SOSC1859/Spring2025

Topic 6: Gender & Family

I. Gender

➢ (1): How are gender differences (RE)PRODUCED?

➢ (2): How do gender differences constitute gender inequality?

1.1 Biology and the sexual division of labour

a). Murdock:
Biological differences, such as the greater physical strength of men and the childbearing
(as well as nursing) capacity of women, lead to gender roles out of sheer practicality
---men for hunting, lumbering and mining, and women for cooking and making clothes
etc.

b). Parsons
⚫ Functions of the family
⚫ Two complementary roles in the family: (a) instrumental, (b) expressive
⚫ Why biological-based: "… the fundamental explanation of the allocation of roles
between the biological sexes lies in the fact that the bearing and early nursing of children
establish a strong presumptive primacy of the relation of mother to the small child."

Q: How far does biology explain gender differences & form the basis of sexual division
of labor in society?

c). Queries:
(i) Counter-evidence by Oakley: societies where the roles of men and women are not sharply
differentiated - cooking, hunting, & childrearing;
(ii) Is biology a strong enough justification for sexual division of labor in modern society?
(iii) Efficient or creating gender inequalities?

1.2 Socialization of gender roles

• the process by which people learn the culture of their society and thereby acquire personality

i). Language - the issue of linguistic sexism

⚫ male-centredness (e.g. "mankind," "chairman," "he," "Mrs")
⚫ sexualization of women
⚫ trivialization of women
⚫ differential evaluation/ connotation

ii). Non-verbal communication (e.g. use of space, gesture, gaze)

iii). Agents of socialization (examples)

(a) Family
-role-modelling; gender-role expectation (e.g. naming) & everyday interaction ---
socializing children into typical gender roles

(b) School
Hidden Curriculum - implicit norms, values & roles behind or outside formal
curriculum
⚫ gender role stereotyping in textbooks & by teachers

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⚫ gender stratification in school

⚫ sexual segregation in curriculum and school activities
⚫ male domination in classroom

(c) Media
-Findings: the media-created woman is usually (a) wife, mother & housewife, (b) a sex
object which appeals to men as consumers, (c) a person trying to be beautiful for men.

Sex-role stereotyping – preconceived ideas about the two sexes

1.3 The ideology of the gender binary system

Sex : the biological distinction between males and females

Gender : the culturally learned differences between males & females - “masculinity”
& “femininity”
Sexuality : sexual behavior, desires and fantasy; also describes sexual orientation and
identity; heteronormativity

⚫ Gender binary system

masculinity vs. femininity

tough soft
rational emotional
active passive
autonomous dependent
career-oriented family-oriented

Patriarchy: a system of male dominance & subordination of women

Ideology
“By ‘ideology’ we mean a pattern of ideas (common-sense knowledge) – both factual and
evaluative – which purports to explain and legitimate the social structure and culture of a social
group or society and which serves to justify social actions which are in accordance with that
pattern of ideas … Ideologies, especially dominant ones, also serve to construct certain
aspects of the social world as natural and universal, and therefore unquestionable and
unchangeable.” (Abbott & Wallace 1990:5-6)

II. Family

2.1 General Concepts

⚫ Family
⚫ Household
⚫ Nuclear family - parents & their dependent children living together
⚫ Extended family - extension of the nuclear form, either vertically or horizontally
⚫ Other forms of family?

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2.2 Is the Family a Universal Social Institution?

2.2.1 Functionalism

(a) Key Questions/Focuses:

• functions of the family for society?
• functional relationships with other parts of the social system (e.g. the economy)?
• functions of the family for its individual members?

(b) Murdock
The universal functions of the family (without such functions, society cannot function):
• Sexual (rules permitting marital sex & limiting extra-marital sex - satisfying individual
needs & maintaining social order)
• Reproductive
• Economic (e.g. provision of food)
• Educational (socialization)

Q: Could these functions be performed by other alternatives? Is the family being idealized?

(c) Parsons: Two "Basic & Irreducible Functions of the (Unclear) Family"
-loss of some functions of the family over time, still, two irreducible functions:
❖ Primary socialization of children
❖ Stabilization of adult personalities
▪ the emotional security that husband and wife provide for each other (e.g. expression of
love and childish whims) - serving as a counterweight to the stresses and strains of
everyday life in modern society, where the nuclear family has become largely remote
from kin support

Queries and Criticisms:

• idealizing the family i.e. overlooking tensions and conflicts in the family in reality
• over-generalizing the family based on a typical American middle-class family

2.2.2 Alternatives to the Family?

(a) Matrilineal Society1 (female-headed or matriarchal families)

- Kinship groupings are based on female biological relatives; only the women live with
children; husband (or marriage) plays no significant part in the formation of households
& childrearing etc; the household consists of brothers & sisters, sisters' children, & their
daughters' children;

(b) Collective Childrearing (e.g. the Israeli communes - kibbutz)

▪ children living in communal dormitories & being raised by child caregivers
▪ protecting children from bad mothering
▪ economic cooperation is community-based rather than family-based

(c) Other variants: lone-parent family; gay & lesbian family; single-person household etc.

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"Matrilineal" means that property is passed down the female line; "matriarchal" refers to the considerable
authority of the female head.

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2.2.3 Critical Views of the Family (Marxist & feminist)

⚫ The nuclear family, isolated from kinsfolk, has brought about an intensification of
emotional stress between husband and wife, between parents and children.

⚫ Conflicts, abuse & violence within the family (e.g. child abuse, rape within marriage)

⚫ Restraints on individual freedom, especially for children (e.g. conformity,

submissiveness)

2.3 Industrialization/Modernization and the Nuclear Family

General understanding: As industrialization proceeds, the extended family (as well as the kinship
based society) tends to break up and the nuclear family emerges as the predominant family form
in modern society. Why is it so? How far is it a valid observation?

Traditional Extended Family Modern Nuclear Family

Patrilineal Bilineal
Patriarchal Symmetrical/ Equal
Patrilocal Neo-local

Pre-Industrial Society

Family Form & Structure:

Patrilineal: property is passed down the male line
Patriarchal: the male head has the most authority
Patrilocal: wives moving to live with their husband's kin

Extended family: In pre-industrial (agricultural) society, the classic type consists of the male
head, his wife, and children, his aging parents who have passed on the farm to him and any
unmarried brothers and sisters.

Multiple Functions of Family

⚫ Economic: a unit of production - e.g. a lineage or family may own agricultural land which
is worked, and its produce shared, by members of the lineage or family, producing the
goods necessary for the family's survival

⚫ Political: a unit in the political power system; e.g. village head responsible for the
arbitration of disputes, resolution of conflicts, & collection of taxes etc.

⚫ Welfare - caring & nurturing role

⚫ Educational/Cultural - integrating family members into the larger value system in society

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2.3.1 Parsons: "Isolated Nuclear Family" in Industrial Society [Functionalism]

Focus: functional relationship between economy (industrialization) & family (NF form)

Extended Family ———→ Nuclear Family


Industrialization (modernity)

“Isolated nuclear family” as the typical family form in modern industrial society:
"Structurally isolated" - family no longer forming an integral part of a wider system of
kinship relationships; kinship relationship being a matter of choice rather than binding
obligations

(a) Structural differentiation – institutions specializing in fewer functions

(b) Geographical mobility of the labor force
(c) Social mobility - differential statuses among family members may cause conflicts
(d) Rise of individualism (beliefs in individual merits & achievement)

2.3.2 Institutionalization of the Mother-Housewife Role in Industrial Society

⚫ Pre-industrial society: the family was the basic unit of production. In the production of
textile, the husband did the weaving & the wife spun and dyed the yarn. In agriculture,
husband and wife worked on the farm; unmarried children were responsible for cleaning &
childcare etc.

⚫ Industrialization → initially, greater labor demand for men & women

⚫ Restriction on women's employment - due to pressure & exclusion from male workers
(perception of threat) + Victorian ideology stating that a woman's place was in the home

⚫ Industrialization → work/ home distinction → sexual division of labour between workplace

& home (especially among middle class people who move to reside in the suburb area)

⚫ A new familial ideology: the domestic ideal, which simultaneously defines the feminine
ideal & a new conception of childhood

Childhood - restriction on child labor; children's well-being

The Feminine Ideal - construction of the need for a committed housewife-mother role
to take care of the household and the well-being of children

III. Gender Inequality

Generally speaking, the conflict perspective focuses on social conflict and social inequality,
asking questions such as who suffer and who benefit in the existing social system. In particular,
feminism pays special attention to the issue of gender inequality as one form of social
inequality.

Focal Concerns
Q1: Why do many women still remain full-time housewives?
Q2: Why, despite work, do women still take up the primary responsibility for household
work?

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Q3: Why, despite work, do women remain in the lower socio-economic position than men?

3.1 Domestication of Women

-Oakley: the characteristics of the housewife role in industrial society
(Q: Is housework a kind of work?)

[Then will participation in work liberate women from gender inequality?]

3.2 Gender Inequalities in Employment

Women tend to be paid less than men, concentrated in the lower grades of occupations and in
jobs with a lower status, and more likely to be in part-time work etc.

i) Occupational Segregation
-division between men’s job & women’s job, within the same rank (horizontal gender
segregation) & across different ranks (vertical gender segregation);

ii) Sex-Role Stereotyping

-the women’s job is largely an extension of domestic work (e.g. nursing) which requires
little technical skill and expertise (or some inter-personal skill);

-the men’s job assumes significance in economic production which requires skill,
expertise, mental capacity and instrumental rationality;

iii) Differential ranking between men’s job and women’s job

-the so-called women’s job is lowly-valued in status, power in money terms whereas the
men’s job is more highly-valued

iv) Promotional Prospects

-deskilling in work among women
-preconception about women’s ability & character
-consideration of women’s caring role at home

v) Part-Time Employment and Unemployment

-part-time employment as a strategy by women whereby to shoulder the double burden
of housework and wage work
-rate of unemployment among women being under-estimated

Explanations for Gender Inequalities in Employment

(i) Functionalism and Human Capital Theory

Functionalist theory by Parsons: women are naturally suited to the “expressive” role of
childcare and men the “instrumental” role of competing in the labor market.
Implications: Women with children will give up or interrupt their careers.

Human capital theory by some economists: women’s lack of commitment to paid

employment is the cause of the disadvantages they suffer in the labor market (as a result,
relative lack of training, qualifications and experience)

Criticisms: The theories ignore causes of inequality between male and female
employees located within the structure of the labor market (→ the next focus).

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(ii) Women as a Reserve Army of Labor (Beechey, 1986) – Marxist-Feminist:

Marx:
• Capitalism required a spare pool of potential recruits to the labor force.
• Under capitalism, cycles of slump and boom – to hire workers during the booms,
and fire them during the slumps. Under capitalism, technological innovations
also reduce the workforce, and a reserve army provides the necessary flexibility.
• One main function of the reserve army is to reduce the wages of all the workers.

Beechey:
• how women are particularly suited to form part of this reserve army:
• women: less likely to be unionized;
• women: prepared to work for less than men (husband’s wages as major source
of income)
• women: more likely to accept part-time or flexible-hour work (due to their
familial role)

3.3.Gender Inequalities in the Family

• Research on conjugal roles:
-allocation of housework
-decision-making power
-money management
-invisible and emotional work

• Feminist View: the family as a source of women’s oppression

-financial dependence of women on men
-family ideology encourages women to put the family before their own interests
-family ideology masks gender injustice (e.g. battery, rape, & abuse)

IV. Feminist Theories

4.1 Liberal Feminism

Roots of the Problem:

Socialization into rigid gender roles --- hampering the development of both men & women,
& preventing women from having equal opportunities (The ideal situation is one in which
each individual chooses the lifestyle most suitable to her/him and has that choice respected.)

Resolution:
Creation of equal opportunities --- through legislative changes and public education
(e.g. eliminating sexism and stereotypes about women and men from textbooks & the mass
media)

Criticisms
(a) lacking "an account of the overall social structuring of gender inequality" (Walby 1990)
--- offers no explanation of how gender inequalities first developed; some argue that the
creation of equal opportunity for and in work will not eliminate gender inequality – why?
-(b) encourages women to be like men without offering alternatives to the “masculine”
culture

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4.2 Radical Feminism

Roots of the Problem: Patriarchy (i.e. Men’s domination over women):

Resolution: Independence from Men

Women must take radical control over their bodies & lives --- Revolutionary changes ---
independence & even separation from men (e.g. organizing women's movement
independently of men outside the male-dominated culture; becoming lesbians). They
celebrate feminine characteristics such as connection, sharing, emotion, process, peace and
life, while being hostile to masculine characteristics such as aggressiveness, hierarchy,
domination, & war etc.

4.3 Marxist Feminism

Primary root: economic oppression (capitalism)

Secondary root: sexist oppression
Resolution: communism

• Women’s role at home: reproduction of labor power

--- unpaid work at home (by wife) subsidizes and disguises the real costs of
reproducing labor (by husband) in the job market

4.3 Socialist Feminism

Roots: Capitalism + Patriarchy are equally important

Resolution: for women to gain real economic independence in a fully transformed economy
in which different types of work, not ordinarily considered economic (e.g. housework), can
be understood in economic terms.