OCR A-Level Sociology H580
Introducing Socialisation, Culture and Identity
Families and RelationshipsComponent 01
Youth SubculturesComponent 01
MediaComponent 01
Research Methods and Researching Social Inequalities
Understanding Social Inequalities
Globalisation and the Digital Social World
Crime and DevianceComponent 03
EducationComponent 03
Religion, Belief and FaithComponent 03
Families and Relationships
Marxist, feminist and postmodern views and the diversity debate
- 3 things to know
- Component 01
Overview
Recall questions on Marxist views of the family from Engels and Zaretsky, liberal, Marxist, radical and difference feminism, postmodern views of diversity with Stacey and Giddens's pure relationship, Chester's neo-conventional family, the Rapoports' five types of diversity, consensus and conflict views, and the family as social control.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
What is the postmodernist view of family diversity?
What is Anthony Giddens' concept of the 'pure relationship'?
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What did Friedrich Engels argue about the origins of the monogamous nuclear family?
Model answer
Engels argued it emerged with private property, because men needed certainty of paternity to pass their wealth to legitimate heirs, which required control over women's sexuality.
- 2
What does Eli Zaretsky argue about the family as a haven?
Model answer
Zaretsky argues the comfort the family appears to offer from alienating work is largely an illusion, because the family cannot meet all a person's needs and mainly serves capitalism by reproducing and maintaining labour power.
- 3
Give one criticism of the Marxist view of the family.
Model answer
Critics argue it is economically determinist, assuming everything the family does serves capitalism, and that it neglects gender inequality within the family, which feminists see as the central issue.
- 4
What do liberal feminists argue about the family?
Model answer
Liberal feminists argue that gender inequality in the family is caused by socialisation and outdated attitudes, and that it is gradually being reduced through legal reform, education and changing expectations rather than requiring revolution.
- 5
How do Marxist feminists explain women's position in the family?
Model answer
They argue women's unpaid domestic work reproduces labour power cheaply for capitalism, and, as Ansley put it, women absorb the frustration men bring home from exploitative work, so the family cushions capitalism at women's expense.
- 6
What is the radical feminist analysis of the family?
Model answer
Radical feminists such as Delphy and Leonard see the family as the key institution of patriarchy, in which men benefit from women's unpaid labour and emotional servicing; Germaine Greer argues women would be better served by female-centred households.
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