Effect of Socially Constructed Gender Roles on Marriage - Research Proposal Example

Effect of Socially Constructed Gender Roles on Marriage EFFECT OF SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED GENDER ROLES ON MARRIAGE Introduction Gender roles have played an essential role in society historically and today, determining, for example, whether women could be allowed to walk the streets alone in colonial times sans her husband or whether they would be allowed to work (Sweetman, 2013). Gender roles, throughout history have altered societal and home dynamics, whether created within the home or as a social construct. While being born as a man or woman is a biological fact, it is one with social implications. Gender is a term used as a reference to the manner in which culture or society re-formulates this biological fact, whereby biological sexes are re-evaluated, re-presented, and re-defined into different roles depending on the culture (Sweetman, 2013). Socially constructed gender roles, therefore, are societal arrangements via which biological sexuality is transformed to human activity products, as well as within which the transformed sexual needs are satisfied. Socially constructed gender roles have evolved over time, particularly in the quality of marriage, such as egalitarian marriages that value equality and traditional marriages that elevate the man (Sweetman, 2013). These sexually constructed gender roles will be the focus of this research. The purpose of the research will be to examine how socially constructed gender roles such as motherhood and fatherhood affect the institution of marriage. Literature Review Blau (2011) defines socially constructed gender roles as a set of expectations that determine the manner in which a community or culture expects women and men to feel, act, or think. Socially constructed gender roles have significant impacts on the institution of marriage, both historically and at present, especially in the various structures of marriage that have manifested over the course of history. Research studies carried out into the social construction of gender roles have been used in investigating how these same gender roles forms, and affect the institution of marriage. Blau (2011) contends that the different gender roles in relation to reproduction have portended differing pressures on women and men, which constructs gender roles that hold the man as competitive, while the woman is more nurturing. This is the evolutionary psychology theory of gender. Another model, the social role theory of gender, contends that construction of gender roles is grounded in psychological differences of gender that are the result of the contrasting roles in society apportioned to women and men. Finally, Blau (2011) also uses the social cognitive gender theory, which holds that gender development in children is as a result of observing the adult gender behavior and imitating it. Although the conclusions of this particular research study will not be based on the theories discussed above, these theories will be crucial in explaining the construction and dynamics of gender roles across history. It is important to study the varying forms of marriages and families in society, as well as the gender roles present within these marriages in order to interpret data from this study. Blau (2011) divides married families into three major categories, which he refers to as the egalitarian type, the middle type, and the traditional breadwinner/homemaker type. The latter category is one in which only the man works, while the woman is expected to run the home, while the middle type is referent to married families in which, although the wife is employed, her work is not as absorbing as the man’s. This allows her to carry out household tasks and nurture children. Finally, the egalitarian type of married family is made up of a woman and man who have equally absorbing employment, meaning that they equally share children nurturing and tasks around the household (Blau, 2011). Owomoyela (2012), while studying the institution of marriage, characterized marriage using the level of commitment of the woman and man to the employment market, follower and lead careers, each partner’s domestic responsibilities, and the occupation and duration of work for each partner. On studying thirty marriages in British households, they found that thirteen were egalitarian, and seventeen were characteristic of the middle type. In addition, at least 70% of egalitarian marriages had the man with the leading career, while the remaining percentage was equally divided between equal careers and women having the leading career (Owomoyela, 2012). This study also concluded that decision-making within egalitarian marriages was also impacted by other issues aside from economic status of the woman, such as the stages of their lifecycle with regards to the number of children, the partner with the leading career, the type of occupation for the woman, and the relative ages of the partners. Using information gleaned from the previously cited study, it is possible to apply the choice of women between family and career, particularly since women electing to get full time employment have less offspring, as well as a better paying job. These factors were contributors to this study’s conclusions on egalitarian marriages. Ickes (1995) also conducted a study that sought to update a previous longitudinal research study carried out since 1961 that sought to investigate expectations of roles in marriage. This particular study made comparisons of expectations about marriage roles for young female students in college at six-year intervals from 1961 to 1996. This research studied egalitarian against traditional marriage expectations, while also taking the seven authority subscales into consideration. These are employment, education, social participation, individual characteristics, childcare, and homemaking. The results showed that there were substantially increased expectations towards egalitarianism for the first ten years. However, in the next six years, the only significant changes were regarding childcare, homemaking, and authority, while the sub-group evaluated in 1984 tended towards a more traditional marriage than the previous group (Ickes, 1995). It was concluded that the tendency towards egalitarian role expectations flattened out in the early 70s and that, since then, no significant movements towards either extremes were recorded. Probably the most significant finding was that expectations of childcare roles peaked in the 80s and 90s, which indicates a realization among women that men were not willing to alter their roles towards childcare (Ickes, 1995). In the United States, historical analysis shows that there have been significant shifts with regards to gender role spectrum. Coltrane & Adams (2008) finds that there were extremely traditional marriage forms prior to the American civil war, especially as separate role spheres emerged. As the industrial revolution brought increased modernization, there were changes in the agrarian family that was a single unit working for survival. Rather, women remained at home, while the man had to look for employment. It was within this era that the woman role was constructed as belonging at home nurturing the children, glorifying traditional women gender roles. The woman was celebrated as playing the role of submissiveness and purity, while the man’s role as competitive and aggressive was also constructed. While this form of gender role separation was not the same for all married families, society at the time widely held them to be true (Coltrane & Adams, 2008). It was during the 1920s that women underwent the first wave of sexual revolution, increasingly becoming concerned of their own individuality, while their entry into the wartime workplace increased their independence (Coltrane & Adams, 2008). However, the onset of the great depression marked a reversal of these gains as they were seen to be taking jobs away from men. It was also during this era that women started to vote, although the effects of the Great Depression and WWII saw a move back to traditionally constructed gender role dynamics and conformity. Coltrane & Adams (2008) argue that the positive outcome of the war, while bringing a celebratory mood, also bred conformity during the Cold War, and it was only in the 60s and 70s that women again tended towards women’s rights and individualistic desires. While the last 40 years have not seen an increase of egalitarian tendencies, there has, however, been a move towards women marrying much later as they desire education and a career. Methodology This research study will be a qualitative study, which will be the most relevant to the type of research question posited by the research. The research question for the study seeks to find out the behaviour of married couples with regards to their socially constructed gender roles, as well as the perceptions that drive their behaviour in the marriage. By using a qualitative study, it will also be possible to come up with a hypothesis that will be tested by the results of the study. A qualitative study will also help the participants to build on each other’s viewpoints and comments, while it will also be easier for the researcher to engage with them more actively, resulting in insightful and rich information. This will also be aided by qualitative study’s ability to probe participants further, while the researcher can also interpret non-verbal communication between couples. In addition, the study will use a descriptive research design, since this is best for answering the question how as associated with the research problem. It will also be the most useful design in obtaining information about the current status of the social construct of gender role phenomenon, as well as what exists with regards to conditions or variables in the institution of marriage. The participants in this research study will be chosen using probability sampling since the population to be studied is already known, i.e. married, single, and engaged couples, and they will all have a possibility of selection. Random probability sampling will be the specific sampling technique, in which the participants will be selected by random from a list of representative individuals known to the researcher, guaranteeing that they will all have an equal and independent chance of selection, thus reducing the possibility of bias. Various characteristics that will characterize the participant sample will include people aged between 21 and 35, since this group will include single people, engaged couples, and married partners. Single, engaged, and married individuals were selected to capture the dynamics of marriage with regards to gender roles as relationships progress. The sample will also include both females and males of heterosexual orientation, although this will not be specified, because heterosexual couples will enhance the study of traditional marriages, which almost exclusively apply to heterosexual couples. The type of data that will be collected from these participants will be qualitative in nature. It will be collected via in-depth interviews with the participants, for which a meeting will be set up. Part of the interview will be done face to face, while part of it will be conducted online via e-mail or instant messenger. For the face-to-face interviews, private meeting places, such as houses or study lounges will be the locations of choice. These places will have the least distraction and will allow for a conversation-like atmosphere. In addition, most of the interviews will be conducted in the evening since this is the time most participants will either have left work or school. The structure of the interview will be varied depending on the participant’s openness and comfort discussing the consequence of socially constructed gender roles on their marriage or future marriage expectations. While there will be extra probes to be added depending on the participants’ openness, the researcher will also add other questions to aid the participants build on specific issues they are talking about. Those probes that are not relevant to particular participants will be left out completely or modified. After description of the distribution of those participants tending towards egalitarian, middle, and traditional marriages, the analysis will be broken down according to these three marriage type expectations, following which each will be analyzed for factors causing the participant to lean this way. Data analysis will be carried out using the grounded theory, which will be the best fit for the qualitative study that will not begin from a hypothesis. Instead, the grounded theory analysis will result in the hypothesis. In this case, the information will first be collected from the participants, after which the key points of the information will be marked out with codes, such as family background, religion, and education, although this will be dependent on the information that is collected. The codes will then be grouped together into similar concepts, followed by further grouping of these concepts into categories. After categorization, the categories will be utilized to come up with a theory about how socially constructed gendered roles impact on the institution of marriage. This analysis method will be the best fit because it will allow the researcher to describe explanations about the perceptions and expectations of the participants. Limitations Since the study will have most of its participants being of similar religious backgrounds, as well as gender backgrounds with regards to women, this may be one weakness of the research. Although there will be attempts to find trends within the participants in the study, this may not be entirely representative of the population since most of the participants will either be friends and acquaintances of the researcher or friends of this group. This meant that most would be middle class, white individuals with similar economic and religious backgrounds. This could be remedied if the research were to use participants from different life situations, but this may not be possible due to the sampling technique. The fact that it is expected that more females will be interviewed than males may also be biased towards one gender role. Finally, although the research study was aimed at investigating the impact of socially constructed gender roles on marriage, the findings may not be consistent with the future expectations of the participants. Significance of Study This study will serve as a basis for future research, such as other aspects that impact on marriage along with gender roles. These include the socio-economic status of the couples or partners in combination or alone, as well as how this will impact on their ideal marriage expectations. In addition, it could also be used as a starting point to study the impact of religiosity and the manner in which this will affect marriages alongside gender roles. Culture could also be used alongside gender roles by seeking out people from different races and ethnicities. In addition, a follow-up study could be carried out in six to ten years to determine if the participants’ expectations had been met with regards to their expected gender roles in the marriage. This future study would also test the validity of the grounded theory and hypothesis that will result from this study. References Blau, R. T. (2011). Gender relationships in marriage and out. New York: Michael Scharf Publication Trust of the Yeshiva University Press. Coltrane, S., & Adams, M. (2008). Gender and families. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Ickes, W. (December 07, 1995). Traditional Gender Roles: Do They Make, and Then Break, our Relationships? Journal of Social Issues, 49, 3, 71-85. Owomoyela, O. (January 01, 2012). Gender roles, marriage, and family. Culture and Customs of Zimbabwe, 6, 1, 89-109. Sweetman, C. (2013). Gender, development and marriage. Oxford: Oxfam GB. Read More