2. FAMILY
Part of my Family
Many people experience
there most interpersonal
and deep relationships
amongst their family.
The communication that
occurs in a family is what
Gender does not only have
shape’s a person’s
an influence amongst family
“understanding of gender”.
relationships, it also is the
framework of organization
in a family.
3. ORGANIZATION OF FAMILY
All family trees are organized by gender through sex marked labels
Mother Father
Sister Brother
Daughter Son
Grandmother Grandfather
Aunt Uncle
Each sex marked role in a family has specific expectations, responsibilities,
and power based on the gender associated with their role.
4. ORGANIZATION OF FAMILY
Mother & Daughter Fa t h e r & S o n
Within a family gender roles can be established which ultimately get passes
down from generation to generation.
5. EXCEPTION
Gender social script are the
Many of us may feel like our rules that people carry
family is the exception but around in their heads about
in reality the fact that we are what they ought to be like as
being judge by the norm. men or women and what
others ought to be like as
men and women.
No one ever completely lives up to the gender social scripts so why
are they still held as the norm?
6. “THE FAMILY”
T h e Fa m i l y A Fa m i l y
“The Family” refers to the idea of a nuclear family which is a “elusive traditional
family because historians cannot pin point to one specific time when this family
structure actually predominated.
7. REAL FAMILIES
A nuclear family consist of a married heterosexual family who fit the common
gender roles. In reality the majority of families do not fit this model of a
nuclear family.
38% marriages end in divorce
30% of marriages are head by single adult
52% of families have no children under 18
73% of women with children worked outside of home
30% of children live in blended families
8. FAMILY IN MEDIA 1950’S
During the fifties and early
sixties media outlets helped
facilitate the norm of a
nuclear family.
Shows like Leave It To Beaver
constructed gender role
norms like a man being the
provider and mother as a
caretaker.
Click picture for a short clip!
“Why this narrow, unrealistic concept of family became and remains pervasive?” (pg. 157)
9. FAMILY IN MEDIA 2012
The media has grown to
accept the diversity of
families over the years but
still falls back on the nuclear
family motif.
The show Modern Family is a
good example of the
progress media has made in
Click picture for clip! excepting the diversity of
families.
10. INTERLOCKING INSTITUTIONS
“Part of the nuclear family myth is that it is self sufficient, but it
reality extended family, work, religion, schools, social services,
media, and law influence it.” (157)
11. INTERLOCKING INSTITUTIONS
Politics Work Compulsory Heterosexuality
The world of The most There is a common norm
politics tends to prominent existence amongst our society that
of gender roles is
refer to nuclear there is only one way to
the division of
family as the love and one form of
household labor
norm. family.
between gender sex.
Wives of “Passionate love is just one
heterosexual form of love between sexual
couples spend 5-
partners, and it does not tend to
13.5 more hours a
be the most enduring” (159)
week with
household labor
then men.
12. FAMILY CONSTRUCTS (&
CONSTRAINS) GENDER
Many studies about family communication focus
on the communication of the family as a whole.
Our text book reviews examples of intrafamily
communication to give evidence that these
relationships are influenced by former family
experiences and other social influences.
13. PARENT – CHILD
COMMUNICATION
Social Learning Model
As a parent to a child you have an
physical and emotional
attachment that last a lifetime.
With children being with their
parents so often they
unconsciously learn through
observation gender roles.
The division of household chores
is a great example. Children tend
to be assigned chores based on
their gender/sex.
14. GENDER/SEX INTERACTIONS
PARENTS INFLUENCE
Parents tend to interact with
children differently depending on
their gender/sex.
Many parent’s believe their
choices of how they raise their
kids will direct them towards a
sexual orientation.
“Girls who adopt traditional masculine behaviors raise their social status, but
boys who adopt feminine behaviors risk losing social status” (162)
15. GENDER/SEX INTERACTION:
CHILDREN’S INFLUENCE
Children play an active role in selecting their
gender!
Gender identity can be established as young as
two to three years old. Once they establish an
identity they can be selective to choose objects
Click pic for video!
or activities that are consistent with their
identity. Even though parents typically choose
gender-specific toys, children tend to steer
towards toys that correspond to their
identified gender once they are socialized to
like them!
16. ADULT FRIENDS AND LOVERS
From a young age children are These friendship barriers and
pressured into heterosexual ideals of a heterosexual romantic
relationships and seek marriage relationships are what sustain the
as a life long accomplishment. ideology of heterosexual marriage
and the nuclear family.
Same-sex friendships are
encourage because people
believe they share similar
attributes. Friendships between
the opposing sex is frowned
upon because the presumed
sexual tension.
The white wedding symbolizes heterosexual norms!
17. DATING RELATIONSHIPS
The ideology of heterosexual dating
relationships has persisted even though
dating patterns, like delaying marriage,
have changed over the years.
Women spend countless hours primping
themselves to attract the best man. Women
focus more on men’s personalities then
looks.
Men focus much of their attention on
physical attraction and physical intimacy
when finding their women.
The movie series Twilight emphasizes how media highlights heterosexual
intimacy.
18. MARITAL COMMUNICATION
Most research in marital communication is focused on marital
conflict. The gender biases of our society can cause tension
amongst couples. Gender stereotypes can cause friction amongst
couples. Also the different communication habits of male and
females can cause conflict.
Domestic violence is unfortunately more common then we want to
admit but persist because of gender social norms. Men are typically
the perpetrator of domestic violence because of common social
practices. Men are raised to be masculine beings which can initiate
the ideal of violence being the solution to problems.
19. EMANCIPATORY FAMILIES
Emancipatory families are
the acceptance of multiple
family forms to create a
positive atmosphere.
Concentrating on flexible
gender roles would enable’s
individuality and lessen
social pressures.
20. CONCLUSION
My finding through examining the relationship between
gender/sex and family shows that it all comes back to societies
perception of a nuclear family. Society limits its ability to diversify
but keeping the cultural ideology of the nuclear family.
Family is a complex system that is not only influenced by gender
but organized by it as well. The multiple and diverse relationships
within a family all have an effect from gender/sex biases.
I have learned that our society needs to adopt a more diverse
conception of family and this can be done by questioning gender
biases.
