Assignment 8

1. The Second Shift is the work women have to do when they come home after a full-time job. This includes cooking, cleaning, shopping, getting the kids ready for bed etc..


2. Nancy and Evan both have full time paid jobs. She feels that the housework is not distributed evenly and she works the second shift to take care of her son. Nancy feels upset from this and decides that Evan and her should switch preparing meals. They decide that Evan will take care of the downstairs and Nancy the upstairs.

3. Family myths are believing inside/outside, upstairs/downstairs are fair ways to split the work.

4. The family needs to believe these myths so the family can stay positive. Evan feels that he is doing his share while Nancy feels like she can count on him for something.

5. This was not surprising to me. I think men and women split the work from inside and outside a lot. I don't think I will solely participate in the second shift but if there is outside work needing to be done I will expect my husband to take of it.

Assignment 6

1. One example of ancient marriage is medieval marriage which was used to keep inheritance in the family. Today marriage is not only about financial support but many more factors come into play when making the decision to get married.

2. Many poor and middle class couples are waiting until they are more financially stable until they are getting married.

3. The wedding traditions include the the groom not seeing the bride before the wedding, making sure to do the chair dance at the reception, breaking the glass at the ceremony and standing under the chuppah. A jewish man breaking the glass at the ceremony symbolizes joy and everyone says mazel tov once broken. They break the glass because even it joyous situations you must remember the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. If I were to marry a Jewish man I would want him to participate in all wedding traditions that belong to his culture. I would want to integrate them into my traditions but I think having a good mix of both traditions is important to show where we came from and how we are taking those traditions and continuing them.

Assignment 5

1) The article states there is a narrow majority supporting gay marriage with 45% . The rest either did not support or had no response. This poll shows a big change from only a 25% support in 1996.


2. Proposition was California bill to ban same sex marriage in 2008. This has been a fight ever since it was passed. In August 2011 a judge ruled that Proposition 8 violated the equal protection rights. In February 2012 it was ruled that Prop 8 violated the Constitution and 14th amendment and discriminated against gays and lesbians.


3. The Defense of Marriage Act considers marriage "only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word `spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife."


4. North Dakota passed a constitutional marriage amendment in 2004 and adopted the defense of marriage act. In Florida they passed a amendment banning gay marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships. They already adopted the Defense of Marriage Act. Both North Dakota and Florida have adopted the Defense of Marriage Act. Florida has a separate act banning all types of gay marriage as well.


5. The passing of gay marriage will affect the wedding industry in many ways. More weddings will create more jobs for many different people. An estimated 31 billion dollars will enter the tourism industry. 66,000 couples will marry in the next 3 years. 


 The rate of straight couples is 90% and gay couples is 65%. Lesbians are more likely to marry. Many gay couples are not marrying because they want the definition of marriage to be changed first.

Assignment 4

1)     According to the lecture slides what is the difference between sex and gender? Use your own words.

Sex is your biological make up of having either a vagina and breasts or a penis. Sex also includes having either testosterone or estrogen.

Gender is how you act. Gender can be interchangeable and does not have to match up with your sex. Gender is based on society roles given to us.

2) Give an example from your own life of doing gender (i.e. acting in a gender stereotypical way). I was doing gender when I went and got my nails done. I do gender everyday when I put my makeup on, dye my hair, and wear high heels.

3) According to the chapter by Reisman and Seale:

A) The researchers had a sample size of 44 middle school student and used interviews.

B) The entire research was based off of what they were told. There were no first hand experiences.

C) The tweens told the researchers that all jobs should be equal. They then started discussing male and female jobs contradicting their equality statements.

D) A girly-girl is describes as someone who does not want to get dirty and a tom boy is someone who plays sports.

E) I think that children are taught their gender behavior through society. Advertisers gear pink toys, dolls and kitchen sets for example to girls. Girls are not given dinosaurs or trucks to play with. Children have no idea what a girl toy is or a boy toy until they are told. As soon as they are born society wraps them in respective pink or blue blankets to go home in. They are most likely given a pink or blue room and clothes. If girls were not given clothes that are pink and purple and boys blue and green they might have different favorite colors and colors can be de gendered by society.

I think society has us trained to put a doll in front of a girl and a truck in front of a boy and assume that’s their toy of choice. If children knew no one cared what they played with they might chose a toy not designed for their sex. I think little boys are yelled at when they cry and are told not to act like a girl and toughen up making emotions and crying a girl thing. Girls are yelled at when they come in with dirty clothes or were wrestling with friends and told to act more lady like.

1. 
   __F___ In the year 2000, 64.6 percent of mothers with children younger than age 6 were part of the labor force.
2. __F___ The number of working mothers with children ages 6 to 17 increased by 15 percent between 1975 and 1980.
3. ___F__ During the period 1995 to 2001, the number of working mothers with children younger than age 6 increased by more than 5 percent.
4. ___T__ In the last five years on the chart, the percentage of working mothers with children younger than age 18 decreased.
5. __T___ The number of working mothers with children younger than age 6 went above the 50 percent mark for the first time between the years 1980 and 1985.
6. ___F__ The number of working mothers with children ages 6 to 17 has not been below 70 percent since 1980.
7. __T___ The number of working mothers with children younger than age 6 decreased between 1997 and 2001.
8. __F___ In 1955, fewer than one-fourth of all mothers with children under age 18 were part of the U.S. workforce.
9. ___T__ Working mothers with children younger than age 6 have always made up a smaller percentage of the workforce than those who have children ages 6 to 17.
10. _T____ In the year 2001, more than three-fourths of all mothers of children ages 6 to 17 were part of the labor force.

6) Do you think women are doing as well as you as expected, less well, or better and why?

I think women  are doing as well as I expected. There are many women in the workforce today than in 1955. The statistics show between 60-70 percent of all women. I think this is accurate when taking into consideration stay at home moms. I think it is interesting to see how many mothers of young children also are going into the workforce. 

Assignment 3

1.    1.   Instrumental Leader-“ Led the group discussion about how to solve the task they were assigned.”

Expressive Leader-Keeps everyones spirits up in a situation.

The family was directly connected to these leader roles. The father was portrayed as the instrumental leader and led the family and the mother was the emotional support that kept everyone together

1.      2. The main demographic change in families in the 1960-1970s was women going to work. This took over the mans role of breadwinner and allowed females to be bread winners as well.

1.      3. The main theme of the conflict theory is the constant fight for power in a relationship.  Men are portrayed as the more powerful ones and women as less powerful. Men are more powerful due to physical force and economic power. Women are seen as less powerful because of their lack in economic resources.

1.       4. The social exchange theory is based off of economists. Husbands have a strong “bargaining” power when they are the sole breadwinners. When a wife has her own job the power from the husband decreases.

1.    5.    Feminist perspective is based off of gender. It involves the inequalities between men and women.

6A) The relationships between children from stay-at-home moms versus the relationship between moms who work and how both have affected the family dynamic.

6B)  I would work on a micro level to focus on each member of the family and get their individual input.

6C) I would use field research to gain in depth answers through interviews and I would use participate observation to see how they interact.

6D)  I would have about 40 individuals within families in my study.

6E)

– Do you feel that because you are working/stay-at-home  your relationship with your children is close or distant and why?

- Do you feel completely involved in your child’s life?

- Do you feel like you are appreciated for the work you do for your children?

Assignment 2: Family Demographics

Part 1 Assignment 2

1. I found the statistic that more than half of homes will not have anyone under the age of 18 in the household. This statistic made me start to think about my friends and family and the children in their homes. Another statistic is that 1/4 of homes are occupied by a person living alone. That seems like a big part of the country that is not living with a significant others, family, or friends.

2. Most of the data on the chart is what I expected. I did not expect there to be more married families with no children now than in 1995.

3. There are many things I noticed on the chart. There are less two parent homes now and more living alone situations. The mother and father with a child stayed the same throughout the years.

3a. Married couples with no children seems to becoming more typical. Also, living alone with no children is becoming more typical. Fathers with children seem to be staying about the same.

3b. Two parent households and mothers with children seem to becoming less of the norm.

4. In 5 years I will be 27. I expect to be living independently alone or be a sharing a home with my boyfriend. In 10 years, I hope I am married with at least 2 children and a dog. In 70 years from now I hope I am a grandmother and have retired somewhere beautiful.

Part 2 Assignment 2

1. Women today are focused on getting an education and worrying about themselves. They are marrying and starting a family later in life compared to 40 years ago.

2.The norm for woman now is going to college. Women make up 54 percent of college students. Since more women are in college, they spend more time on having a full time career and less time forming a family. This can cause women to marry later in life or not at all.

3.Women have always led hardworking lives either in the work force or in the home. I think that women gaining college educations allows them to choose many different career paths than otherwise possible in the past.

4. I think after I graduate I plan on starting my career and really becoming an independent person before getting married and starting a family. I think I most relate to the character Charlotte. I want to have career goals and follow through with them but I would like to start a family as well. I think Charlotte is a good combination of hard working, caring, sensitive to other people feelings, but can still stand on her two feet. I think my favorite boyfriend on the show is Aiden. He was witty, funny, and understanding. Even after Carrie admitting to cheating on him, Aiden was able to look past it and eventually take her back. He redecorated his apartment to design it for the both of them and was ready to settle down with her.

Part 3 Assignment 2

1. In 2008, marriage ages were approximately 27 for males and 25 for females. Many people are waiting to get married because of their college education. In the past people would get married in their early 20s. Now, many people finish up their degree in their mid twenties and work towards married after. According to the article, more people with college degrees get married than people without one.

2. In the past, a person's religion played a significant role on who they chose to marry. Today, college degrees have taken the place of religion. Many people focus more on if their potential spouse has a college degree than what religion they practice.

3. The author cited, Kalmij, for the research on choosing a spouse based on education rather than religion.

Assignment 1: About Me

Hi! My name is Pherrin Strain. I am 22 years old and I am a senior graduating in May! I come from a large family! I have 5 siblings, 3 sisters and 2 brothers. Our ages range from 33-13. My oldest sister is 33 and married with 3 children. My older brother is 28 and moved to Texas two years ago for his job. My younger sister is 21 and lives at home. My younger brother is 19 and is finishing up his two years of community college and is applying for schools. My youngest sister is 13 and is a gymnast and runs cross country. My parents are no longer married. We also have three pets. I have two dogs named Kelby and Gia. I also have a cat named Cheesy. I live on campus and have two jobs. I work part time at a dress boutique in Wayne. I also work for a wedding DJ/Photo company working on their blogs and social media. On weekends I work bridal shows all over New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 


I am a FCST major with a concentration in families, children, and school settings. I would like to be a social worker one day. I really want to help underprivileged children any way I can. Last semester, I interviewed a social workers for a head start program and decided that's what I wanted to do. I would like to marry rich if I find my prince charming with a good bank account. Many of the topics on the syllabus seem interesting to me. I think the "All's fair in love and housework?" title sounds very interesting. I think the wikis are a new interactive way to keep all the documents for class in one place. This is my first time ever using a wiki. It is a little confusing a first but I think it will be a valuable took for this course.