The Uneven Pace of Change in Heterosexual Romantic Relationships

Abstract

In The Gender Revolution: Uneven and Stalled, Paula England (2010) argues that gender dynamics ha changed little in the personal realm, particularly with respect to heterosexual romantic relationships. She contrasts this to schooling and jobs, where she argues that the incentives for change have been greater. We agree that the level and pace of gender change in educational and occupational domains have surpassed those in personal rela tionships. However, England's account does not fully appreciate how changes in women's education and work have helped reshape women's intimate rela tionships. Much recent research suggests that as women have increased their education, occupational status, and earnings, the characteristics of couples have changed, and with them the breadwinning dynamics of relationships. Rather than considering the material characteristics of couples as engines of change, England's account of the lack of change in heterosexual romantic relationships is based largely on examining the noneconomic and symbolic aspects of gender, for example, the continuing expectation that men initiate dating and marriage, that women and children generally take men's surnames, and that men and women are judged old and sexually undesirable at dif ferent ages. In this comment, we review changes in the characteristics, atti tudes, and behaviors of couples that relate to their breadwinning and status arrangements. We argue that these changes have been substantial and that although this finding strengthens England's argument that change has occurred where incentives are the greatest, it also suggests a less than stalled revolution in family relationships. While there may be few material rewards