Sociology of the family Discussion Questions

Analyze the work and family patterns of your parents. In your analysis, identify the following:

(1) gender ideologies of your parents.

(2) provider role system of your parents (main/secondary, co-providers, or ambivalent couple).

(3) division of labor in household tasks as a result of (1) and (2) above.

(4) rewards and costs to each parent/child as a result of both (1) and (2).

(5) effects of work and family patterns on your parents' marital satisfaction (as they perceive it) over time.

This exercise will allow you to describe ways in which society makes the role of stepfather or stepmother more difficult by the way it portrays remarried parents in the media.

(1) Discuss a specific example of how television and/or movies place remarried parents (especially stepmothers) in a negative light.

(2) It is stated in the text that approximately 20% of children in married-couple households with children are stepchildren. As a related exercise, investigate an evening of television programming during prime-time hours to see the percentage of shows that include stepparents and their children. Cite specific examples.