FEMINISM & FAMILY
Socialises girls to accept subservient roles within the family, whilst socialising boys to believe they were superior- this happens through children witnessing then recreating the parental relationship.
Socialises women into accepting the 'housewife' role as the only accepatble role for a woman. The family is a breeding ground for patriarchal values
LIBERAL FEMINISM
Causes of inequality in relationships= 1) Mainstream working culture which requires long & inflexible working hours which are still based on the idea of the main breadwinner 2) Men refusing to pull their weight in relationships
Solutions to inequality: Greater gender equality in public sphere- achieving equal access to education, equal pay, ending gender differences in subject & career choice won primarily through legal changes
MARTIAL RAPE LAW: Before 1991 the legal definition of rape was a man forcing, by violence, a woman to engage in sexual intercourse outside of marriage. This meant that a man could legally rape his wife before that time
SOMMERVILLE- March of progress: Recognises that significant progress has been made in both public & private life for women. Argues that in order to achieve true equality within relationships we need increased flexibility in paid employment
SHARPE: Expectations of school girls had changed from 1970's (housewife) to 1990's (work)- supported by the girl guide study
OAKLEY: Housework is seen as a predominately female's role. It's unpaid & makes females dependent on men
MARXIST FEMINISTS
argue the main cause of women's oppression in the family isn't men, but capitalism. Women reproduce labour force through their unpaid domestic labour, by socialising the next generation of workers & servicing the current workers (their husbands)
Women are a RESERVE ARMY OF CHEAP LABOUR- if women's primary role is domestic, and they're restricted from working, this also means that they are in reserve, to be taken on temporarily as necessary by Bourgeois, making production more flexible
ANSLEY Women are the takers of shit: Argue women absorb anger that would otherwise be directed at capitalism. Women's male partners are inevitably frustrated by the exploitation they experience at work & women are the victims of this, including DV
RED: The way in which women's labour is used & abused- the concentration of women in low pad/unpaid caring & domestic roles, for example, is not only one of the things that sustains patriarchy it also sustains capitalism
BENSTON- slaves of the wage slaves: women are unpaid workforce. The amount of unpaid labour done by women (housework, caring for children) is very profitable to others. If women were paid minimum wage, it would involve a large redisribution of wealth. The man of the household would usually be the one that earned the income, but the women would do just as much work for no charge inside the house
solutions: are economic- we need to tackle capitalism to tackle patriarchy. Softer solutions include paying women for childcare & housework
RADICAL FEMINISTS
argue that all relationships between men & women are based on patriarchy- essentially men are the cause of women's exploitation & oppression. For radical feminists the entire patriarchal system needs to be overturned, in particular the family, which they view as the root of women's oppression
DUAL BURDEN- Ferri & Smith: women have acquired the 'double burden' of paid work & unpaid housework & the family remains patriarchal- men benefit from women's paid earnings & their domestic labour
THE TRIPLE SHIFT- Denscombe & Marsden- women have to do paid work, domestic unpaid work & 'emotion work' (Being expected to take on the emotional burden of caring for children)
DARK SIDE OF THE FAMILY: British Crime Survey- domestic violence accounts for a sixth of all violent crime & nearly 1 in 4 women will experience DV at some point
DOBASH & DOBASH: DV is evidence of patriarchy. When men feel authority is challenged they'll use domestic abuse to regain authority
GREER: The family continues to disadvantage women. She looks at the role of women as wives, mothers & daughters. Marriage is similar to a prison for women
DWORKIN: All intercourse, whilst not literally rape, violates the integrity of a woman's body, that women who want it are 'experiencing pleasure in their own integrity'
AO3: Men are victims of DV too