The Place of Feminism in Family Studies

Thompson, Linda; Walker, Alexis J.

doi:10.2307/353407

Cited by 106 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 130 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…First, scholars need to address the impact of this role on women and their identity negotiations because gender norms and stereotypes generate expectations that are likely to fundamentally alter the experience into something that is different from men's experiences as breadwinners. Gender stereotypes describe and strongly prescribe expected and acceptable behaviors for individuals (e.g., Brescoll and Uhlmann 2005;Heilman 2001;Prentice and Carranza 2002) and a number of scholars have noted the gendered nature of the breadwinner role (e.g., Deutsch and Saxon 1998;Potuchek 1992;Thompson and Walker 1995). Potuchek (1992) explored how wives in dual earner couples in New England attached gendered meanings to breadwinning, finding that the most common orientation to the concept upheld the stereotypically male nature of breadwinning.…”

Section: Gendered Identity Constructionsmentioning

confidence: 98%

The Female Breadwinner: Phenomenological Experience and Gendered Identity in Work/Family Spaces

Meisenbach

2009

Sex Roles

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although female breadwinners (FBWs) are increasingly common in industrialized society and challenge traditional western gender norms, little research has focused specifically on the experiences of FBWs. These experiences impact individual, family, and organizational decision making. Thus, this project uses a phenomenological method to explore the experiences and gendered identity negotiations of 15 FBWs from the eastern and midwestern U.S. who were recruited via electronic message boards and personal contacts. The study asks how these women experience the phenomenon of being the breadwinner, seeking common elements. Results indicate six essential elements of FBWs' experiences: (a) having control, (b) valuing independence, (c) feeling pressure and worry, (d) valuing partner's contributions, (e) feeling guilt and resentment, and (f) valuing career progress.

show abstract

Section: Gendered Identity Constructionsmentioning

confidence: 98%

The Female Breadwinner: Phenomenological Experience and Gendered Identity in Work/Family Spaces

Meisenbach

2009

Sex Roles

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To explain differences between heterosexual couples and singles, however, we consider how gender influences domestic behavior. Two theories start with the same assumptions -that social structures give gendered meanings to certain behaviors and that gender is predicated on an ideology of separate spheres (Ferree 1990;Thompson and Walker 1995). Emphasizing power structures and belief systems, a contemporary gender socialization perspective implies that men and women conform to internalized ideologies of gender differentiation and inequality, independent of their household context.…”

Section: Gender Influencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Outsourcing the Gender Factory: Living Arrangements and Service Expenditures on Female and Male Tasks

2005

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Domestic services are purchased to alleviate time demands in the home. Outsourcing is substituting market goods and services for one's own labor (Bittman, Matheson and Meagher 1999). Just as firms outsource accounting or janitorial functions to independent contractors, so do households buy substitutes for their members' labor. Outsourced alternatives are produced in the industrial sector (e.g., take-out dinners) and the service sector (e.g., nannies, carpet cleaners, personal tax accountants). In the United States where housekeeping and childcare services are often provided by undocumented Latina immigrants (HondagneuSotelo 2001), these jobs are typically unregulated by formal rules and contracts and characterized by low pay rates. Given the increase in dual-earner families (McLanahan and Casper 1995), domestic outsourcing is an adaptive strategy for families that have high disposable incomes to purchase services, but less discretionary time for housework (Treas 1987). As an alternative to housewifery, domestic services may explain why women devote less time to housework than in the 1960s (Bianchi et al. 2000). Research shows that married couples use services in response to competing time demands of home and work (Bellante and Foster 1984; Brayfield 1995;Cohen 1998;Hanson and Ooms 1991;Oropesa 1993;Soberon-Ferrer and Dardis 1991). Reporting on cleaning, cooking and childcare that fall mostly to women, studies have neglected expenditures on "male" chores around the house.Women do most of the housework (Blair and Lichter 1991), but outsourcing studies display little gender theorizing (but see Oropesa, 1993, andVan Dijk andSiegers, 1996). By offsetting structural barriers to gender equality, purchased services help married women to compete in the labor market. Outsourcing household work diminishes the demands of women's "second shift" at home (Hochschild 1989). Cohabiting women may also benefit from outsourcing, but the expenditures of cohabitors and married couples may differ. Compared to married people, cohabitors do less housework, and both partners do more paid work -consistent with their egalitarian views of gender (Coltrane 2000). As another incentive to outsource, singles face gender-specific labor shortages in the home because they lack a partner to handle chores generally assigned to the other gender. This study investigates how spending on "gender-typed" domestic tasks in the United States varies by living arrangements (i.e., household differences in gender composition). This is, to our knowledge, the first study to use expenditure data to study the gendering of domestic outsourcing. Because there is little theorizing on how outsourcing varies by household type, we extrapolate from the literature on the household division of labor to develop hypotheses about domestic service spending. Admittedly, expenditures are a rough measure of outsourcing because they do not distinguish between the quantity and quality of the domestic good or service purchased. A data set containing information about 1,114 Dutch hous...

show abstract

“…We have found our existing models of family therapy challenged by these realities, resulting in a need to change the ways in which we view families (Walker, 1993). While a somewhat romanticized notion of returning to "the good old days of family values" has emerged in our country in recent years, the reality is that diverse, multifaceted families have been with us for a long time (Coontz, 2004;Thompson & Walker, 1995).…”

Section: Current Challenges To Family Practitionersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovations in Family Practice: Context Matters

Lewis¹

2004

Michigan Family Review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the introduction to this thematic issue, the guest editor provides a model for recognizing the importance of social, political, and historical contexts in family practice. Using illustrations drawn from Michigan's families during the last decade, this introduction outlines how little contemporary family theories reflect the lived realities of contemporary family structures and processes. She encourages family practitioners to be aware of the innovations in interventions present across several disciplines, and to use their own expertise to inform family theories and research.

show abstract

The Place of Feminism in Family Studies

Cited by 106 publications

References 130 publications

The Female Breadwinner: Phenomenological Experience and Gendered Identity in Work/Family Spaces

The Female Breadwinner: Phenomenological Experience and Gendered Identity in Work/Family Spaces

Outsourcing the Gender Factory: Living Arrangements and Service Expenditures on Female and Male Tasks

Innovations in Family Practice: Context Matters

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About