Negotiating Marriage

Slide 1: Negotiating Marriage Chapter 12

Slide 2: Why did Starbuck use the word “negotiate” to title this chapter? There are multiple meanings of this word. How do they apply?

Slide 3: What does a wedding do? p. 307 s Creates roles of husband and wife s Community recognizes those roles s Type of contract – Bride and groom – Among extended family – In the community s Societies “enforce” the marriage contract – Spontaneous consensus: clear roles – Androgyny: blurred roles for husband / wife

Slide 4: Concepts of Power s Power: “The probability of getting one’s way against resistance.” (Max Weber) – Illegitimate power vs authority s Measuring “conjugal power” is difficult— s Early work by Blood and Wolf – Equates “power” with “decision making” – Resource-based theory: Those who own or control the resource have the power.

Slide 5: Blood & Wolfe’s Typology s Define the 4 patterns of marital power (p. 309-310) s Which patterns are most common? s What problems are there with the research?

Slide 6: Resource Theory of Power s Social Exchange Theory: – People seek to maximize their rewards – People seek relationships that do that s Norm of reciprocity: – Favors should be repaid s Influence depends on having resources – Unequal resources = unequal influence – Principle of Least Interest s Does this theory succeed at explaining power in marriage?

Slide 7: Research on the Resource Theory of Power s Summarize from Starbuck p. 311 s Rodman s Rank(1982) – Women – Men

Slide 8: Research on the Resource Theory of Power s Summarize from Starbuck p. 311 s Brinkerhoff & Lupri 1992 – Education, occupation, income go up – What do “autonomic” and “syncratic” mean? s Blumstein & Schwartz – Gay male couples – Lesbian couples

Slide 9: Gender-based Theories of Power s Equity and equality are not the same – Housework s Power might be exercised differently in different spheres of life – Men and women have different strategies – “Micro-manipulation” s Might explain satisfaction with what looks like unequal power

Slide 10: Masculinization of Power s Cancian’s “Feminization of love” – We measure “love” according to things that women are more likely to do – This makes women look more loving s Kranichfeld “Masculinization of power” – We measure “power” in a male-biased way – This makes it seem that men have more power s Selection theory – women choose men according to standards related to power, so they tend to choose men with more power than themselves.

Slide 11: Human Capital Theory s Gary Becker – Specialization works well for families – What was Becker’s finding about the most effective and efficient way for families to fulfill the various roles? – See p. 312-313

Slide 12: Empowerment Model s Balswick & Balswick – Look at power in a different way – Not a matter of “winners” and “losers” s Conjugal power might be a process where each person uses his/her resources to increase the resources of the other partner. – Both partners are “winners” in this model – Cooking & home tasks build resources

Slide 13: Justice vs Care Perspectives s Critical question often missed s Justice: – Concern with autonomy, self-interest, rational benefit, and rights – Traditionally associated with men s Care – Concern with meeting needs of self and others through cooperation & empathy – Emphasizes mutual script maintenance – Emphasizes interdependence (not autonomy) – Associated with women

Slide 14: Marital Role Relationships s Starbuck lists TEN marital role relationships (p. 313-314) s These provide a language to describe the aspect of family life under discussion. s Note especially: – Kin-keeper and Friendship roles (network) – Separation of childcare and child socialization – Religious

Slide 15: Division of the Provider & Kinship Roles (p. 314-315) s What are the five systems? s Which system is most common?

Slide 16: Constructing Scripts Much of the rest of this chapter deals with how couples develop a mutual script – one that combines the societal expectations and their own individual desires. On Monday, we will talk about weddings and wedding plans – and how the way a couple is actually developing their marriage script as they make their wedding plans. Be ready, too, to talk about “The Real Meaning of Sex”