gender communication in the family 2
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K I M B E R L Y P I K E
Gender Communication in the Family
Introduction
Families are more than groups of related people
People are gendered within their families
Families are organized by gender
Impossible to fully study gender without family
Where we learn roles are unequal
Introduction
Importance of gender roles
Gender roles taught by families
Traditional gender roles reinforce stereotypes
Hidden role of family traditions
Role of gendered social scripts
Family as a Social Institution
The Ideal Nuclear Family
Most families do not fit this
mold
Families today are very unique and diverse
The nuclear family is elusive
Masculinity & femininity emerges in 1800s
Nuclear is not the norm
38% of all marriages end in divorce Around 75% of divorced persons remarry with a 60%
chance of divorce 50% of marriages occurring this year are expected to end
in divorce Almost 30% of homes are headed by a single adult 52% of families have no children under 18 30 % of children will live in blended families at some
point (CDC, 2005a; The International Stepfamily Association, 2006)
In most two-parent homes, both parents work outside the home (Hochschild, 2003)
Stereotypes Emerge
Masculinity, femininity, and nuclear family
Institutionalized in the 1950s
Role of the media and economic growth
Spread of this ideal outside the U.S.
Interlocking Institutions
Institutions Coexist
Family affects, and is affected by, other institutions
Nuclear ideal pushed by politicians and congress
Idea of “Family Values”
Heterosexual privilege
How Work Affects Family
Imbalance in housework distribution
The “second shift”
Division of labor in same-sex couples
“Compulsory heterosexuality”
Family Constructs (and Constrains) Gender
Research on the Nuclear Family
Research affected by ideology
Unequal levels of housework deemed normal
“His vs. her marriage”
Parent-Child Communication
Parental modeling
The power of observation
Influence of parent/child interaction
Is gender teaching conscious?
Social accountability
Parent-Child Communication
Militant Motherhood
Children actively create gender
Gender Schema Theory
Adult Friends and Lovers
Heteronormativity
Devaluing of friendships
The Two-Culture Theory
Influence of the normative ideal
Dating Relationships
Gender Role Scripts
Deviating From the Norms
Do we really express intimacy that differently?
Marital Communication
Popular Research Topic
Demand/Withdrawal Pattern
Two-culture theory
Power perspective
Domestic Violence
Not all conflicts are bad for relationships
Family maintains gender inequalities and violence Every instance is unique
CCV- Common couple violence
Facts on Domestic Violence in the U.S.
4 children die in the U.S. everyday from abuse and neglect in the family
4 women are murdered in the U.S. daily by boyfriends or husbands
Women are 10 times more likely to be victims of domestic violence than are men
4+ million children in the U.S. are abused or neglected by family members annually
16% of men and 27% of women were victimized as children
25% of women have been physically assaulted or raped by an intimate partner, both in the U.S. and around the world
Domestic Violence
What types of men abuse?
How do gender expectations play a role?
How family hides abuse
Sex differences in violence
Emancipatory Families
Emancipatory Families
Why do they matter?
Society’s ideals of fatherhood
Benefits of engaged fatherhood
Lack of research on fathers
Emancipatory Families
Diverse fathers
Violence vs. nurture
Homosexual fathers
Conclusion
Families are diverse, so is their communication
The “Ideal” is not the norm
The ideal perpetuates inequalities in communication, role expectations, and violence between the sexes
Breaking from the ideal is how we improve