Blog Assignment #6

1. According to Oriel Sullivan, who is still primarily responsible for family work and what was the primary argument of research over the past twenty years that led to this conclusion?

Women still continue to do more family work than their male partners. But, the total amount of work contributed by men and women in two parent dual earner families (including paid work as well as unpaid family work) is now identical.

2. Sullivan, however, argues that although slow, change has occurred in men's contributions to housework and childcare.

Give an example he uses to show change in gender ideology (beliefs about gender roles).

An example that Sullivan uses is with national opinion polls. The belief in gender equality within families continues to gain acceptance between both men and women. 62% of participants said sharing household tasks is very important for a successful marriage. This statistic has grown significantly.

3. What is his main argument for why research has not recognized change in men's contributions?

He says that research has not been recognized because the change has not been meaningful, or seem like it was wanted by men. He also claims that since it has not been revolutionary and it was a slow change, it has not been noticed.

4. In your own words describe one example of the "quantitative evidence" for change either from the U.S. or international studies.

One example is full time employed American married men with children increased their contribution to child care by four hours a week since 1970 and his contribution to other family work by 2 hours a week. In total, he does 6 hours a week of childcare and 10 hours a week of other family work. On the other hand, a full time or part time employed American married woman with children is employed for fewer hours per week on average than her spouse, but she does eleven hours of other family work. 

5. Was this reading surprising to you and why? Do you think men are contributing more than in the past? How do you imagine you will divide family work (including child care) in your own marriage or cohabitation

Overall, this was surprising to me. After reading this, I realized that men are contributing more but I had to read a textbook to realize it. I work at a daycare and for the first time, we have a male employee who is a young, heterosexual, who just thoroughly enjoys spending time with children. Back in the 1900s, parents would never send their children to a daycare that had a male teacher. Plus, I also noticed that more fathers than mothers take their children to daycare because the mother is already working so the father has to take control. I will divide family work evenly, hopefully, with my husband. We will split things evenly.

6. Using what you have learned throughout this class about increasing numbers of women working for pay, increased divorce, higher age at marriage, how might these demographic changes influence women's role in housework. In other words, based on other demographic changes -- how and why do you expect change in the division of household labor by gender. And why SOCIOLOGICALLY might it not change as much as you might expect? Give this some deep thought before writing.

I think eventually women are going to feel how men used to do back in the day. Men felt "entitled" to not have to do anything in the house because they were the breadwinners and because they were men. I think women are finally starting to get the mentality that women are just as important, if not more important, than men. Division of labor will most likely become difficult to divide because no one is going to feel like they are supposed to do it and that the other spouse should. 

Blog Assignment #5

1) Identify two of the examples used by Coontz to disprove Supreme Court Justice Kennedy's when he pronounced that marriage "embodied 'the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family,' conferring 'nobility and dignity' on those who enter it."

One example that proves Justice Kennedy wrong is that the Christian community, the highest status level went to people who reminded celibate and single. Another example is in Catholic womanhood, the wife came in last, behind virgin and then widow.

2) Coontz suggests several reasons why researchers project that 25 percent of young people today will reach their mid-40s without marrying. List and descrbe two of these.

One reason why researchers project that 25% of young people will not be married by 40 is because you can live with someone without having to be married. People cohabitate and treat each other as husband and wife or a married with couple without actually having the label of one. Another reason is because you don't need to have another partner to raise and have children. People can adopt or have babies without having a spouse.

3) So I CANNOT find a You Tube clip of Charlotte and Harry's wedding from Sex & the City. HBO has really cracked down! So if you have seen the episode or have HBO - go to Season 6, episode 8 "The Catch." Otherwise think about weddings you've seen on TV, in movies, or in person. List 5 wedding traditions that you have seen?

1. One tradition is having the bride and groom not see each other on their wedding day until the bride is walking down the aisle to her groom. If they see each other, it is considered bad luck.

2. Another tradition I have seen is having the bride and groom jump over a broom at the end of a ceremony.

3. The third tradition is when the bride throws her bouquet during the reception to all of the women guests and whoever catches it is supposedly the next one to get married. 

4. The fourth tradition I do not know too much about it but I know during the reception the bride and the groom step on glass in a bag to symbolize something. I think this is only done in a certain religion but I don't know which religion it is.

5. The last tradition is that the bride usually wears a white gown to symbolize that she is a virgin for her groom. 

4) Choose one tradition and do a little research on-line - what is the history behind that tradition?

The tradition I picked was throwing the bouquet. This became a tradition because there was a wise tale that said that if someone took something from the bride during her wedding, they were to have good luck in finding a husband. People actually used to chase the bride and groom around the wedding trying to steal something from them so they would have good luck next.

5) Write about a paragraph about the origin of the tradition and whether or not you might include this in your own wedding - if you plan on having one.

Tossing the bouquet is a tradition that stems from England. Women used to try to rip pieces of the bride's dress and flowers in order to obtain some of her good luck. To escape from the crowd the bride would toss her bouquet and run away. I will definitely include this in my wedding because I love following traditions and I always pictured myself doing this when I was younger and would envision my own wedding. 

Blog Assignment #4

1) Briefly describe Dan and Terri's story and their family.  

Dan and Terry created the "It Get's Better" project because of all the suicides that gay and lesbian teens were committing. Dan and Terry are married and they were both bullied in school for being gay. Terry was bullied throughout high school but he never came out to his parents so when he was bullied his parents couldn't really help. Dan came out to his parents and they did not accept it. His mother even called a priest because she was so concerned about her son. When the priest came, he admitted that he was gay himself and that he would prefer that Dan live his authentic life. Eventually, he came around.

2) What is their relationship with their families of origin (parents and siblings).

Dan's mom was not accepting at first and she called a priest. Terry's parents tried to help him with his bullying but they didn't know that he was gay. Terry's brother was also bullied but he said that he had his mom and dad to cry to at night because they knew why he was crying.

3) What family have they created?

Dan and Terry are married and have a son who is 13, named DJ. Dan and Terry say that they are lucky that DJ has parents like them because he would probably be a bully who would bully someone like his parents.

Believe it or not only a few short decades ago there were no representative data on same-sex couples or gay teens. Now the U.S. Census counts same-sex cohabiting and married couples, 37 states allow gay marriage, and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has collected data on gay teens greater likelihood to experience violent acts against them as well as greater likelihood of committing suicide.

 Go to this link at the CDC:http://www.cdc.gov/lgbthealth/youth.htm (Links to an external site.)

Read the first few pages of this website.

4) Describe a statistic regarding the likelihood of gay and transgender experiencing violent acts.

19% to 29% of gay and lesbian students and 18% to 28% of bisexual students experienced dating violence in the prior year.

5) What is the likelihood that gay and transgender teens attempt suicide.

LGBTQ youth in grades 7-12 are twice as likely to 

attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers.

6) According to the website, what are two things a school can do to prevent violence and/or suicide against gay/transgender teens.

Schools can encourage respect for all students and prohibit bullying, harassment, and violence against all students. Schools can also encourage school district and school staff to develop and publicize trainings on how to create safe and supportive school environments for all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, and encourage staff to attend these trainings.

7) If you were a teacher of a school administrator or counselor, briefly describe a program or action(s) you might create to prevent violence against gay/transgender or straight teens. Perhaps consider how you might unite gay and straight teens to work toward positive change.

I would have a club for students to come together regardless of their sexual orientation so they can learn from each other and experience each others lives. I feel like the best way to prevent something is by learning. By learning, you don't even think about sexual orientations anymore and then you develop friendships and other students will see the alliance between them.

Blog Assignment #3

1. According to the structural functionalism perspective, what was the definition of the "instrumental leader" and what was the definition of an "expressive leader." What family roles were connected to each of these leader definitions?
The definition of an instrumental leader is someone who leads group discussions about how to accomplish a task they have been assigned. An expressive leader is also called the socioemotional leader who is someone who kept up the groups spirit with jokes and funny remarks. The family roles connected to the instrumental leader were primarily the husband role because he provided the financial support. The stay at home wife was the expressive leader because she was the emotional support of the family.
2. What is the main criticism of the functionalist perspective? 

The main criticism of the functionalist perspective is that the breadwinner-homemaker role was not always the case in this situation. Women started to join the workforce and it became unusual therefore making this perspective not accurate. 

3. In contrast to functionalist theorists, in your own words, what is the main theme of conflict theory?

The main theme of conflict theory focuses on the differences between husband and wife. It focuses on the different powers they each have, the differences they face and the way society views them.

4. According to conflict theorists, where do family problems come from?

Family problems come from the husband thinking he has more power over his wife.

5. Gender/Feminist theory is based on what main idea? Describe one way that feminist theory has led to more diverse understanding of families.
The theory is based on understanding and transforming the inequalities on men and women. The main focus is gender. One way the feminist theory has led to more diverse understanding of families is understanding that the idea of family has always been centered around as the male being the dominant figure of the family. 

6. Social exchange theorists is based on ideas from economics. What is the main argument of social exchange perspective? Give two examples of "resources" people bring to a relationship?

These theorists focus on what is efficient and valuable in a relationship. One example of a resource is money. Another resource in a relationship would be friendship with your partner.

7a) From the lecture on methods: List two methods of how family researchers collect data and define/describe each.

1. Demographic studies which is how social conditions are distributed in the human population and how these populations are changing. It is collected by the National Center of Health Statistics. 

2. Survey research is when you collect information from a subgroup of people which is known as a sample. 

7b) What are two strengths of each and what are two limits of each type of data collection methods. 

One strength of a demographic study is that researches follow rates and how they have grown or gotten smaller. Another strength of a demographic study is that it is measured in rate rather than raw numbers making it easier to understand the percentage rather than large numbers. A disadvantage to demographic studies are that someone could lie in a study an alter the results. Another disadvantage would be that populations are constantly changing so numbers are never accurate. 

One advantage of survey research is that you hand out a survey and the participants have the responsibility to fill it out. This makes it easier on the researcher because all of the results get handed back to you and you don't need to conduct several interviews. Another advantage is that they can administered almost anyway. For example they can be done over the phone, online, in person, etc. A disadvantage of survey research is that the participants may not respond honestly. Another disadvantage is that answers on survey may not be clear enough making the answers in accurate from what the participant was actually thinking.

8) Choose one method and describe a study you might conduct.

One method I would choose would be participant observation and I would study the behavior of children based on their home life. 

8a) What is the topic of the survey? In other words, what do you want to know about a family issue?

The topic would be to observe children based off of knowing the knowledge of their home life. I would want to compare children's behavior based off of if there parents are together, divorced or living in different situations.

8b) Who and how many respondents would be in your sample?

I was envisioning my daycare I work at with this experiment and I would probably focus in on the four year olds. I would probably observe 15 children at different times.

8c) What are three questions you would ask in a survey or interview or what would be three observations you might record?

I would observe how the children interacted with other children. I would also observe how the child asked for attention. I would lastly observe how the child interacts with other adult figures in the room.

Blog Assignment #2

1)  Looking at the first three highlights on page 1, what types of families/households have declined since 1970 and which have increased?

Family households and married couples with children under the age of 18 have declined since 1970. One person households have increased since 1970.

2) Choose one highlight and paraphrase (write in your own words) the changes using the percentages and years provided.

One person households have increased since 1970. Only 17% of people lived in a one person household in 1970 but since then it has increased by 10 points making 27% of people in 2012 living in one person households. 

3) According to highlight 4, are families getting larger or smaller? Again in your own words describe how family size has changed using percentages and years.

Families have been getting smaller over the years. In 1970, the average number of people in a family was 3.1. Now, in 2012, the average number of people in a family is 2.6.

4) According to the report: what is the U.S. Census definition of a family and what is the definition of a household? 

The definition of household according to the U.S Census is: a household contains one or more people. Everyone living in a housing unit makes up a household. The definition of a family according the U.S Census is: A family household has at least two members related by birth, marriage, or adoption, one of whom is the householder.
 

5) Now scroll down to Table 1: Households by Type and Selected Characteristics: ACS 2011. 

5a. Carefully read the column and row names to determine the total number of "white alone" married couples families and the number of "Black or African American alone" married couple families? The term "alone' refers to families that are not interracial.

White alone married couple families: 45,982,567

Black or African American alone married couple families: 3,804,021

5b. What is the total number of NON family households with just 1 member? (These are the number of people who live alone).

Total number of non family households with just 1 member: 31,886,794

So far, which fact is the most surprising to you? Please be specific and use the numbers, percentages, and language of the Census report.

One thing I find extremely surprising is the number of householders between the age of 15-24. The total number of householders is 4,704,541. I find this extremely interesting because even the age of 24 seems young for someone to own a house. I am picturing the householders are fresh out of college with this huge amount of student debt so I can't believe that they can be a householder. 

6) Next, scroll down to Figure 1: Households by Type, 1970 to 2012: CPS (In percent).

Take a few minutes to note the trends over time.

6a) Of the six categories of family and household types shown, which family type has changed the most and how. Use specific years and percentages. 

The category married couples with children has changed the most. In 1970, 40.3% of households were married couples with children. Now in 2012, only 19.6% of households are married couples with children. That number has decreased by almost half.

6b) Comparing men and women, who is more likely to live alone and try to make an argument as to why.

Women are more likely to live alone. In 2012, 15.2% of households were women living alone. In 2012, 12.3% of households were men living alone. I think this is because women are more likely to move out of their house and live on their own. Men usually live longer at home with their parents. 

6c) What is the Source of the data in Figure 1?

The source is U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement, selected years, 1970 to 2012.

7) Reflecting on what you have learned about changes in families and households in the U.S., how do these data compare with your own experience and knowledge of families. For example, did you know certain family types were on the decline or on the rise? What do you expect will happen in the future to one of these family types, based on the trends shown in Figure 1. In other words make an educated prediction of how you think one family/household type will look in 2020 and why?

This data surprised me because I thought that married couples with children would be a lot higher. I feel like everyone is married and living with their children and to see the number be at almost 20% really surprised me. I think the future of these families and households are going to decrease and single living is going to increase. It is much more accepted to live on your own and not have the marriage and family that everyone is expecting. 

Blog Assignment #1

1) Please tell us about yourself. What makes you interesting or unique or tell us a funny story about you.

Hi, my name is Michelle Kostka. I am a junior at Montclair State University. I am a FCST major and I am also in the teacher education program. I am a commuter and lived on campus when I was a freshman. I work as a daycare teacher and I also have a beautiful dog named Boomer.

2) Please tell us are you an FCST major or not. If so why did you choose this major? If you are not an FCST major, tell us about your own major and why you chose it.

Like I said, I am a FCST major. I switched to this major during my spring semester of freshman year. I chose this major because I love different dynamics of families and learning about the way people live.

3) What are your current career plans or plans for graduate school? Or tell us if you plan to marry rich or travel the world!

When I graduate I hope to become and elementary school teacher and then go back to school for my masters. And pay back allllll of my loans. Ugh.

4) Next tell us about your family - for example - are your parents married or not, do you live with them, do you have siblings, pets etc? Or maybe you grew up in foster care, or you are cohabiting or married and live with your spouse and/or children.

I live with my mom and dad who have been married for 27 years. I have a brother who is 22 and currently in the process of moving out of his college frat house and back home with me and my parents. He recently graduated from Ramapo college and has a full time job as an accountant. I also have a dog whos name is Boomer.

5) Please describe an activity you like to share with your family? etc.
My family and I love to go on hikes and do a lot of outdoor things that we can bring my dog to. My dad thinks of my dog as this third human child so he tries to revolve all of the family plans around him.
6) Next choose 2 topics on the syllabus that interest you and tell us a few sentences WHY they interest you.

I am interested in learning about divorce. Almost all of my friends have experienced divorce in their families. I think the best way to understand divorce is by reading the academic definition and trying to understand it from different perspectives. Another topic I am interested in learning about is women and paid work. I think this is a very interesting topic because women in the work place is something that somehow struggle with to this day and hopefully by learning more about this I can take a better stand with it.

7) Review quiz of syllabus:

A) What day and time does class meet? This is a trick question hopefully, but this is an online class.

B) How many blogs must you complete for full credit? All 6 blog assignments must be completed for full credit.

C) When are blogs assignments due? Blog assignments 1 & 3 are due on a Sunday and blog assignments 2,4,5,6 are all due on a Wednesday.

D) What should you do before EVERY face-to-face class? This is maybe another trick question since we don't meet face to face but we should probably check Canvas on a regular basis so we don't fall behind.

E) What is a topic of a class during week 3? Week 3 has four topics: Marriage, Divorce, The state, social policies, and families and Children and Poverty.

F) Which week do we focus on Marriage? Week 3, Monday June 27.