Theory

A NEW LOOK AT OLD THEORIES:NEW TIMES CALL FOR NEW VIEWS: 

A NEW LOOK AT OLD THEORIES: NEW TIMES CALL FOR NEW VIEWS Rosalind Chait Barnett, Ph.D. Women’s Studies Research Center Brandeis University 02/09/02

Three Classic Theories About Men, Women, Work, and Family: 

Three Classic Theories About Men, Women, Work, and Family Functionalist Theories of the Family Freudian Theory Sociobiology and Evolutionary Psychology

Shortcomings: 

Shortcomings These theories are not contextualized; that is, they make sweeping statements about men, women, the conditions necessary for family stability, and workplace behaviors, without regard to within-gender variations.

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Moreover, they ignore race, class, age, and such situational variations as sole-breadwinner, dual-earner, or single-parent family, or the effects of the particular historical period in which they were proposed.

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2. They began with the assumption of major gender differences and then developed theories that either attempted to account for these assumed differences or projected those differences forward.

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3. They were deductive, not inductive. Since most early theorists were unable, for demographic or methodological reasons, to test their root assumptions, they put them forth as postulates.

Functionalist Theories: 

Functionalist Theories The crux of these theories is that gender-role specialization and complementarity, or asymmetric, mutual dependence, is key to marital stability and presumably to marital quality.

Functions of the Husband-Father Role: 

Functions of the Husband-Father Role “the role of the adult male is primarily anchored in the occupational world, in his job and through it by his status-giving and income-earning functions for the family (p. 355)…it is fundamentally by virtue of the importance of his occupational role…that in our society we can unequivocally designate the husband-father as the ‘instrumental leader’ of the family as a system” p. 13). Parsons & Bales, 1955.

Functions of the Wife-Mother Role: 

Functions of the Wife-Mother Role “The role of ‘housewife’ is still the overwhelmingly predominant one for the married woman with small children" (p. 14). And “... the adult female [is] anchored primarily in the internal affairs of the family, as wife, mother, and manager of the household...” (p. 355). Parsons & Bales, 1955.

The American Nuclear Family: 

The American Nuclear Family “the broad structural outlines of the American nuclear family, as we have delineated it, are not ‘fortuitous’ in the sense of being bound to a particular highly specific social situation, but are of generic significance with respect to the structure and functions of the family in all societies” (p. 355). Parsons, 1949.

Post-War Years: 

Post-War Years Massive movement of women out of the factories that supported the war effort and into newly constructed suburbs Early age of first marriage Extraordinarily high birth rate Low divorce rate

Three Trends: 

Three Trends Increasing labor force participation of women Decreasing birth rate Increasing age of first marriage

Unchanging Role Priorities for Women: 

Unchanging Role Priorities for Women “Even if, as seems possible, it should come about that the average married woman had some kind of job, it seems most unlikely that this relative imbalance would be upset; that either the roles would be reversed, or their qualitative differentiation in these respects completely erased” (p. 12-13). Parsons & Bales, 1955.

Women’s Identity: 

Women’s Identity “young women often ask whether they can ‘have an identity’ before they know whom they will marry and for whom they will make a home…Something in the young woman’s identity must keep itself open for the peculiarities of the man to be joined and that of the children to be brought up…” (p. 283). Erikson, 1968.

The Differential Parental Investment and the Mechanism of Sexual Selection: 

The Differential Parental Investment and the Mechanism of Sexual Selection Male and female genetic ancestors developed distinct strategies for solving the different reproductive challenges they confronted.

Male Strategy: 

Male Strategy For males, the primary challenge was to obtain access to as many females as possible, thereby increasing the probability of passing on their genes. To that end, males competed with other males for access to females.

Female Strategy: 

Female Strategy In contrast, the most successful strategy for women to employ was to invest heavily in a limited number of offspring. Thus, over time, women who succeeded in rearing their offspring to adulthood increased their reproductive fitness.

Reproductive Fitness: 

Reproductive Fitness Men who were aggressive and competitive and who did not invest heavily in their offspring would be successful, whereas women who were nurturant and caring and who invested heavily in their offspring would be successful.

“Natural” Behaviors: 

“Natural” Behaviors Proponents of this viewpoint suggest that deviations from “natural” behaviors are likely to result in negative mental-health consequences.

Empirical Evidence: 

Empirical Evidence Results overall from systematic studies have failed to support the claims of large, consistent gender differences found in these classical theories.

Empirical Evidence: 

Empirical Evidence Several studies indicate that many gender differences are conditioned by social context.

Empirical Evidence: 

Empirical Evidence Also challenging the gender-differences view is the finding that for both genders, the roles of partner and parent are ranked similarly in prominence and both higher than the role of employee, which is also ranked similarly by women and men.

Empirical Evidence: 

Empirical Evidence Little support has been found for the prediction that women and men who engage in “non-natural” roles – e.g., the employee role for women and the parental role for men – will experience distress.

Empirical Evidence: 

Empirical Evidence In current research, the low distress of women in multiple roles has been attributed primarily to the positive effects of the employee role.