Personal life perspective on families

p194-6

CRITICISMS: of Marxism and feminist theories of the family

PLP

• Assumption that trad. N.F. family dominant ignores increasing family diversity

  • Compared to 50 years ago, families today come in various forms, including single-parent families, blended families, and same-sex families, challenging traditional norms

• Structural theories assume family members are passive puppets, when in reality we have some choice in shaping our family dynamics and roles

  • To truly understand families, we have to focus on meaning given to situations, not supposed functions of families

Approach to sociology

• ‘Bottom up’

• Emphasis on meanings family members hold and how these shape actions and relationships

View of relationships

• Beyond genetic and marital ties

• Can only understand people through their ties

• Additional relationships that can impact how we act and are seen by members as significant and give sense of belonging, identity and relatedness

  • Friends

  • Fictive kin (close friends treated as kin)

  • Chosen families (gay and lesbian)

  • Dead relatives

  • Pets

• Not always positive

• Perform important roles like provision of sense of belonging and relatedness

Tipper (2011) - pets

• Children frequently saw pets as part of the family

Smart and Nordqvist (2014) - donor-conceived children

• Issue of genes raised range of feelings

• Some parents emphasise importance of social relationships over genetic ones in forming family bonds

• Erin defined motherhood as time and effort put into a child

• Difficult feelings arise if children noticed to look like their non-genetic parent

  • Parents wonder about donor’s identity and donor siblings, and if these people count as family

  • Those that know the donor’s identity ask if donor’s family count as family to their child

• Lesbians

  • Concerns about equality between genetic and non-genetic mothers

  • Concerns that donor may be treated as ‘real’ second parent

CRITICISM: PLP

• Too broad

• Ignore what’s special about blood/marriage relationships