Sex Roles in Parsons Family

1361 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Contemporary family structure

Sex Roles in Parsons Family

Introduction

Talcott Parsons wrote the agenda for almost all the earlier post-war

sociologies of the family. It is hard to find a text book on the

family which does not, at some stage, give a list of the functions of

the family. Consequently, an outline of Parsons' ideas concerning the

family is a useful starting point for understanding the sociology of

the family.

You are not expected to agree with Parsons, but if you disagree make

sure you can explain why you disagree.

Parsons argued that:

- Societies evolve as the result of functional adaptations to the

problems presented by inter-relationships between (and within) systems

that make up the social totality. (Functional adaptations sounds very

similar to Max's idea of the dialectic - that there is something in a

society that 'causes' change).

- History is an evolutionary process of adaptation to problems.

(Again, Marx's approach is evolutionary in character).

- Social systems have the characteristics they do because they are

functional for their existence.

- Their existence is a testament to their necessity.

So, Parsons views the family as a dynamic institution undergoing

evolutionary modifications. (Not a bad idea really - think of

contemporary family developments). The Family is neither outmoded or

facing collapse. Parsons argues, that as societies evolve they become

more specialised. For example, the family, once directly involved in

production and education, has lost these functions to other

institutions.

There is, however, a problem with the Parsons family. It is: North

American, white and middle class (Morgan 197...

... middle of paper ...

... the closest bond

is formed. But it should be appreciated that the chief bond need not

be with a biological parent, it need not be with the chief caretaker

and it need not be with a female." (Rutter 1972).

So, it would seem that human beings are able to adapt to a wide range

of family situations. The implication for Parsons theory is that it

cannot be correct. We need to ask, if it is not ‘natural’ then why do

we have the family forms that we do?

8. Cross-cultural evidence: The problem with such evidence is that it

can inform as to variety or uniformity but does not explain why such

patterns exist. It is descriptive rather than explanatory. Therefore,

differing researchers can look at the same evidence and reach

different conclusions to functionalist accounts. This is what some

varieties of feminism have done.

Show More
Related

  • An Analysis of Sexuality and Gender in Children's Daily Lives by Thorne and Luria

    585 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sexuality and Gender in Children’s Daily Worlds article by Thorne and Luria focuses on the relationships between sexuality and gender in the experience of 9 to 11 year old children. The purpose of the authors’ analysis is to illuminate age-based variations and transitions in the organization of sexuality and gender. Throughout this paper we discover how gender and sexuality has become a social and cultural construction that is expressed through young children. At a young age we tend to define and separate ourselves by gender, boys vs. girl. These divisions are enforced around us daily. For example, teachers often tend to separate team by gender whether it’s in the classroom or the playground.

    Read More

  • Strain Theory During The Great Depression

    1452 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first one of these adaptations was conformity. This is the most widely practiced form of adaptation. Conformists buy into the conventional goals of society and they believe they need to work hard in order to achieve these goals. These people strive for success through hard work. Even if they realize that their aspirations may be a little high, they continue to follow social rules (Gomme, 2007) and “grin and bear it” (Winfree & Abadinsky, 2003) the legitimate way. If they fail to achieve their goals, they place the blame upon themselves and still strive harder to obtain

    Read More

  • Peyton Place Gender Roles

    140 Words  | 1 Pages

    Women also dealt with taboo subjects. The novel Peyton Place (1956) by Grace Metalious dealt with many scandals among the inhabitants of what appears to be a serious and proper New England town which later became a popular TV series in 1960s. The novel was considered indecent and scandalous and it included taboo subjects like sex, profanity, alcoholism, and graphic violence. A year after the publication of the work it was turned into a movie which became a major hit. A popular TV series in the 1960s based on the novel became forerunner of TV dramas such as Desperate Housewives. There occurred a drastic change in the publishing industry after the publication of Peyton Place. Americans no longer felt embarrassed about reading such novels

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In Desperate Housewives

    1832 Words  | 4 Pages

    Society has evolved significantly from its initial gender stereotype of the black and white images of the hard-working husband and the loving, domestic housewife. According to Raewyn Connell in his book Gender (2009) he says that men are or at least should be the ‘producers or breadwinners’ and that women should be the ‘consumers’. However, it was around the middle of the 20thcentury during the onset of the feminist movement when the idea of the perfect woman was featured by glamorous magazines and television. Yet, there has been much controversy about the ways in which the mass media represents women and how they have been affected by these images. In the patriarchal society of the period, there was a decrease in strong women being emotionally and mentally stable, intellectual and sexually attractive. Building on that premise, this paper will examine and analyse the different stereotypical roles the female characters of Desperate Housewives portray, how they are viewed by the audience, and what impact these gender constructions have on society.

    Read More

  • Persisting Gender Roles: A Barrier to Progress

    1525 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Turns out you gals are useful after all!” “You mean a woman can open it?” The messages portrayed in the classic fifties housewife ads are no new phenomenon. But while society today views them and scoffs, the way traditional gender roles are perceived hasn’t improved much. Traditional gender roles can be perceived in many different ways, though always reveal the same underlying qualities. Men are thought of as the breadwinner, while women are seen as the caretakers and homemakers. While this seems like an outdated view of gender roles, it is still extremely prevalent in our society and they are stopping development. According to Planned Parenthood these “Stereotypes about gender can cause unequal and unfair treatment because of a person’s gender”(Planned

    Read More

  • Emotional Death In The Book Night By Elie Wiesel

    903 Words  | 2 Pages

    It would be normal to

    Read More

  • Evolution

    1517 Words  | 4 Pages

    to humans, there are many traits that have been selected and adapted for throughout their evolutionary history giving them

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In Childhood

    669 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is increased awareness among the general public of gender roles construction in childhood and its influence towards their perception of gender standards, thus affecting their occupational aspirations. Gender role is society’s belief that people should behave in a pre-set norm that determines the appropriateness of their behaviour according to their gender. Despite current society’s rejection of this application of gender roles, the affects of gender role are easily seen in children, adolescents, and adults (Smith, 2015). For decades, feminist groups, researchers and social commentators are trying to reduce the influence of the assigned gender roles by increasing awareness of the topic through projects and research (Francis,2010). In addition,

    Read More

  • What Makes Us Human?

    1725 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... drawn. What makes us human? Through the examination of human evolution, both biological adaptations and cultural adaptations which are distinct to humans can be recognized. Biologically speaking, humans are unique in that they are bipedal, they have larger brain sizes, and longer leg length. When examining the cultural evolution of humans we have a complex language system, we live in communities, engage in symbolic behavior, and act through emotional impulses. While we are often considered to be superior to all other animals, it is important to recognize that while we are animals, we have very distinct characteristics and adaptations that separate us both biologically and culturally from all other animals.

    Read More

  • Immigration In Australia Essay

    1583 Words  | 4 Pages

    However it is important to accentuate that factors influence each other and that the experience during the process of adaptation will vary.

    Read More

  • Gender and Sexuality

    1230 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gender has been around throughout history; however, within recent years, gender has separated itself from the traditional view of sex, e.i., male or female, and has become centered on ones masculinity or femininity. Of course gender is more than just ones masculinity or femininity, gender has become a way for one to describe, he or she, in a way in which they are different from everyone else. Gender has turned into a sense of identity, a way for one to feel different and fulfilled among all of those around them. Of course gender’s sense of freedom would seem outside of structure and only affected by one’s own agency, however, structure is a key component in establishing gender. We can look into both ethnic Mexican’s culture practices regarding sexuality, children songs and games, and see that cultural traditions still heavily influence gender, creating what is masculine and what is feminine and what is the role of each gender, as well as challenging the notions that gender is solely based on agency.

    Read More

  • My Family Role Essay

    1063 Words  | 3 Pages

    When it comes to family roles, some people have only a few and some may have a slew. I, for instance, only have two roles. These roles came to me when I was about fifteen years old, when I was just starting high school. I would consider me as the youth leader and motivator in my family. These roles allow me to interact with my family to a great extent and more importantly pay attention to my elder relatives when they have something to say. By generating a youth leader and motivator role, it makes me eager to assimilate the family history the elders in my family give me.

    Read More

  • Family Influence On Gender Roles And Expectations

    151 Words  | 1 Pages

    There are a lot of ways for us to learn about gender roles and expectation. Family has the most important influence on how we learn about gender roles. There are some reasons why we figure out this. First, family is the initial socialization place. We contact to family when we were born. Because of this, family has a vital role in the stage of how we think about gender roles. Secondary, we will mimic the gender roles that parents unknowingly perform to us. We focus on parents’ behaviors, for instance, mother dose the house chores and father goes outside for work. And our thinking will be inserted with the idea which gender role should do what. Lastly, parents’ thinking about

    Read More

  • Gender and Sexuality

    2683 Words  | 6 Pages

    Gender and sexuality can be comprehended through social science. Social science is “the study of human society and of individual relationships in and to society” (free dictionary, 2009). The study of social science deals with different aspects of society such as politics, economics, and the social aspects of society. Gender identity is closely interlinked with social science as it is based on an identity of an individual in the society. Sexuality is “the condition of being characterized and distinguished by sex” (free dictionary, 2009). There are different gender identities such as male, female, gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual that exists all around the world. There is inequality in gender identities and dominance of a male regardless of which sexuality they fall under. The males are superior over the females and gays superior over the lesbians, however it different depending on the place and circumstances. This paper will look at the gender roles and stereotypes, social policy, and homosexuality from a modern and a traditional society perspective. The three different areas will be compared by the two different societies to understand how much changes has occurred and whether or not anything has really changed. In general a traditional society is more conservative where as a modern society is fundamentally liberal. This is to say that a traditional society lists certain roles depending on the gender and there are stereotypes that are connected with the genders. One must obey the one that is dominant and make decisions. On the other hand, a modern society is lenient, It accepts the individual’s identity and sexuality. There is no inequality and everyone in the society is to be seen as individuals not a part of a family unit...

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In The Family

    1624 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gender roles are extremely important to the functioning of families. The family is one of the most important institutions. It can be nurturing, empowering, and strong. Some families are still very traditional. The woman or mother of the family stays at home to take care of the children and household duties. The man or father figure goes to work so that he can provide for his family. Many people believe that this is the way that things should be. Gender determines the expectations for the family. This review will explain those expectations and how it affects the family.

    Read More

More about Sex Roles in Parsons Family

Open Document