Family Gender Roles Research Articles

Modernizing Military Patriarchy: Gender and State-Building in Postrevolutionary Mexico, 1920–1960

This article examines the relationship between gender, state-building, and military reform after the Mexican Revolution. It argues that military reform was one of the most visible and politically significant attempts by the new regime to dictate gender in the interests of national development and uphold sexual differences—that is, to modernize patriarchy. The article identifies the main phases in policies aimed at reshaping military habits, comportment, sociability, physique, and family life. Reform reflected broader trends in Mexican politics and social policy and faced abundant obstacles: the army was powerful, secretive, and riven by factional, generational, and ethnic divisions; officers and soldiers clung to their own ideas about work, family life, and leisure. Nevertheless, by the 1950s, military reform had successfully reshaped gender roles in military families, moderated officers’ public behavior, and produced a more disciplined and physically fitter soldiery. These changes helped to reshape the army’s public image in lasting ways.

“It's a Family Issue!”

In American society, as elsewhere, social change has brought about a shift from the traditional nuclear family to more diverse forms of family, fatherhood and motherhood. But the much-cited change in family values and gender roles has not been linear – new research reveals a picture with light and dark sides.

Northern Irish Attitudes Toward Gendered Family Roles Before and After the Good Friday Agreement

The study investigates attitudes about the gendered division of labor in families in Northern Ireland. There is a paucity of existing research on this topic, and previous studies lack even basic controls for potential confounding factors. Northern Ireland is a particularly interesting case due to its history of violent conflict and to the strong salience of religion in the region. The current study investigates patterns of change in gender attitudes as the region moved from a period of relatively intense conflict to one of reduced conflict intensity. In order to make inferences about the influence of violent conflict on gender ideology, the analysis compares gender attitudes in Northern Ireland with those in eight other European countries and also assesses the influence of religious community membership on gender attitudes change. Data come from the 1994 and 2002 waves of the International Social Survey Program, supplemented with additional survey data from Northern Ireland. The findings offer little evidence that Northern Irish individuals increased their support for women’s non-domestic roles as the conflict’s intensity waned. Multivariate regression models suggest, further, that while Catholics were more egalitarian than Protestants in the early period, Catholic support for egalitarian family roles decreased between 1994 and 2002.

We-Caring: Searching for Online Health Information by Italian Families

ABSTRACTUsing data collected by the Italian National Institute of Statistics on 19,000 Italian adults who had accessed the Internet in 2013, our study investigates the interaction between online health information-seeking behaviors and family obligations among household members. The study presents a detailed picture of the likelihood of online health information searching according to health status and gendered family roles. Findings of binomial logistic regression models highlight that family obligations per se influence the probability of searching, regardless of the health of the seeker and that of family members. Illness, whether affecting the seeker or other individuals within the family network, proves to be another trigger for online health information seeking. Directions for future research and practical implications for public health organizations are discussed.

Female Identity in the Language of Space of the 19th Century Residential Architecture in Sarajevo

The traditional architecture of Bosnia and Herzegovina echoes historical and cultural narratives of ancient Ottoman patriarchal society. The Oriental culture had specifically defined the way in which the gender roles in family and society were manifested in the domestic space, and vice versa, space itself was shaped according to the criterion of gender. While exploring the gender criterion of differentiation of space in the traditional Bosnian residential architecture, this paper will particularly focus on the link between female identity and the spatial characteristics of the traditional Bosnian house. Critical evaluation of elements and principles that compose the traditional model of residential space within its cultural and historical context will be followed by a contemporary insight and interpretation of its universal architectural meanings.

Contributions of television use to beliefs about fathers and gendered family roles among first-time expectant parents.

Contributions of television use to beliefs about fathers and gendered family roles among first-time expectant parents.

Parenting Stress and Sexual Satisfaction Among First-time Parents: A Dyadic Approach.

The present paper reports on longitudinal associations between parenting stress and sexual satisfaction among 169 heterosexual couples in the first year after the birth of a first child. Actor Partner Interdependence Modeling (APIM) was used to model the effects of the mother's and father's parenting stress at 6 months after birth on sexual satisfaction at one year after birth. Based on social constructivist theory and scarcity theory, two hypotheses were posed: (a) mothers' parenting stress will predict their own later sexual satisfaction whereas fathers' parenting stress will not predict their own later sexual satisfaction (actor effects) and (b) mothers' parenting stress will predict fathers' later sexual satisfaction but fathers' parenting stress will not predict mothers' later sexual satisfaction (partner effects). On average, parents were only somewhat satisfied with their sex life. The first hypothesis was supported as greater parenting stress significantly predicted lower sexual satisfaction for mothers but not for fathers. The second hypothesis was also supported as mothers' greater parenting stress significantly predicted less sexual satisfaction in fathers, whereas fathers' parenting stress did not significantly predict mothers' sexual satisfaction. We discuss how our results may be interpreted considering the social construction of gendered family roles.

Preferences, constraints, and the process of sex segregation in college majors: A choice analysis

The persistence of horizontal sex segregation in higher education continues to puzzle social scientists. To help resolve this puzzle, we analyze a sample of college entrants in Germany with a discrete choice design that allows for social learning from the experiences of others. We make at least two contributions to the state of research. First, we test whether essentialist gender stereotypes affect major selection mostly through internalization or rather as external constraints that high school graduates adapt their behavior to. Empirically, we find that internalized vocational interests better explain gendered major choices than conformance with friends' and parents' expectations does. Second, we scrutinize whether segregation results from women's anticipation of gendered family roles or from their anticipation of sex-based discrimination, but we find no evidence for either of these hypotheses. As in most previous studies, differences in mathematics achievement fail to explain gendered patterns of selection into college majors.

Shukla Marital Coping Scale (SMCS): Development of a Measure to Assess Unmarried Adolescent’s Perception about Level of Adjustment after Marriage

Social scientists have long been fascinated by attitudes and beliefs surrounding family relationships and gender roles. They believe that attitude towards family formation influence a wide range of behaviours including work, education and family life (Morgan and Waite, 1997; Thorton, Alwin and Cambum, 2001; Parsons, 1999). Furthermore, attitudes and values about family formation have been changing rapidly especially during young adulthood, the point at which gender role attitudes, educational aspirations and choices among role alternatives are most likely to conflict. Gender role attitudes are those attitudes which are directly related to men’s and women’s role within marriage. Earlier post-marital residence with spouse and in-laws was mandatory as there was a trend of joint or extended family. But the 20th century has witnessed remarkable changes in family structures and dynamics: smaller household sizes, a further shift from extended to nuclear families, a decrease in mutuality, and the appearance of new forms of unions such living-apart-together, changing gender and inter-generational relations etc.

Displacement Effects on Gender Roles, and Family Structure: Muslim Meskhetians in the USA

In 2005, the United States government granted refugee status to Muslim Meskhetians from post-Soviet Russia. This group, originating from Georgia, has been subject to external rule and multiple forced displacements throughout the twentieth century. Spawning a mass migration of over 16,000 refugees, Muslim Meskhetians now reside in approximately thirty-three continental states. Guided by previous studies on cultural adaptation and identity maintenance, this article seeks to examine the impact of displacement on family structure and gender roles, in order to illustrate how displacement has reshaped power relations, family decision-making, and gender relationships among Muslim Meskhetians families in the United States. Based upon qualitative in-depth interviews with refugees in Illinois and Pennsylvania, this article finds that Muslim Meskhetians are engaged in a struggle for cultural maintenance and cultural adaptation, carefully negotiating traditional values of patriarchal religious conservatism with contemporary American liberalism, leading to the construction of a new hybrid identity.

Parental Perceptions of Health-Related Quality of Life of Albanian Children with Epilepsy.

Epilepsy adversely affects the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of children living with it. Even though almost 80% of children with epilepsy live in developing countries very little research has been conducted with the specific population. The present study took place in Albania and aimed to investigate parental perceptions of the HRQoL of their children with epilepsy. Considering the well-defined gender roles in the Albanian traditional family it was expected that mothers and fathers reports of their children’s HRQoL would differ. Results showed no differences in maternal and paternal reports; instead there was a moderate correspondence between the reports across all dimensions. Parents also reported the highest scores of HRQoL in the interpersonal dimension and the lowest scores in the intrapersonal dimension. The findings have implications in the context of future research and also medical care for children with epilepsy in Albania.

Bonding and Bridging Social and Cultural Capitals: Perceived Factors Associated With Family Eating Practices Among Hmong, Latino, and White Mothers and Fathers

ObjectiveTo examine perceived social and cultural capitals associated with family eating practices among Hmong, Latino, and white mothers and fathers. MethodsSix focus groups composed of 52 Hmong, Latino, and white mothers and fathers of young children were conducted to examine parental perceptions of social and cultural capitals associated with eating practices. ResultsWhereas Hmong participants unanimously emphasized the healthfulness of their traditional food, Latino groups had divergent views on their traditional foods' healthfulness. Hmong parents highly valued their traditional foods whereas white and Latino mothers were more accepting of new foods from other cultures. Participants noted divergent views on gender roles in family eating practices and food culture preservation efforts. Conclusions and ImplicationsIdentifying and promoting bonding and bridging of cultural assets for healthy dietary practices among different cultural groups may be important for developing successful nutrition education programs across ethnicities in the community.

ORIENTASI PERAN EGALITER, KESEIMBANGAN KERJA-KELUARGA DAN KEPUASAN KELUARGA PADA PEREMPUAN YANG BERPERAN GANDA

Family and work are two important domains that can’t be separated from the life of women with dual role. In this research, work-family study focused on the characteristics of family domain and family satisfaction as the output. Women's perception of family gender roles and work family balance is assumed to have an influence on family satisfaction. Therefore, this research aims to examine the relationship between gender role orientation of family, and work-family balance with family satisfaction of women with dual role. Respondent of this research is 108 women who had married and working in the formal sector, with non-probability sampling as the sample taking technique. Data collection method that is used in this study is a scale and processed by using path analysis. Based on the analysis found that there is a positive relationship between egalitarian gender roles orientation with family satisfaction through work-family balance, and its effective contribution is 18.9%.

Quality of Family Relationships: The Contributions of Family Structures and Gender – Role Orientations

Since the whole human population are products of the family, it may be deduced that a substantial proportion of the social-vices besieging the modern world emanate from maladaptive socialization process of the family domain. To achieve a capable and positive functioning socialization process, harmonious and healthy relationships must be ensured among and between each member of the family. Taking into consideration the overarching positive influence of valuable family relationship on healthy family lives, it is highly essential to investigate the predicting factors of good family relationships. Accordingly, this study tested whether family structures and gender role orientations would predict quality of family relationships. Ninety-eight participants who were selected using cluster sampling method from Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria, completed self-report instruments comprising of Index of Family Relations (IFR), Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) and the Personal Data Sheet (PDS). Hypotheses were tested using one-way ANOVA and multiple regressions. Findings suggest that participants from traditional marriage families reported better family relationships than those from single-parent, divorced and court/legal marriage families. Additionally, the expression of feminine traits by family members (regardless of sex) seems to account for a well knitted family relationship than the expression of the nearly feminine trait, androgynous trait and nearly masculine trait. Results were discussed in line with previous literature and it was recommended that traditional/customary marriage should not be jettisoned in the process of family formation but should be done in conjunction with court/legal marriage. Similarly, the expression of feminine traits by each family member regardless of their sex should be encouraged to forestall family conflicts and ensure good family relations.

Cross-cultural correlates of career and parental role commitment

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between country of birth or ethnicity (cultural proxies) and career and parental role commitment, and whether or not that relationship is mediated by two psychological dimensions known to differ across Mexican and USA cultures. These mediators are family achievement orientation and gender role orientation. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 372 working female students at community colleges in the USA and Mexico. The survey focussed on career and parental role commitment, family achievement orientation, and gender role attitudes. Findings – Both country of birth and ethnicity predict career and parental role commitment. Females born in Mexico and Hispanics have higher career role commitment and lower parental role commitment than females born in the USA and non-Hispanic whites. Family achievement orientation and gender role attitudes partially mediate these relationships. Research limitations/implications – Cross-cultura...

The Asaba massacre and the Nigerian civil war: reclaiming hidden history

This article explores the consequences of a massacre of civilians in Asaba, a town on the west bank of the river Niger, during the early stages of the Nigerian civil war. While ethnically Igbo, Asaba was not part of the Igbo-dominated Biafra, remaining part of the ethnically diverse midwest region. In the international memory of the war, the midwest action, which claimed several thousand lives, has been eclipsed by the catastrophic events east of the Niger, after the federal blockade of Biafra. This article sheds new light on the human cost of the war on civilian populations outside Biafra. Drawing on interviews with survivors and their descendants, we describe the killings, pillaging and rapes that followed the arrival of the federal troops, and trace the long-term impact and memory of the physical and human devastation in Asaba on family structure, gender roles, educational opportunities and social structure. We show how the official suppression of the massacres, coupled with Biafran awareness of the events, contributed to the subsequent course of the war, and we suggest that this suppression has left a legacy that perpetuates resentment and has kept ethnic tensions alive to this day.

The Influence of Gender Role and Women's Empowerment on Couples' Fertility Experiences in Urban Society of Mashhad, Iran

Background and Aim: Iran has experienced a great variation in women's status in recent years. There is a little knowledge on how and why advancing gender equality and equity and the empowerment of women play a role in recent fertility reduction in the country. This study was conducted to gain insight into the role of gender beliefs and women's empowerment in the couples 'experiences of fertility in Mashhad, Iran in 2011-2012. Methods: In this exploratory qualitative study in-depth interviews were conducted with 54 purposefully selected eligible male and female participants and some key informants who lived in urban society of Mashhad. Data was collected until saturation was happened and analyzed adopting conventional content analysis approach through giving analytical codes and identification of categories using MAXqda software. Study rigor verified via prolonged engagement, thick description and validation of anlysis through member check. Results:Findings from data analysis demonstrated three major categories about the influence of women’s empowerment and gender role on fertility experiences including: 1) The couple’s understanding of gender roles 2) Women’s empowerment and changing gender roles 3) Couple’s interactions in complementary or parallel roles and 4) Fulfillment of fertility goals based on role division. Some aspects of couples' interaction including equal roles in fertility decisions, choosing and using best fit family planning method and participative child care influenced couples' fertility behavior. Women’s empowerment together with balanced gender role in the family resulted in success in attaining couple’s fertility desire. Conclusion: Managing fertility behaviors needs to understand the roles of spouses in their mutual interaction in fertility decision making and related behaviors. Imbalanced gender role in family acts as an obstacle to reach the fertility goals and leads to lower than desired fertility. Reproductive health policy makers and family planning counselors could apply the findings of this study in order to publicize proper fertility behaviors through making the couples aware of the risks of gender role imbalance.

The Influence of Culture on Couples Coping with Breast Cancer: A Comparative Analysis of Couples from China, India, and the United States

This study examines the process of dyadic coping among couples who are managing stress related to a partner's breast cancer diagnosis and identifies cultural factors that affect how couples cope together. Utilizing a qualitative method based on relational psychologies, the “Listening Guide,” the authors analyzed the narratives of 28 couples who where coping with early-stage breast cancer and lived in Hong Kong-China, India, and the United States. Analysis revealed four cultural factors influencing the process of coping with breast cancer. These factors included (1) family boundaries, (2) gender roles, (3) personal control, and (4) interdependence. Some couples were able to transcend prevailing cultural norms to re-establish balance in their lives and adapt to the cancer. Implications for using couple-based interventions with cancer patients in differing cultural contexts are discussed.

Connecting Societal Change to Value Differences Across Generations

This study tests the hypothesis that societal change from subsistence agriculture to a market economy with higher levels of formal schooling leads to an increase in individualistic values that guide human development. Values relating to adolescent development and the transition to adulthood were compared across three generations of women in 18 families in the Maya community of Zinacantán in southern Mexico. Grandmothers grew up in Zinacantán when it was a farming community; mothers grew up during the introduction of commerce in the late 1970s and 1980s; daughters are now experiencing adolescence with an opportunity to attend high school in their community. Comparisons were also conducted between 40 female and male adolescents in high school and a matched sample of 40 adolescents who discontinued school after elementary. Values were measured using eight ethnographically derived social dilemmas about adolescent relationships with parents and peers, work and family gender roles, and sexuality and partnering. One character in the dilemmas advocates for interdependent values; a second character advocates for independent values. High school adolescents were more likely to endorse characters articulating independent values than non–high school adolescents, mothers, and grandmothers. Involvement in a market economy was also associated with higher levels of independent value endorsement in the mother and grandmother generations. Results suggest that the introduction of commerce drove value changes between grandmother and mother generations, and now schooling drives change. Qualitative examples of participants’ responses also illustrate how families negotiate shifting values.

The Paradox of the Female Participation in Fundamentalist Movements

Throughout the world, religiously-oriented conservative political movements are well known for their defence of ‘traditional models’ in terms of both family conception and gender roles. Therefore, one should expect to find a limited social and political mobilization of women within them as well as in right-wing religiously conservative parties. However, many significant movements have built strong female branches in which militants usually perform roles apparently contradicting the religious conservative ideologies the movements support. This paper will show these dynamics in three case studies: the US Christian Right in the USA, the Hindu national religious movement (sangh parivar) in India, and the Islamist movement in Turkey. Its final section will compare the three cases, trying to find common patterns and to understand the reasons behind this apparent paradox.