Feminist View Of The Family

Question 1

General feminist view of the family?

Answer 1

Feminists are critical of the family as a
social institutions. They believe family to be a tool for female oppression (in particular the NUCLEAR FAMILY serves the needs of men rather than women). This is done through the unequal division of labour and domestic abuse

They believe the gender division is a social construct rather than a natural thing.

Question 2

Triple shift?

Answer 2

Three roles that women are expected to serve for the family:
-1. Emotional support
-2. Domestic labour
-3. Paid work

Question 3

Duel burden?

Answer 3

Two traditional roles women are supposed to play in the family:
-1. Emotional support
-2. Domestic labour

Question 4

Patriarchy?

Answer 4

The way that men dominate women in most areas of society.

Question 5

Malestream sociology?

Answer 5

The ways sociologist will apply research data collected on men to the lives of women despite their different experiences.

Question 6

Liberal feminist viewpoint.

Answer 6

-Families are slowly becoming more equal through changes in the law and social attitudes
-They do not believe full equality has been achieved but it is well on its way
-For example, parents socialising their children in more gender neutral ways, boys and girls having the same aspirational goals and housework being split between them equally.

Question 7

Liberal feminist evaluation.

Answer 7

-Overstate the amount of progress being made, women still have triple shift.
-Marxist and radical feminists would argue that they liberal feminists fail to challenge the underlying causes of female oppression, and that changes to the law are not substantial enough and major changes to the social structures of society are needed.

Question 8

Radical feminism.

Answer 8

-They believe men are the enemy and marriage and the family are the key institutions that allow patriarchy to exist.
-They believe the family should be abolished and a system of separatism to be installed to overturn patriarchy.
-They also argue for political lesbianism and heterosexual relationships are inevitably oppressive.
-Greer - Matrilocal households - all female households with shared parental responsibility.

Question 9

Radical feminism evaluation.

Answer 9

-Sommerville argue that radical feminists fail to see the changes already made to women’s experiences with better access to divorce and control over their fertility women are no longer trapped by family
-Argues separatism is unachievable due to heterosexual attraction.

Question 10

Marxist feminism.

Question 11

Marxist feminism evaluation.

Question 12

Intersectional feminism.

Question 13

Intersectional feminism evaluation.