Marriage & Family CH 5,6,7,8

social construct

-widely accepted idea/ practice taken for granted
-feels "natural" but is not

race

(said by Macionis) is socially constructed category that society considers important

Obama

-had a mother that was white; father African immigrant
-no slavery in background, but reads as black

insights regarding race

-involves more than physical characteristics
-influenced by historical, cultural, & economic factors

US Categories

based on ancestory

Census form

-since 1790
-mandated by constituition
-count of population
-questions on race

whiteness

-associated w social privileges
-acquired by groups overtime

Brodkins

wrote a book called How Jews became White Folks

Jewish immigrants

-many in the city
-worked in factories, became tailors
-colleges for them, tuition free
-increased income

WW2

-GI's take advantage of a # of benefits from gov.
-GI mortgages connected to GI bill
-benefits were not for black ppl

nonwhite to white

italians, eastern and southern europeans, jewish

privilege is not part of culture

-culture is invisible to ppl
-cultural attitudes that create privilege seems "natural"

meanings of privilege

-unearned power conferred systemically/benefits(McIntosh, 1995)
-a right, advantage or immunity granted to or enjoyed by a group that is beyond the reach of others
-exemption from certain burdens and liabilities

privilege in action examples

celebrity singers

race and family life

-slaves had no right to marry; families broken up
-richard banks wrote "Is Marriage for White People"

miscegenation

-interracial marriage
-does not end until 1967 w Loving vs. Virginia

Mildred and Rich

police find them and make them leave virginia for being a black and white couple

Intermarriage trend, 1980-2010

-new marriages was dramatic
-2010:1 quarter of black men marry outside race, but 9% black women/36% asian women marry outside race, 17% asian men
-Hawaii has highest rate of interacial marriage
--in 1970 84% of blacks were married, but drops in 2007 to 60%

-in 2013, 9 million americans are multiracial

racial preferences based on analysis of online dating app

-app called Are You Interested on Facebook
-women's preferences except for black women prefer white men
-all men except asian men, prefer asian women

indicators of decline of americans among african americans and whites

-% og young women to marry has fallen for black and whites
-over 70% of children o unmarried moms of african americans and whites is over a quarter
-fragile familes:breakup more quickly

race and nonmarital childbearing

-2013-40% american births to unmarried women
-1980-18% births to unmarried women

percentage of women having children outside of marriage

white-29%
asian-17%
hispanic-53%
black-71%

explaining stats:availability of marriageble men

-for every 3 unmarried black women there is 1 man w earnings above poverty line
-lowlevel jobs-food service, hospitality
-midlevel-hard to find
-higher high school; dropout rates
-high rates of incareration
-high rates of homicide

men behind bars

-young black men have highest rate of in prison that other racial groups

role of culture

-strengths of african american families often overlooked
-kin networks, grandparent's role

intersectionality

extent to which black women's lives are affected by overlapping class, racial and gender-based disadvantage

hispanic families

-mulitple ethnicity
-mexican are largest group

social capital

critical idea relating to immigrants; resources a person can ask from relationships

biological influences impact on sex

-menarche:first menstrual period that has been decreasing in age bc of sexual activity for females gets longer
-age of menarche is 12 years old; 15+ of 20th century
-median age of women is over 27 yrs old
-danish girls in 1990s-2006 breast development before period dropped
-sexual scripts
-culture shapes sex

sex is not

binary

sex

sex is a biological activity in a social context

intersex

idea of male and female; person is born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t fit the boxes of “female” or “male.”

transgender

(formally transexual) gender identity does not line up with biological aspect that were assigned

sexual identity

used by Cherlin: homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual

heterosexual

sexually attracted to opposite sex for pleasure, procreation, love or marriage (Seidman)

biological influences on sexual identity

-genes, hormones influence sex
-support for acceptance of homosexual behavior

David Reimer

born as male w identical twin; suffers botched circumsition; goes back to being male

Sherlin

-sexual orientation is from biological and cultural factors
-political aspect:idea of aprehension on part of gays with studies

psychotherapy

-to cure homosexuality
-unsuccessful
-outlawed in NJ for minors

historical perspective on sexuality

-sexuality now is a primary feature of our identity, but was not important back then
-homosexual and heterosexual do not exist until late 1860s; behavior was there but language was not
-same sex was discussed since ancient greek times
-same sex counters for greeks, status was important in social scale (higher status did penetrating)
-christianity influences our opinions to sex
-sex was procreative just to have children
-homosexuality is punished w Roman law bc same sex acts violate natural law
-sexual behaviors that are approved or disapproved with sodomite language
-idea of sexuality argument loses strength in 18th and 19th century
-19th century was taken over by medicine growing and 18th had psychology
-change from regarding idea of same sex behavior as a a sodomy as theological argument as sinful replaced w medical discussion
-sex becomes medicalized; needs to be treated
-19th century couples did not date but engaged in courtship
-20th century brings changes to ides of sex
-Freud says sex is driven by instinct, seeking pleasure
-WW2 had a big impact on same sex attractions
-1960s had changes with how there should b social justice and by 1969 same sex movement bursts into flames (riots)
-by 1973 official removal of homosexuality from being a diagnosis for psychiatrists

christianity

-ideal form of sex is celibacy; "better to marry then to burn"

modern perspective on sexuality

-deep characteristic
-sexual expression becomes more general in america
-in 2015 in america same sex marriage becomes legal but happens earlier in europe

queer theory

-idea of sexual categories are artifical and constructed; made up by us
-sex is culturally defined rules
-rejects sexual identity, roles
-ambivilance

romantic love ties into evolutionary biology

- fisher says neurochemically based system that faciliates w monagomy which accomodates the females need for support
-fisher says likelyhood of survival of infant and love has evolutionary function that love provides mechanism for ancestors to stay together to raise child
-fishers research finds biological basis for love

Helen Fisher's view on love

-romantic love is a need, want, a craving, a homeostatic imbalance, a drive that arises from primitive regions of the mammalian brain, giving us energy, focus and motivation to win a mating partner-life's greatest prize
-3 systems: lust/sex drive driven by testosterone, romantic love driven by dopamine, attachment seeks a pair bond long enough to stay w a child throughout infantcy
-having sex can facilitate being in love from genitals with dopamine, orgasms for attachment
-need to love is stronger than sex drive
-suicide can be involved when disappointed by love
-series of monagomy-one on one relationships

ideas of Anne Swidler

-different image of culture
-she says culture is an image of a toolkit meaning ideas, rituals, ways of thinking that don't all add up
-uses toolkit to choose what fits their needs and what doesn't go together
-conducts detail face to face interviews w white upper and middle class americans in 1980s w results of understanding love
-we hold conflicting views of love in our heads

characters of love-Anne Swidler

mythic love
-movie love, hollywood, love is clear or nothing, happens at first sight
-one true love
-love vanquishes obstacles-love conquers all
-love is adoring-love lasts long, happily ever after

prosaic realistic love
-love diff ppl
-make good choice
-requires hardwork, compromise

quote by Swidler from Talk of Love

-"they met and it was love at first sight. there would never be another girl or boy for him or her. no one could ever come between them. they overcame obstacles and lived happilu ever after"
-go back and forth with mythic and prosaic views
-we use these views as they fit and depends on situation

Reiss's wheel thoery of the Development of Love

4 stages
1.rapport-mutual trust and respect
2.self revelation-sharing intimate info
3.mutual dependency-develop interdependence share rituals and habits
4.personality need fulfillment- find someone you can love, trust and get support

Sternberg's Triangular theory of Love

3 components
1. intimacy
2.passion
3.decision/commitment

social exchange theory

-balance rewards vs. costs
-origins in economics
-rationalized approach to love

courtship

male visits female at home with family approval

social changes

-begin in 20th century
-industrialization happening causing workers in factories paid in cash spent on "fun" things
-urbanization:cities growing, amusements to take someone on a date
-cars provide transportation and privacy for couples
-mandatory schooling making people meet other people (1918 all schools had mandatory schooling)
-today dating is less focused on marriage

social functions of dating

manifest and latent

manifest functions (Robert Merton)

-intended, recognized purposes or consequences of an instituiton, social phenomenon or as aspect of society
-open, stated recognized functions
-ex: purpose of car is for transportation

latent functions (Robert Merton)

-unconscious or unintended results that may reflect hidden purposes
-unintended, unorganized, informal consequences
-ex: purpose of car is for social status

Willard Waller

-studied penn state in 1930s
-romantic partners usually had unequal; degrees of emotional involvement
-conclusion: person who cares least about the relationship has greatest power

endogamy

marriage within one's own tribe or group as required by custom or law

consanguineous marriage

-marriage between two blood-related individuals who are second cousins or closer
-type of endogamy
-practiced widely
-benefits women and lives w inlaws
-economic benefits

sweaty t shirt benefit

-young men wear t shirts to bed to have a smell and sent to women to smell the shirts and chose which was the most pleasant and they favoreds the men with different immune response genes from their own
-biological factors affecting mate selection

worldwide trends and forecasts

-large percentage of adults unmarried now than 1950s
-currently in the US with 20% households with occupants and changed overtime
-lots of percentage of people living alone

cohabitation

-living together, sharing a household for unmarried people with a sexual relationship
-increased dramatically over time starting at 1970s
-8 millions couples in the US now compared to 1986
-7.6 million households cohabiting by 2011
-40% of cohabiting couples live w children
-differs by class
-cohabitants w more education more likely to eventually marry

does living together before marriage reduce likelihood of divorce

-past studied have shown that people who cohabit are more likely to divorce after they marry as compared to those who do not cohabit before marriage
-bc of selection effect

selection effect

-makes us think which types of people make which decisions
-comparing two groups
-in experiment the researcher finds a group and matches them and then sorts them w one having one effect and one having the other, one group gets drug and other gets placebo
-when ppl sort or select themselves into groups, some of the differences btwn the groups reflect preexisting differences among individuals

how people feel about their marriage on a graph

-same percentage of husbands and wives happy w no children
-once having that fourth child big jump of happiness

Arielle Kuperberg

-research challenging correlation of cohabitation and divorce
-research indicates the actual risk factor associated w divorce is young age
-cohabitants tend to b younger when they form relationship and tend to divorce more

effect on kids in marriage

-4 out of 10 couples have kids
-children do best w stability
-Sherlin talks ab how greater emotional effect of boys

marriage gap

-first marriage of ppl who are ages 44-46
-U.S. w highest percentage of children living w their mother who experience three or more maternal partnership by age 15

unmarried relationships at birth

-half of them cohabit at birth of baby
-big chunk of ppl who just visit
-5 years later cohabitant couples not living together

Understanding marriage (Sherlin)

-amerians parter or repartner faster than anyone in any nation
-Sherlin says partners transitions as problematic not just divorce
-marriage as a carrousel

cornerstone (Sherlin)

-people marry very young and then built their life
-marriage acted as the cornerstone of adult life in the past
-this is still not the case , we think of marriage as a capstone

capstone (Sherlin)

-last stone put in
-final step in adulthood after education, finding a job, get a home

marriage and mercedes benz in common (Sherlin)

-status symbol, successful
-big wedding indicates social position
-marriage has become a project

work and family

-economic trends directly effect family life
-family pattern responds to changes in economic picture
-union membership dropped dramatically, 2015 dropped 11%

history of deindustrialization

-many jobs were outsourced to other countries and part of globalization

globalization

-connection of previously national markets-including market for labor-into a worldwide economy
-capital, technology, and info now cross national borders

clopening

-idea you work the night shift until closing and work the opening shift the next day as well

Labor force

-Sherlin says demand for service sector jobs increase married women have been drawn into labor force
-Sherlin says the movement of married women into work force is important change
-married women work force has gone up for ones w school aged children and for ones w young children

gender related work issues

-glass ceiling-idea of women not being promoted passed a certain point
-pay gap-women tend to work in lower paying fields, caregiving jobs pay less, higher jobs pay women less

Paula England of NYU

-research showed of women entering fields in greater number, but the pay decreases
-wages declined when women took jobs

shrinking percent of male workers

-men have become less likely to work and women are more likely
-women participation rates risen and men has dropped

men and women at work

-in the past, high percentage of men in labor force
-women percentage increased tied to feminism, education, examining gender roles, changes in economy, economic pressure on family

pay gap explained

mens decline due to :
-federal disability benefits
-declining marriage rates which implies fewer men provide for children
-rise of internet which decreases isolation
-difficulty in finding higher paying jobs
-stagnant college graduation rates

male vs female stagnant graduation rates

-jobs require college
-1970-2008 white males graduation rates go up and goes up a tiny bit overtime (stagnant)
-black males small number graduate with a little jump
-1970 white females graduation rates are low and 2008 it triples and goes up
-black females graduation rates go up
-other non white femlaes the number goes up over time

toward a s responsive work/family balance

-flextime-policy allows employees to be somewhat flexible w hours
-parental leave-time off work to care for a child
-telecommuting- work from home using computer based communication
-family & medical leave act of 1993-law of 12 weeks unpaid leave to take care of birth, adoption, or sick family members, company w 50 or more employees

difference in france and sweden

France:
-policy of 16 weeks maternity leave
-substadized daycare and benefits
-at home visits w women who gave birth
Sweden
-1974 first country to offer fathers parental leave
-high quality daycare
-480 days of parental leave
-work reduced hours until child is old

from quiz

Choosig right tools kit-ANNE SWIDLER
Big cities-single household
12 weeks unpaid more than 50 employees