The evolving nature of masculine and feminine roles in relationships - Annotated Bibliography Example

Full Evolving Roles in a Relationship (Gender and Sexual Studies) 08 April – Annotated Bibliography (Works CitedPage)Desjardins, Lisa. “Now out of Senate, Snowe supports same-sex marriage.” CNN. 05 Apr. 2013. Web. 07 Apr. 2013. .This news article typifies the current contentious debate on same-sex marriages, and in particular, the arguments on this issue regarding the Defense of Marriage Act. It prohibited marital unions between gays and lesbians. Changing a stance on this issue is an acknowledgment of the growing politicial power of the LGBT community to push their agenda and advocacy, among which are the legal aspects as well as the ensuring financial benefits of such unions, such as right to get pension and survivorship benefits for the partner or spouse.

Goldberg, Abbie E., Smith, Julianna Z., and Maureen Perry-Jenkins. “The Division of Labour in Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual New Adoptive Parents.” Journal of Marriage and Family 74.4 (Aug. 2012): 812-828. Print.This article journal examines the differences in the division of labour among various couples (gay, lesbian, and heterosexual) among newly-adoptive couples who in turn are influenced by their levels of income (resulting in greater discrepancies in contribution to feminine tasks) while number of works hours resulted into a greater discrepancy in contribution to masculine tasks at home.

The research examined a total of 160 newly-adoptive couples of various gender orientations but the general finding is that same-sex couples shared child care and house work more equally as compared to heterosexual couples. This gives a newer meaning to the concept of intimate relationships where gender roles are often opaque or ambiguous, such as who plays the father and who plays the mother.Lippa, Richard A. Gender, Nature, and Nurture. New York, NY, USA: Routledge, 2005. Print.This book re-examines the on-going and never-ending debate on the nature of gender and its formative influences.

Gender is reviewed again from the perspectives of genetics, molecular biology, evolutionary theory, psychology, sociology, and neuroanatomy. It is an interesting read because it presents a review of the very nature of gender and how masculinity and feminity are each defined. Gender is a very complex concept, with overlapping similarities and differences. Lucier-Greer, Mallory, Adler-Baeder, Francesca, Ketring, Scott, and Thomas Smith. “Malleability of Gender Role Attitudes: Gendered Messages in Relationship Education.

” The National Council on Family Relations. Nov. 2011. 1-2. Print.The research study looked at how relationship education (RE) can be used to alter the gender roles and gender attitudes of the project participants. In particular, the study tried to examine how even if gender roles are developed and fixed during childhood experiences, the schemas are not static or stable, even in adulthood. It means this gender role attitude can still be changed as it is quite malleable. In other words, the development of gender roles is a continuous process, which can be influenced by life-altering events, personal growth from adolescence to adulthood, and various socializing experiences in school, work, and family.

Roughgarden, Joan. Evolutions Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People. Berkeley, CA, USA: University of California Press, 2004. Print.This book is a fascinating view of sexuality and gender, seen through the eyes of the animals, and ultimately, from the viewpoint of people also. The author takes an unbiased view of the development of sexuality from the perspective of biology, tracing its evolutionary origins from hormones and genes. Further, the author also challenges Darwinian theory in light of insights from social scientists.

In a further extension of the topic, the author likewise made mention of how the ancients and even religion took note of the diversity in gender roles.Thornton, Arland, Axinn, William G. and Xie Yu. Marriage and Cohabitation. Chicago, IL, USA: University of Chicago Press, 2008. Print.The authors discussed how marriage as a social institution has undergone the various changes in light of changed or altered gender roles. This is of particular interest because many marriages end in divorce, marriage statistics are going down, and a majority of consenting adults cohabit instead.

Union formation is gender related but depends on how these adults view themselves, their religion and family history influence decisions on adoption and how parenting roles in a union are a powerful influence on the formation of a gender identity.