The underpinnings of gender roles in the institution of marriage

The institution of marriage, though an age-old concept, has evolved markedly over the past few decades. However, till date, heterosexual marriage persists to be a deeply gendered institution and construct. Gender roles play an integral role in the division of work, the power dynamic and even in humdrum decision making. Most feminist literature regards gender as having an integral role in the production and proliferation of gender hierarchies at a domestic level.

In 1972, a sociologist named Jessie Bernard identified marriage as having primarily two types – “his” and “hers” in her book The future of Marriage. She uncovered that “his” is better than “hers” in terms of the benefits drawn from a marriage. Research shows that marriage is more beneficial to men than it is to women. Married men, on average, are said to be happier and healthier than single men and married women. They have longer life spans, earn more and have lower stress levels than married women. This is because marriage is based on gender differences, namely gender inequalities. This pointed towards how husbands and wives experience different objective realities of marriage within the same setting.

Keeping aside research, our own households, unless stark exceptions, demonstrate at least to some extent, the deeply ingrained gender roles in our society. The division of labor, almost always, tends to tip towards the wife. While we would love to believe that gender role attitudes are turning progressively neutral with the passage of time, manifestations of inequalities are prevalent in the division of labor. This division of labor either takes up a traditional point of view which has been prominent for centuries now or a more egalitarian approach where both the partners have an equal footing.

In contemporary marriages, even though both the partners assume household chores, a major chunk of the responsibility is borne by women, making it increasingly difficult for them to effectively balance their careers and domestic life. More often than not, this leads to an intense role conflict. Based on 2012 statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 64.4% of men were employed compared to 53.1% of women. In terms of hours per week worked, the average hours worked for men was 40.8, and 43.7 for those usually working full-time; comparable hours for women were 35.8 and 40.9, respectively (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013b). These differences can be attributed to traditional role expectations. Furthermore, “second shift” responsibilities (Hochschild, 1989) could have negative consequences for women. Being employed and coming home to household and childcare responsibilities could take a huge toll on an individual in terms of mental exhaustion and work productivity.

Gender expectations can often be very minute and subtle. Women are more involved in mental work such as planning that is often not tangible and visible to others. (Walzer, 1996). A study published in March, 2009 views the interaction between resource theory and the patriarchal norms theory as integral within family power structures. Resources determine dominance within the institutional setting and patriarchal norms exacerbate this imbalance of roles creating a rift in gender roles. (Lee, 2009). Furthermore, a major contributing factor to these restricting roles is benevolent sexism (Glick and Fiske, 1996).  This views women stereotypically. Its underpinnings lie in traditional stereotyping and masculine dominance. These are usually positive in tone and can be prosocial or intimacy seeking. It often has damaging consequences. (Lee, 2009)

Traditionally, husbands have almost always had the upper hand in marriage. This, for the most part, was linked with the stream of income, which in older times, was unilateral i.e., only from the husband’s side. In today’s day and age, most if not all women have careers of their own, however the negative attitudes of some men towards their spouse’s career enhances the ever prevalent role imbalance. This leads to the deepening of norms that guide what women should be, should do and should not do, especially in terms of their homes, which ideally, should be the last place where their actions are governed by anyone but themselves.

 

References

Ogletree, S. M. (2014,2015). Gender role attitudes and expectations for marriage. Journal of Research on Women and Gender, 5, 71-82.

Lee, Z. C. (2009, March). Ambivalent Sexism and Power-Related Gender-role Ideology in Marriage. 765-778. doi: 10.1007/s11199-009-9585-9

 

 

About The Author

Meherzeen Siganporia

Head of Department,

Psychology Column

The author, Meherzeen Siganporia is a 19-year-old student

of Psychology who is passionate about photography, reading, and writing. She

absolutely loves cycling to the beach and is always down for anything impulsive and adventurous. If having deep, intellectual conversations is your thing, she is your go-to girl.