.

Family Diversity and Structure

• Rapaport and Rapoport: Family diversity exists in terms of culture, class, organizational stage in the life cycle, and cohort.
• Aries: Childhood is a social construct, and the concept of childhood has evolved over time.

Critical Perspectives on Family and Society

• Zaretsky: The family acts as a prop to the capitalist system, with housewives performing unpaid labor, consuming commodities, and providing comfort to alienated workers.
• Parsons: The family provides a "warm bath" for adult personalities, and changes in family structure affect primary socialization.
• Poulantzas: The family is part of the ideological state apparatus, serving to maintain capitalism.