Anne Oakley argues that we still live in a patriarchal (male dominated) society, and therefore women occupy a subordinate and dependant role within the family and wider society. Overall it could therefore be argued that rather than partners becoming more equal, women now have to carry a ‘dual burden’, whereby she is responsible for two jobs of unpaid or paid labour. Factors such as patriarchy and conforming to a gender script will lead to these divisions. It could be argued that the money management within a family has an effect on the
Thirdly the family acts as a comfort for the stresses and frustrations of working class men they are there to ‘Cushion the main provider’. Lastly the family as a unit of consumption buys the goods and services provided by capitalism. These functions benefit the minority in power, the bourgeoisie, and the economy. The functions disadvantage the working class society, the proletariat. One way the family serves capitalism is the socialisation of the young into the ruling class ideology.
For example, women now go out to work and become wage earners, just as men now help with housework and childcare. However Feminists reject this theory, and argue that women remain unequal within the family. Anne Oakley argues that we still live in a patriarchal (male dominated) society, and that children are being taught from an early age that the traditional roles are the norm. She also rejects Parsons Theory of saying that it is controlled by biology she believes it is controlled by society. Overall it could therefore be
Functionalist Murdock suggested as children we are socialised into societies shared norms and values and he believed that males provide the economic roles and females provided the expressive role. Therefore it is natural for women to play the expressive role in the household looking after the family’s emotional needs. However, radical feminist Ann Oakley argues that the role of the housewife is a social construction and isn’t linked to the female role. The housewife role makes sure that women stay inferior to men making it difficult for them have careers. Women carry out the triple burden in the household; the domestic labour, emotional labour, and paid labour.
- This criticism focuses on class oppression and looking at how different levels of society interact - It looks at what each text has to say about class relations - The class that owns the means of production is the most powerful  Venetian Senate owns everything - Each ruling class has a system of ideas that the other classes accept as the dominant outlook UNTIL THE OTHER CLASSES BECOME REVOLOUTIONARY  Emilia’ conversation with Desdemona is revolutionary - Marx himself was fascinated by the late 16th C in England because of the change in social class. Eg. The rise in the working class (proletariat) and the rise of the middle class (bourgeoisie) - Marxism has always been concerned with development of different classes in history - Marx wrote ‘Shakespeare portrays the essence of money excellently… if money is the bond that binds me to human life, that binds society to me and me to nature and man, is not money the bond of all bonds?... is it not therefore the universal means of separation? It is the universal whore, the pander between men and peoples.’ Karl Marx, ‘the economic and philosophical manuscripts’ (1844).
In society there are always stereotypes and unwritten rules that are followed. During the era of Norman England, gender roles were a prominent facet of life; men and women adhered to strict codes of conduct. Men are idealized as strong, dominant, and respectful, whereas women are elegant and courtly. If an individual does not meet the standards of society, they are shunned. However, not everyone agrees with the heavy stereotypes laid down by the social order such as male dominance and proper courting.
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).
A Pair of Silk Stockings: Through a Feminist’s Lens Feminism is the theory that states that men and women should be equal politically, economically, and socially. Feminist literary theory is concerned with the impact of history and gender on reading and writing. It is evident that the feminist literary theory applies throughout the short story, A Pair of Silk Stockings. The protagonist of the story is Mrs. Sommers who is portrayed as a typical married woman of the early 1890s and she strives to gain personal freedom and identity just like any other woman. Women’s opinions are silenced by the rules, norms and perspectives of the dominating patriarchal society.
Social consensus is a key belief of functionalism. It allows society to continue to progress because the theory believes that we have shared norms and values in society which we must follow. Another sociological perspective that I will be explaining will be Marxism. It is a structuralist theory but it is based on conflict rather than consensus. Marxists believe that the bourgeoisie (people in a higher social class) exploit people that are in the working class to make their profits.They argue that institutions are organised to benefit the ruling class.
A04 – Masculinity in the context of 1950’s America and the context of 2010’s America: 1. 1950’s America: Men were portrayed as the “traditional breadwinners” whereas women the “traditional housewives”. Masculinity was highlighted due to social class, honor, intelligence, respect and emotional stability. Men within society particularly got their own ways and dominated women, as they saw they had to follow the social norm of masculinity to be accepted in society. Men were seen as aggressive and strong in order to have qualities regarding a “typical man”.