Postmodernism and family diversity

Modernism

• Functionalism

• Importance of dominance of one family type (NF)

• Structural/top-down approach

  • Family is a structure that shapes the behaviours of its members

    • They then perform the functions society requires of them

• Individuals have v. little choice about the pattern of family life, our behaviour is ordered, structured and predictable

Postmodernism

Cheal (1993)

• We no longer live in a modern society that is predictable - we have entered a new/chaotic PoMo stage

• No longer one dominant, stable family structure (e.g. NF) - fragmentation of family structures into different types

  • Individuals have more choice in their lifestyles, personal relationships and family arrangements

• Family shapes depend on active choices: divorce, come out, cohabit

Advantages of greater diversity and choice described by PoMos

• Greater freedom to plot own life course, choosing family and personal relationships that meet their needs

Disadvantages of greater diversity and choice described by PoMos

• Greater risk of instability and break up of relationships

Perspective on gender/sexuality

• Modernism: 2 genders, heteronormative (fixed)

• Postmodernism: fluidity and greater acceptance

Perspective on culture

• Modernism: British

• Postmodernism: global

Perspective on employment

• Modernism: ‘job for life’

• Postmodernism: insecure and constantly evolving

Perspective on the family

• Modernism: nuclear

• Postmodernism: diversity and life course

Perspectives on relationships

• Modernism: secure, monogamous

• Postmodernism: less commitment, serial monogamy

Postmodern perspectives on aspects of modern society - diversity

• Due to global migration creating more diverse populations

Postmodern perspectives on aspects of modern society - hybridity

• Merging of cultures due to globalisation has has caused cultures to influence each other, e.g. British Asian music

Postmodern perspectives on aspects of modern society - risk of insecurity

• Increasingly uncertain (in terms of employment and relationships) society has meant technology may outpace human growth and there’s a higher risk of environmental disasters

Postmodern perspectives on aspects of modern society - globalisation

• Increasing interconnectedness with the rest of the world

Stacey (1998) - freedom and choice in relation to women

• Increased freedom and choice has benefitted women, who have freed themselves from patriarchal oppression and shaped their families to fit their needs

• Women have become agents of change in modern families as opposed to men by rejecting their role of a traditional housewife

  • Have achieved this creation of new families that suit their needs better by:

    • Working

    • Returning to education

    • Increasing their job prospects

    • Getting divorced

    • Getting re-married

Stacey (1998) - divorce-extended families and Pam Gamma

• Members in D-E families are connected by divorce, not marriage

  • Key members are female (former in-laws, ex-wife and new partner)

• Pam Gamma

  • Married young, divorced, cohabited, re-married to another divorcee

  • Formed a relationship with her ex-husband’s new cohabitant and they helped each other financially and domestically

Morgan (1996; 2011) - generalisations and life course analysis

• Large scale generalisations (functionalists) are pointless

• Families are named by those involved

• It’s more valuable to focus attention on how people create their own diverse family lives and practices

  • This can be done through life course analysis

Hareven (1978) - life course analysis

• In depth, unstructured interviews

• Explore meaning that individual family members give to their relationships and choices e.g. have a baby or come out

Holdsworth and Morgan (2005) - use of life course analysis

• Examined meaning behind young people leaving home and becoming independent and how others influence their decisions

Strengths of life course analysis

• Focuses on what family members themselves consider important

  • Looks at families and households from the viewpoint of those involved and the meaning they give to their lives, relationships and choices

• Is suitable for studying post/late-modern society where there is more choice about personal relationships and family diversity

Giddens (glass half full) and Beck (glass half empty) (influenced by PoMo)

• Effects of increased choice on families and relationships can be called the individualisation thesis

• Traditional social structures (class, gender, family) have lost their influence over us

• Past: lives defined by fixed roles

  • Expectation to marry and conform to gender roles

  • Prevented from creating own life course

• Today: fewer roles and certainties to follow

  • We’ve become freed/disembedded from trad. roles and structures by our freedom to choose

Beck (1992)

• ‘Standard biography’ life course → ‘DIY biography’ that we construct for ourselves

CRITICISM: of individualisation thesis

PLP perspective - Budgeon (2011)

• Exaggerates extent of choice that people have in families and relationships today

  • Reflection of neoliberal ideology that individuals have complete freedom of choice

    • Reality: trad. norms that limit relationship choices haven’t weakened as much as the IT claims

• Wrongly sees people as disembodied/free floating/independent individuals

  • Ignores fact that we make decisions within a social context

• Ignores importance of structural factors such as class inequality and patriarchal gender norms

CRITICISM: of individualisation thesis

PLP perspective - May (2013)

• View of Beck and Giddens is an idealised version of that of a white M/C man

  • Ignores the fact that not everyone has the same ability to exercise choice

• Structures that control our lives are not weakening but being reshaped

  • Despite having more rights and equality now, women still do not ‘have it all’

CRITICISM: of individualisation thesis

Einsadottir (2011)

• Weakening of structures (as said by May)

• Lesbianism is now tolerated but heteronormativity means lesbians feel forced to remain closeted

  • This limits their choices about their relationship and lifestyles

Giddens (1992) - the past vs now in relation to choice and equality

• More gender equality and choice have transformed family and marriage

  • Contraception means sex and intimacy are now the main reason for a relationship, not reproduction

  • Feminism and opportunities in work and education have given women more independence

• Past: family relationships held together by ext. forces like laws and norms (pre-marital sex stigma)

• Now: freedom to self-define relationship, not act out the roles defined by law and tradition

  • No mandate to marry or have children

  • Divorce is more accessible

Giddens (1992) - the pure relationship

• Intimate relationships are based on choice and equality

  • Not: law, religion, social norms, traditional institutions

• Freedom to enter/leave relationships as see fit is part of the process of self-discovery/identity

• The pure relationship is typical of late modern society

  • Key feature: exists solely to satisfy each partner’s needs - partners remain together because of love, happiness and sexual attraction (not sense of duty, tradition or children)

    • Survives only as long as both partners believe it’s in their best interest - ‘rolling contract’ not permanent commitment

• HOWEVER: more choice → less stability → more diversity (l-p families, single person households, stepfamilies)

Giddens (1992) - same-sex couples as pioneers

• This leads the way to new family types, more equality in relationships and increased democracy

• SS relationships not influenced by tradition as hetero ones are due to previous stigmatisation and criminalisation

  • SS couples can negotiate personal relationships and create need-suiting family structures based on choice due to the absence of traditional roles

Weston (1992) - families of choice

• Families of choice created by queer people can be made of former lovers or biological kin

Weeks (2000)

• Friendships are very similar to kinships for queer people

CRITICISM of the pure relationship

• Families include more than just couples, and even then we’re unable to walk away at will

  • Separated couples are linked by children

CRITICISM of the pure relationship

• It’s important to put individuals in the context of their past and web of relationships as these shape their choices and family patterns

Beck (1992) - ‘risk society’

• Tradition has less influence on people and they have more choice and so are more aware of risks

  • Making a choice involves calculating the risks and rewards of different options where before everything was fixed by external forces

• Before: expected to marry for life; unequal and oppressive yet stable and predictable

  • Men: breadwinner, disciplinarian, important decisions

  • Women: housework and care

Beck (1992) - aspects that have undermined the patriarchal family

• Individualism - actions are influenced by self-interest and not obiligation to others

• Gender equality- male domination has been challenged and women expect equality at work and in a marriage

Beck and Beck-Gernsheim (1995) - the negotiated family

• Negotiated family is replacing the PNF

• Varies according to wishes/expectations of members (who enter the relationship on an equal basis) through negotiation

• Less stable than PNF- individuals free to leave if needs are not met

Beck - the zombie family

• Appears to be alive but is dead

• People want the family to be a haven of security in an insecure world, but it cannot be due to instability