Deck 11: B: Families

Question 1

Why do contemporary feminists reject any assertion that men's and women's roles within families are a natural outcome of biological differences? Do you agree? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Answers will vary by student.
Women are not born knowing how to do laundry, iron clothes, vacuum, or bake, just as men are not born knowing how to work a lawn mower or to shovel snow. All of these activities are social practices. Women and men learn these things because it is what society expects of them, not because they have some innate ability to do them.

Question 2

What does a post-structuralist mean when she or he says that notions of good mothers and good fathers operate as "normalizing discourses"?

Answer 2

Post-structuralists question the concept of the "good mother" (one who is married,heterosexual,cares about children,and so forth)or the notion that "good fathers are good breadwinners." Post-structuralists argue that such categories are saturated in power relations.That is,notions of good mothers and good fathers operate as normalizing discourses-they set the boundaries of what is acceptable and appropriate,and work to govern people's behaviour.As such,mothers and fathers who do not conform to these expectations are marginalized and judged.

Question 3

What social effects is China experiencing as a result of its one-child policy? How are these effects extending beyond China into other parts of the world?

Answer 3

Chinese citizens have long had a preference for male children.Following patriarchal tradition,sons carry on family lines while daughters marry and most often move in with their husband's family.Sons,especially in rural areas,can help to work the land as well as provide support to their families (especially as their parents age).This preference for sons has resulted in sex-selective abortions,and there are even reports of Chinese peasants killing their newborn daughters so that they can try again to have a son.
Another consequence of China's anti-natalist policy is the immense number of Chinese girls adopted by members of Western countries,which contributes to the number of missing women in China.The World Health Organization calculates that as a result of its one-child policy,China is missing 50 million females.When Chinese children become adults,the lower number of available brides means that some Chinese men now marry relatives,such as first cousins.

Question 4

What does the term "second shift," coined by Hochschild,refer to? How is it organized by persistent gender patterns?

Question 5

How has queer theory and symbolic interactionism helped to broaden our understanding of same-sex couples with children?

Question 6

How have feminist analyses contributed greatly to our understanding of family violence?

Question 7

Explain why providing a universal definition of family is both highly problematic and undesirable.

Question 8

How do more "traditional" definitions of family differ from contemporary ones? What is the problem with the more "traditional" definition of the family?

Question 9

What is the social and legal significance of including same-sex couples in the expanding notion of family?

Question 10

Identify a significant advantage to expanding our legal definition of family on the occasion of the illness or death of a partner.

Question 11

What are the two major changes in recent decades made to domestic and paid labour?

Question 12

How does feminist theory help us to understand the history of imperialism in Canada and its effects on Aboriginal peoples and their family relationships?

Question 13

Domestic violence is a pervasive social issue that affects people in all walks of life.However,some women are more prone to falling victim to abusive relationships.Explain.

Question 14

What do Marxist feminists suggest about the family and its intersection with the economy? Give an example.

Question 15

What does Eichler mean when she says that we often operate with a "monolithic bias" when it comes to family? What does she suggest to overcome this?