Roles of the Family 2 — Marxist + Feminist + Personal Life

What is the Marxist view of the family?

Marxists argue the family supports capitalism by reproducing labour power, passing on ruling-class ideology, encouraging consumption and maintaining class inequality through inheritance.

What did Engels argue about the family?

Engels argued the monogamous nuclear family developed with private property. Men wanted to pass property to legitimate heirs, so women’s sexuality became controlled through marriage and family life.

How does the family maintain class inequality according to Engels?

The family allows wealth and property to be passed down through inheritance. This means ruling-class families can reproduce their economic advantage across generations.

How can Engels be evaluated?

Engels is useful because he links the family to private property and inequality. However, not all families have property to pass on, so inheritance cannot explain why all families exist.

What did Zaretsky argue about the family?

Zaretsky argues the family appears to be a private safe haven from capitalism, but this is an illusion because it helps workers cope with exploitation and encourages consumption.

How does the family reproduce labour power?

The family raises children to become future workers and maintains current workers through unpaid care, food, housework and emotional support. This reduces costs for employers and the state.

How does the family act as a unit of consumption according to Althusser?

Families buy goods and services, helping capitalism make profit. Advertising targets parents and children through ideas like pester power, where children pressure parents to buy products.

How can Marxist views of the family be evaluated?

Marxists are useful because they show how family life links to capitalism, inheritance and consumption. However, they can be economically deterministic and may ignore love, emotional meanings and gender inequality inside the family.

What is the feminist view of the family?

Feminists argue the family is often patriarchal because women do more unpaid domestic labour, childcare and emotional work, while men often gain more power, leisure and career freedom.

What did Oakley argue about the family?

Oakley argues the housewife role is socially constructed and women are socialised into domestic labour. She criticises the idea that modern families have become genuinely symmetrical.

What is the dual burden?

The dual burden is when women do paid work but still do most housework and childcare. This shows women’s employment has not automatically created equality inside the family.

What is the triple shift?

The triple shift means women do paid work, domestic labour and emotional labour. Duncombe and Marsden argue women often manage feelings, tensions and relationships as well as practical tasks.

What did Delphy and Leonard argue?

Delphy and Leonard argue men benefit directly from women’s unpaid labour inside the family. They see the family as a patriarchal institution where men exploit women’s work.

What did Ansley argue about women’s role in the family?

Ansley argues women absorb men’s frustration from capitalism, acting as “takers of shit”. This means women help stabilise male workers and indirectly support capitalism.

What is the difference between liberal, radical and Marxist feminism?

Liberal feminists focus on gradual progress through legal change, radical feminists focus on patriarchy and male control, and Marxist feminists focus on how women’s unpaid labour benefits capitalism.

What did Somerville argue?

Somerville argues women’s position has improved through work, divorce rights and changing attitudes, but inequality remains in childcare and domestic labour. She supports family-friendly policies rather than rejecting the family.

How can feminist views be evaluated?

Feminists are useful for exposing unpaid labour, domestic violence, emotional labour and unequal power. However, difference feminists argue women’s family experiences vary by class, ethnicity, sexuality and culture, so not all families are experienced in the same way.

What is the postmodern view of the family?

Postmodernists argue there is no single normal family type because society is more diverse and individualised. People have more freedom to choose relationships, lifestyles and family forms.

What is the individualisation thesis?

Beck and Giddens argue people are now freer from tradition, religion and fixed gender roles, so they must construct their own life path through choices about relationships, work and family.

What is Giddens’ pure relationship?

A pure relationship is based on emotional satisfaction and continues only as long as both partners feel fulfilled. This helps explain divorce, cohabitation and more flexible family patterns.

What is Beck’s negotiated family?

Beck argues family roles are now negotiated rather than fixed by tradition. Couples discuss roles, childcare and work, but this can also make relationships more uncertain and unstable.

How does Smart criticise individualisation?

Smart argues people are not completely free individuals because choices are shaped by connectedness to children, ex-partners, parents, money, memories and responsibilities.

What is the personal life perspective?

The personal life perspective argues sociologists should study what relationships mean to people, rather than judging families by whether they fit the traditional nuclear model.

What did Morgan argue about family practices?

Morgan argues family is created through everyday practices such as caring, supporting, remembering and staying connected. This means family is something people do, not just something they are.

How can personal life/postmodern views be evaluated?

They are useful because they reflect modern family diversity and chosen relationships. However, they may exaggerate choice and underplay structural limits such as poverty, patriarchy, childcare costs, housing and social policy.