New right thinkers however; believe that these laws undermine the traditional male dominance in families, but many believe these new policies for women and children strengthen the family rather than weaken it. Sociologists such as new right thinkers argue that the Labour party has constructed a ‘nanny state’ which over-intervenes in personal living arrangements. The Labour party have constructed many laws beneficial for women in families as they have realised most families now rely of two
Radical feminists such as Dobash and Dobash also disagree with Willmott and Young’s theory that the family is symmetrical. They believe there are inequalities in the power relations between men and women so they see family
A symmetrical family is a family where ale the chores are shared equally between couples. Sociologists like Sullivan give reasons for a symmetrical family. An example of this is that there are more women working and that they are bringing in more money to help ensure that help can be hired, eg cleaners. Another example is commercialisation of housework, eg more ready meals, microwaves and washing machines mean that men do not mind doing these chores because they do not have to spend too much time on these tasks. Another example is the shifting social attitudes which mean that it is more accepted in society for men to do housework.
After this law there was an increase in lone parent families, cohabiting and even same sex couples, this was because it started to be more socially acceptable and married couples didn’t have to be forced into a relationship if they weren’t happy. However, The New Right did not like the idea of having lone parent families, they said that lone parents (mostly mothers) cannot discipline their children properly and are a burden on the welfare state as they need to claim benefits due to the fact that they are not working so they can’t support their children. Conservatives see marriage as the essential basis for creating a stable environment for bringing up children, so I don’t think that they are very happy with the fact that family diversity is such a big deal in our society nowadays as they have a very traditional view. Similarly to The New Right’s view, Chester in 1985 claimed that people aspire to be in a nuclear family because that is the way that most people in the UK have been brought up, he also claimed that most people live in a household headed by a married couple and will most likely be the head of a nuclear family in the future. He believes that the nuclear family is the ideal type of family where the husband is the breadwinner and the wife is the housewife
It’s beneficial as there are male and female role models available for the children, and it gives the parents more control of how their children are brought up. Another strength is that there’s less interference from wider family members however this can also be seen as a negative aspect, as other people are unaware of what’s happening and if there was any problems within the family and therefore it’s difficult to identify neglect. This also makes it difficult to seek professional help outside of the family. Another disadvantage of this privatised nuclear family is that children are only exposed to one set of values and so are influenced to become like their parents in the future as they have no exposure to other behaviours of different families. A criticism of this
Modernization throughout the time period is a factor of the advancement of civil rights for women since separate spheres, which was an ideology where men belonged in the public sphere that refers to the world of politics, economy and law. Where as women belonged in the private sphere where it included domestic work, child caring, housekeeping and religious education. Some Women did go against the ideology by working in a men dominated environment e.g. Politics. Activism by women was not the most important factor in advancing civil rights in certain issues and it would disagree with the judgment.
Using a critical lens draws explicit attention to power, social in equalities, and structural determinants of health (Doane and Varcoe, 2005, p. 60). Everything Carla knows may be because of where she grew up and the societal and historical values which have been instilled in her. Through a critical lens we may question why Carla was worried about her brother, maybe she had seen his behavior before in another loved one or was she programmed through her history to be an overly protective person? And why was she not worried about her weight, was this the size her mom was? Was the media making her believe that she must be thin?
Refugees have also been made available for women by the government, which have allowed women to escape domestic violence. However, some feminists argue social policies reinforce patriarchal ideas of men and women. For example, tax/benefit policies assume husbands are the main wage earners and this means women can find it difficult to claim benefits in their own right, which reinforces women’s dependency on men. Therefore, some women may less likely to get divorced so may be left in an empty shell
Functionalist Parsons believes that instability is created with diversity and the nuclear family is a lot more predictable and therefore practical family structure. New Right sociologist Murray believes that benefits given to diverse families such as lone parent families are harmful to the nuclear family and he believes that it encourages irresponsibility and laziness. This view is criticised by the Labour view as they believe that benefits help those in poverty and encourage family diversity as people should be able to live how they choose. The New Labour has nothing against the nuclear family but does believe that people should be able to live in different family structures and they should be supported in doing so. Also post modernists believe that the nuclear family is no longer dominant and people now live in a society where they make their own decisions and every family is different in structure as peopled live with freedom and they don’t have to follow convention.
Men are socialised into exploitative relationships in relation to work and they carry this socialisation over into the home and their relationship to women. b. Patriarchy is an ideology (a set of related beliefs about the world - in this instance, male - female relationships) that stems from male attempts to justify the economic exploitation of women. c. The "family system" characteristic of modern societies benefits capitalism (and, by extension, the men who tend to dominate positions of power and influence) because women: - can be forced / socialised into unpaid domestic labour. - can be forced / socialised into responsibility for child-rearing. This benefits the Capitalist because they do not have to pay women to perform this role (the "reproduction of labour power" in society).