Introduction of women

The Desire for Marriage and Children in Feminists and Non-feminists

Summary

Feminism is defined as “a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression”

according to bell hooks in her book, Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center. It is often

associated with the misconception that women are against traditional gender roles. These

traditional gender roles coincide with stereotypes, or “perceptions of the beliefs of the typical

woman,” that women need to get married, be a good housewife, and have children (Hartwell

2014). To test whether this misconception was true or not, a study was conducted to investigate

whether being a feminist affected a woman’s desire to get married or have children. The study

consisted of two parts that involved first looking at how feminist and nonfeminist women rated

their own desire for marriage and children and then seeing how they defined their own feministic

belief and how that correlates to the typical feminist’s desire. According to societal norms, the

typical woman wants to become a wife and a mother, while on the other hand, a feminist is

viewed as not wanting to have kids or get married. There is a substantial amount of controversy

surrounding this idea because some feminists view familial roles as empowering while others

view it as oppressive. Ultimately, the research study resulted in a finding that showed feminist

women having less of a desire for marriage and children, and that feminist and non-feminist

women saw themselves as having lower desires for marriage and children than typical women.

Critical Analysis The first part of the study revealed that non-feminists wanted marriage and

children more than feminists did, and feminists and non-feminists both perceived that the typical

woman wanted marriage and children more. The second part of the study dove into the different

types of The Desire for Marriage and Children in Feminists and Non-feminists 3 feministic

The Desire for Marriage and Children in Feminists and Non-feminists

perspectives, which includes five groups: liberal feminism (focuses on gender equality), radical

feminism (emphasizes how men oppress women), socialist feminism (sees all oppression as

equally detrimental), cultural feminism (highlights feminine traits), and women of color

feminism (incorporates racial and gender oppression) (Hartwell 2014). The participants of the

study were informed about the different types of feminism and were asked to reassess their

desires in comparison to what a typical feminist’s desires would be. The results showed that

self-identified feminists perceived their desire to be the same as a typical feminist, whereas, a

nonfeminist saw their desire to be higher than that of a typical feminist. Additionally, a woman

who had lower levels of radical feminism and higher levels of cultural feminism resulted in a

greater desire in marriage and children (Hartwell 2014).

A possible explanation as to why self-identified feminists might have less of a desire for

marriage and children could be because when she identifies as a feminist, she is embracing the

“rejection of traditional gender roles” (Hartwell 2014). When women choose to free themselves

from societal expectations and domestic labor tied to the role of a traditional woman, they can do

the things that they want to do such as continue their education or work high-paying jobs. In

another study, women did more domestic work than men did, regardless of their relative income

(Fetterolf 2014). Due to this fact, feminist women might not want to get married or have kids

because of the unfair distribution of domestic work. Additionally, if feminist women did have

children but still wanted to pursue an ambitious job, they would feel guilty for “not keeping up

their part of the bargain”, which could be another contributing factor to their lessened desire

(Moras 2016).

Discussion

The Desire for Marriage and Children in Feminists and Non-feminists.

In both parts of the study, feminist and non-feminist women rated themselves as having less

of a desire for marriage and children than typical women, but what defines a “typical woman”

and where did this image of a typical woman come from? Both groups of women must have

pictured a typical woman to have a strong desire to pursue traditional roles of settling down with

a husband, taking care of domestic duties, and raising children. These societal norms have been

instilled in society ever since “man the hunter” would go search for food to feed the family while

the “woman gatherer” would engage in more “feminine activities” (Owen 2005). Mass

depictions of women being happily married and engaging in traditional roles like the popular TV

show, “I Love Lucy”, only perpetuates the expectation that women should be married and have

children. These women who are happily married housewives and caretakers do exist, but for

many cases, women must take on this domestic role because of the less amount of domestic work

men put in and societal norms. On the other hand, people often view a feminist as a figure like

Medusa who hated men with a passion. In reality, most women are not Lucy nor Medusa, they

fall somewhere in between that spectrum as shown by the study. Whether a woman is a feminist

or not, she has the capability and the choice of getting married and having children. Being a

feminist does not mean that these women do not want to have children of their own or be in a

healthy marriage; it just means that they choose to do it because they want to do it, not because

society told them to. The Desire for Marriage and Children in Feminists and Non-feminists.

References

Fetterolf, J. C., & Rudman, L. A. (2014). Gender Inequality in the Home: The Role of Relative

Income, Support for Traditional Gender Roles, and Perceived Entitlement. Gender Issues,

31(3-4), 219–237. doi: 10.1007/s12147-014-9126-x

Tomášková, S. (2005). Linda R. Owen, Distorting the Past: Gender and the Division of Labor in

the European Upper Paleolithic. (Tübingen: Kerns Verlag, 2005, 235 pp., ISBN 3–

935751–02–8). European Journal of Archaeology, 8(3), 312–315. doi:

10.1017/s1461957100070042

Moras, A. (2016). “This Should be My Responsibility”: Gender, Guilt, Privilege and Paid

Domestic Work. Gender Issues, 34(1), 44–66. doi: 10.1007/s12147-016-9165-6