REFLECTION PAPERS on the movie "Hitch"
memozee1020
soc315ch9.pptxVariations
Chapter 9
households
Platonic “roommate marriages”
Commuter, living-apart-together, & transnational marriages
Skipped-generation households: grandparents raising grandchildren
“Adultolescents”
shifts in household arrangements
Decline in the percentage of married-couple households
Decline in percentage of households with children
Why the changes?
Women are waiting longer to have children
More burden on working parents
More female households
More women in the workforce
the life of singles
Never-Marrieds:
Social trends that encourage individuals to either not marry, or marry later:
Lack of potential marriage partners –
In 1948 sex ratio was about equal; by 2000, there were 96.3 men for every 100 women
Today most of the shortage is in older age groups; however, African American, Chinese American and Japanese women perceive that there are fewer suitable marriage partners
Economic changes – during economic downturns, men & women tend to postpone marriage
More liberal & individualistic sexual & social standards
The Widowed:
Women more likely to be widowed
Widowed females less likely to find new spouses because of the marriage gradient and the marriage squeeze
Marriage gradient – tendency of men to marry downward in class and women to marry upward with respect to age, education, & occupational success
The Divorced:
Divorced people are considerably less happy than married people, and also less happy than the widowed.
singlehood
Singles have more free time
Singles have more fun
distinguish between fun and happiness
Singles are more comfortable with other singles
Singles are lonely
cohabitation
Currently about 7.5 million Americans live with partners of the opposite sex
Why cohabitate?
The “Linus blanket” – one partner is highly insecure and prefers a relationship with someone
Emancipation
Convenience
Testing
Is cohabitation a stage in the courtship process leading to marriage, or is it a separate institution functioning as an alternative to marriage?
¾ of cohabiting women expect to marry their partners, but only 1/3 marry within 3 years
66% of White cohabiting women marry their partners, but only 10% of cohabiting Black women do
If pregnant, Whites are much more likely to marry
Cohabitation has different meanings among Blacks and Whites
Among Whites is a transitional step, among Blacks seems to be a substitution
Economics play a big role in choosing cohabitation over marriage
Compared to married couples, for unmarried cohabitants the commitment during their time together isn’t as deep
Might have lower levels of happiness and higher rates of depression and alcohol problems compared to married couples
Might also experience more incidents of fighting and domestic violence
Some research indicates that men who cohabitate with women they eventually marry are less committed to the marriage, compared to men who never lived with partner prior to the marriage
Men who want to “try out” the marriage might be less committed to the institution in general & their partners
homosexuality
One review of genetic research concluded that:
At least half of the reasons for sexual orientation could be traced to genetics
Sexual orientation tended to run in families
Has been found that lesbians seem to have different brain circuitry then heterosexual women do, processing the aroma of sex hormones in ways similar to straight men
Gay men & straight men respond differently to 2 odors that may be involved in sexual arousal, potentially indicating a biological basis for sexual orientation
LeVay (1993): argues that sexual orientation is related to the structure of a person’s brain
Studied the brains of homosexual and heterosexual men and found that there is a difference in size in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that regulates hormones
This anatomical difference plays a part in shaping orientation
Genetics: study of 44 pairs of homosexual brothers found a distinct genetic pattern involving the X chromosome
High number of gay male relatives
Some researchers think there is a “gay gene” on the X chromosome
gay couples
Bell & Weinberg (1978) conducted a study of 979 male and female, black and white, homosexuals. Found 5 categories:
Closed couples – “happily married”
Open couples – “unhappily married”
Functionals – highly sexual
Dysfunctionals – tormented
Asexuals – lonely
How gay couples differ:
More likely to be egalitarian, dual-worker relationships, with income or household responsibilities based on factors other than traditional roles
Gay couples get more support from friends than from their extended families
homosexual relationships
Gay Men:
Seem to have more casual sex than either heterosexual men or lesbians, and their sexuality seems to be more body-centered than personality-centered
Gay male couples are 2x as likely as straight couples to report the highest levels of closeness in their relationships
Gay Women:
Seem to emphasize committed relationships more than gay men do
Have less casual sex than gay men, & sexuality is more personality-focused
Report greater sexual satisfaction
Compared with married couples and gay male couples, lesbian couples have been found to be the closest, most satisfied, and the most flexible in roles in their relationships
