The Gender Divide in the Family - Term Paper Example

Gender Divide (Family) Name Institution Course Date Gender Divide (Family) Introduction The involvement of men and women in family life has shown a significant divide despite the tasks and responsibilities that they take. Even so, they still demonstrate a desire to attain parity in family life. Based on the beliefs and attitudes shown on the issue of gender divide in the family, it is clear that the problem is not about women’s desire to be equal to men and to share equally and men being reluctant to do as the women wish. The problem has been rooted in many factors including the beliefs and attitudes of people as well as the structure of the society. Even so, there is a general presumption that the potential benefits accrued from having the divide between men and women evened out are greater and have add value to the pleasures experienced in family life (Russell, 1994). Various researches have been done on the gender divide in the family. A literature review by this paper shall discuss the issues raised in the studies. This shall be done based on peer reviewed articles by various authors. Research questions Does gender status influence the shape of the divide between men and women in the family? Does productivity of men and women influence the roles they serve in the family? What influence does the gender ideology of men and women have on the roles they play and on their judgment of the treatment they get? Literature review Literature on the gender divide in families has been done with a view of doing and undoing gender (Chesley, 2011: pg. 643). Chesley stated that when individuals claim to do gender, it becomes an aspect of social interaction that is both ongoing and emergent. Everyone is stated to be constructing gender continually when they engage in activities that others accept them as masculine or feminine. In addition, everyone is accountable to other people for behaviours that are based on gender. When a woman participates in a behaviour that other people perceive as not complying with the norm for her sex, it disrupts the subsequent social interactions that she will have and this creates social sanctions or conflicts in a manner that further reinforces difference in gender. While quoting West and Zimmerman (2009), Chesley (2011) emphasizes that there is a link between inequality and gender difference. The character of gender is stated to be oppressive and this emanates from resource and power differentials ensuing from the differences. The perspective of doing gender is criticized because it is seen as an approach that is used to document maintenance of differences in gender which have been constructed so as to reproduce a social system that will sustain women subordination. In essence, the concept of doing gender seems to widen the gender divide. Critics have called for the need to undo gender. The challenge of undoing gender was examined by West and Zimmerman (2009). They present the argument that undoing gender is not possible because the differences in gender are linked to differentials in resource and power and the differences are continually enhanced through processes of accountability. However, these gender differences can diminish over some time and the link between resource and power differentials ay also weaken. This indicates the importance of structural change in undoing gender. The reason structural change has been highlighted as important in undoing gender is based on two arguments. One, events like large shifts in the economy or social movements has the ability to disrupt the capacity by many people to enact gender displays that are appropriate. When many people are not able to behave in ways that are considered normative based on gender over a long period of time, there is a shift in accountability from the individuals to the institution. This indicates an institutional problem. Second, shifts in structure have the ability to strengthen or diminish any links between differences in gender and the differentials in power and resource. Family structure is a concept that is multidimensional (Schwartz, 2006). The influence of the structure on gender divide depends on the inclination of the structure. Measuring the family structure has traditionally been done through the presence or absence of the father. This has also been done through the percentage of families that are headed by female. This indicator of family structure has had strong and robust empirical findings (Schwartz, 2006: pg. 1293). Presence or absence of a father in the family has pointed to taking up of roles by the female. This has had mixed reactions from the society. In some cases, the absence of the father in the family has been blamed o the rising cases of insecurity within the society. This is an allegation that was studied by Schwartz (2006) and in the findings; it was reported to be a perception of the society based on their attitudes and beliefs. This indicates the influence of the society’s beliefs and attitudes to the gender divide. In essence, it is the beliefs and attitudes that seem to widen the gap more. The structure of the family in terms of the bread winner has a role to play on the gender divide. As was investigated by Kramer and Mccolloh (2010), differences exist between families that have an at home mother, an at home father and those that have dual earner couples. The general findings from this work show that most families have an at home mother as compared to an at home father. In fact, the research cited the need to underscore the rare and unusual nature of at home fathers whose wives were the source of income to the families. By and large, families where there existed a dual partnership in income earned registered a far better performance in most aspects, from social aspects to general welfare. For families with at home fathers, there was a notable shortage in education relative to the wives and men in other cases. Most at home mothers had the responsibility of taking care of their families, from their argument. This argument indicates acceptance of the traditional roles assigned to women. The influence of family structures on gender ideology was investigated by Carlson and Knoester (2011). The structure of the family in terms of single parenthood, two parent family structures and step parenthood had an effect on the ideology of gender on their children. Heterogeneity in gender between parents and children together with the performance of traditional roles of parenting produce high similarity scores. Between mothers and their sons, a converging ideology exists while between fathers and their daughters, diverging ideologies exist. This is more profound in step families. The study suggests that when there is a high quality relationship between a child and the step parent, transmission between biological parents of similar sex is enhanced. However, high quality relations between spouses in two parent families result in a role model dynamic that is competing (Carlson and Knoester, 2011). Productivity of women and men has been investigated to determine the differences in their productivity and the influence this difference has on the gender divide in the family. Ostby, Strand and Nordas (2013) investigated the productivity puzzle in the field of research. The disparity in productivity between male and female was noted in this field. From over fifty studies, it was stated that there was a difference in productivity between men and women. More specifically, it was noted that men produced more than women. This argument is inclined in showing that productivity between men and women affects the role taken in the family. Other studies suggest that no relationship exists between productivity and gender. Research by Tower, Plummer and Ridgewell (2007) showed there is no difference in gender when it comes to productivity. Considering the difference in productivity as being the reason for the gender divide does not stand the test of time. This is because of the changing roles in the society. For families that have female bread winners, notable achievements have been recognized and this indicates a lack of limitation in their productivity. In essence, there is a general balance in productivity between men and women. While there are some roles that women play and are very productive at, there are other roles that their male counterparts are great at. These tasks have been allocated based on the traditional roles that were played by men and women. The differences in roles played by men and women in the family were stated by Magnusson (2010) to be a factor to consider when investigating the differences in wages earned between men and women. Further findings from this work suggested that for married men and women who had children, there was a wage gap based on gender and this increased with occupational prestige. The distribution of tasks has been found to have some inequalities based on gender. Greenstein (2009) stated that even during the division of household duties, there are notable inequalities. Surprisingly, Greenstein (2009) states that women do not necessarily complain of these differences and they do not consider them to be unfair. This concept is different in various people. It is based on their judgment of fair and unfair. Greenstein (2009: pp. 1040) states that a subjective evaluation of the outcomes of the tasks given to women determines whether they will feel treated fairly or not. Another perspective to this judgment is based on the value of the outcome. When the outcome is valued, the phenomena of justice are relevant. Further to these, the processes of comparison also influence the perceptions of inequity. When individuals compare what they face with what other face, a yardstick is created with which to determine whether one has been treated fairly or unfairly. Treating individuals unfairly has some positive effect of motivating them to seek equity. Therefore, when individuals are treated with unfairness, based on gender inequality, there is a tendency to seek to restore equity from the motivation they get. The arguments by Greenstein (2009) on why people will react differently when treated unfairly demonstrate the differences in perceptions of the gender specific roles in the family and the society at large. It also shows the differences in perceptions of fairness in the society. These differences are based on the ideologies of the gender of women. For women who hold gender ideologies that are traditional, they are not likely to perceive such treatment as unfair. On the contrary, women who have less traditional ideologies will have their perceptions on unfair treatment based on how extensive the inequality has been (Greenstein, 2009: pp. 1040). Use of a comparative yard stick to determine the treatment given to women has been explained further in the way married women with traditional gender ideologies compare their treatment with that of other married women so as to see whether they are in the same situation as others. In most cases, a situation where the treatment is found to be the same for both parties will be reported to have no complaints on the treatment. On the other hand, married women who have no traditional ideologies will most likely compare themselves to their husbands or to the male gender in general. This is the reason they will feel they have been treated unfairly. The findings in this research by Greenstein point towards the influence of gender ideology on the gender divide in the family. The ideologies of members of the family will first determine how they make comparisons on the roles they play in the family. Next, it determines their judgment on whether the roles they serve are deserving of them or whether they are being treated unfairly. Conclusions Gender divide is influenced by many factors. The family structure plays the major role in the extent of the gender divide. This is because the family is a key institution in the life of members of the family. In addition to the family structure, the ideologies of family members also play a role on the extent of gender divide. While some families will feel the effects of the divide, there are others that do not feel the unfair treatment when given. The research on gender divide points towards the need to use the family structure as the key basis with which the gender divide can be undone. Bibliography Carlson, D. and Knoester, C. 2011, ‘Family Structure and the Intergenerational Transmission of Gender Ideology,’ Journal of Family Issues, Vol. 32 No. 6: 709-734. Chesley, Noelle, 2011, ‘Stay-at-Home Fathers and Breadwinning Mothers: Gender, Couple Dynamics, and Social Change’ Gender & Society, 25, 642–664. Greenstein, Theodore, 2009, National Context, Family Satisfaction, and Fairness in the Division of Household Labor, Journal of Marriage and Family 71: 1039 – 1051. Magnusson, Charlotta, 2010, ‘Why Is There a Gender Wage Gap According to Occupational Prestige?: An Analysis of the Gender Wage Gap by Occupational Prestige and Family Obligations in Sweden,’ Acta Sociologica, 53 (2): 99-117. Ostby, G., Strand, H. and Nordas, R. 2013, ‘Gender Gap or Gender Bias in Peace Research? Publication Patterns and Citation Rates for Journal of Peace Research, 1983–2008,’ International Studies Perspectives, 14: 493–506. Russell, Graeme, 1994, ‘Sharing the Pleasures and pains of Family Life,’ Family Matters, No. 37, pp. 13-19. Schwartz, Jennifer, 2006, ‘Effects of Diverse Forms of Family Structure on Women’s and Men’s Homicide,’ Journal of Marriage and Family, 68:1292-1313. Tower,G., Plummer, J. and Ridgewell, B., 2007, ‘A Multidisciplinary Study of Gender-Based Research Productivity in the World’s Best Journals’ Journal of Diversity Management 2 (4): 23–32. West, Candace, and Don H. Zimmerman, 2009, ‘Accounting for Doing Gender,’ Gender & Society 23 (1): 112-22. 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