Get top marks on your AQA A-Level Sociology Families & Households exam with these comprehensive revision notes on Feminist Perspectives on the Family. This document covers everything you need to know about the different feminist perspectives on the family, including postmodern, marxist, difference/...
Gender As A Social Construct
The most significant institution where we are socialised into our appropriate roles and norms of
behaviour is the family.
They argue that the nuclear family has traditionally performed 2 key functions which oppress
women:
★ socialising girls to accept subservient roles within the family whilst socialising
boys to believe they’re superior - this is evidenced by children witnessing then
recreating the traditional parental relationship
★ socialising women into accepting the “housewife” role as the only possible role for
a woman/the only way to be feminine
Fundamentally, feminists view the function of the family as breeding ground where patriarchal
values are learned by an individual which in turn creates a patriarchal society.
Liberal Feminists tend to see patriarchy originating in the practice of gender role socialisation,
which mainly occurs in the family during childhood.
★ institutional sexism
○ many social institutions suffer from institutional sexism
■ conscious and unconscious patriarchal attitudes and ways of doing things that are
embedded in their everyday routine practices
○ the society in which a domestic abuser lives may have a legal system that historically was
designed by men and consequently legally defines domestic violence as a minor offence
compared with street violence
○ the police, who are likely to be disproportionately male, may carry a legacy of sexism and/or
be reluctant to interfere in what they see as a ‘private’ family affair
■ consequently, few abusive husbands are arrested
■ the judicial system too may not prioritise domestic violence because most
magistrates and judges are male
■ light sentences, that do not deter future offenders, may be handed out if the case
progresses to court (which it often does not)
, ★ domestic violence
○ 1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime with 2 women being
murdered each week (CSEW)
○ a husband may commit domestic violence because his socialisation as a child involved
witnessing such behaviour by his father and the passive acceptance of this abuse by his
mother
■ talking to childhood friends may confirm his father’s behaviour as ‘normal’ in the
context of his peer group or neighbourhood
■ his experience of a culture in which males are regarded as powerful and females as
subordinate may reinforce a view that men have the ‘right’ to physically discipline
women
★ key sociologist: Jennifer Somerville (2000)
★ overview
○ suggests that proposals to improve family life for women must involve modest policy rather
than revolutionary change
○ argues that many young women don’t feel entirely sympathetic towards feminism yet still
feel some sense of grievance
○ criticises other feminists for failing to acknowledge progress for women such as the greater
freedom to go into paid work and the greater degree of choice over whether they marry or
cohabitate
★ how to achieve equality?
○ Somerville proposes that in order to achieve true equality within relationships, we need
increased flexibility in paid employment
○ Somerville argues that feminists need to focus on policies which will encourage greater
equality within relationships and to help women cope with the practicalities of daily life
■ the most important policies would be those aimed at helping working parents
■ the working hours and culture associated with many jobs are incompatible with
family life
■ many jobs are based on the idea of a male breadwinner who relies on a non-working
wife to take care of the children
★ evidence for the increase in equality
○ the increased choice for women and the rise of the dual-earner household has helped create
greater equality within relationships
○ argues that “some modern men are voluntarily committed to sharing in those routine
necessities of family survival, or they can be persuaded, cajoled, guilt-tripped or bullied”
■ however, “women are angry, resentful and above all disappointed in men.”
■ many men do not take on their full share of responsibilities in the home and often
these men can be “shown the door”
★ should we get rid of men?
○ she raises the possibility that women might do without male partners, especially as so many
prove inadequate, and instead get their sense of fulfilment from their children
○ BUT, she doesn’t believe that living in a household without an adult male is the answer
(unlike Greer)
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