Saturday, April 24, 2010
Women Breadwinners
Times have defiantly changed when it comes to women in the workforce. In earlier times women did the house work; the cleaning, cooking, taking care of the kids, and making sure they took care of their husbands by having dinner on the table when he got home from work. Now that times are changing and women are establishing themselves in the workforce a lot of men are not the main provider anymore. More and more women are the breadwinners of the families and we are hearing more about "stay at home dad." These husbands take the role that women use to have. They do the cleaning, cooking, and taking care of the kids. One thing I don't know is how this effects them? Does it bother them? Do they feel "less of a man" or are they happy to be the stay at home dad? Does it effect their marriage or does it not change anything. I know many men at first didn't respect women in the workforce as they should. They thought maybe they didn't deserve certain jobs or they couldn't handle it. (None of that is true obviously women can hold their own, as they have proved) How many women compared to earlier times are the breadwinners and what are their husbands feelings toward this. Also, I wonder if women like being the breadwinner or if they feel like their husbands should step it up. I know growing up in my house my father was the breadwinner, but has always told me since day one to support myself. He always says don't depend on a man to take care of you. So I have always planned to be very successful and make my own. I don't think I would mind being the breadwinner, so hopefully I find a husband that doesn't mind being the stay at home dad and take on the household responsibilities. I don't see myself giving up a career. But this might bother many women and men. I want to know if it causes psychological problem in the male? If they become depressed. I feel that a lot of men would. Then you throw kids into the mix and which child steps it up? The son or daughter. I feel the daughter would just from watching her mother. I think to a certain degree each daughter takes traits their mother has and son follows the father. (not in all cases of course) Which child is more goal driven? More motivated? Maybe the women being the breadwinner does change things, but I feel that it does and could cause problems in a marriage.
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I think I heard a report about this on NPR... yep, here it is: http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2000-03-07/female-breadwinners
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of old, but it's the Diane Rehm show, so it probably has some good stuff.
I would wonder about the economic shifts that relate to this. When I was growing up, my Dad was the primary breadwinner, but my Mom also worked. It was the same in most of the families of the friends I had as a kid -- it's just too expensive to live with one breadwinner. I think maybe an interesting corollary to your question would be to examine situations in which the father isn't stay-at-home, but makes less than his wife. That, to me, would be more emasculating than being a stay-at-home father.
this is an interesting topic, and quite a relevant one. personally if my future wife makes more then i do, awesome! i wouldn't have a problem with it. but since she's going into education that might be hard to do... teachers sadly don't get paid well enough for what they contribute to society.
ReplyDeletethough anyways, my neighbor is a stay at home dad. his wife is a nurse and she makes enough money to provide for their family. so he stays home with the three kids and home schools them. they're a pretty happy family, and they get along fine.
though i'm sure some guys (some of us have huge ego's) will have a problem if they felt they weren't providing enough for the family.
First, Alex, the word is "definitely" (which means without a doubt), not "defiantly" (which means to be openly resistant). I'm not just singling you out here. I've seen this error throughout this term. This misspelling is a big pet peeve, not just of professors but also employers. If it showed up in a cover letter you wrote to obtain a position, your application would probably be thrown out.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I think you need to consider is how class fits into the psychological reactions of those experiencing this reversal of traditional gender roles. In the article "She Works, He Doesn't," it becomes apparent that those who most object to the reversal are middle class families and above. Working-class families are used to women working when men get laid off, which happens quite often in the manufacturing sector. Men from the professional/managerial class who strive to climb the social ladder seem more likely to resent having to play Mr. Mom. In short, I don't think your issue is relative, with a random group of people preferring more traditional gender roles. I think you will discover patterns that probably are related to class.
I think you could find research discussing the increase in male illiteracy, male poverty, single parent households, divorce rates etc since the 50's or 60s. You could also consider what happens to kids with both parents working...are children being neglected. Is child crime increasing? You could do alot with this topic.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a big issue and a neat topic that you thought of. Every question that I would think to put in my paper you asked above in your post. I wonder what the men think when they now in today's society have women as their boss. I think also in today's ecomony, that laid off men will settle for what they can get. Woman are becoming CEO's even, which is a huge accomplishment. I use to think that I would always want to eventually just be a stay at home mom, but now I want to be the breadwinner. I want to make the money and be successful and to prove to my husband that I can be just as successful.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a very creative topic and a huge issue of the 2000. I think it is great that woman are stepping up in the work field and are becoming high up in their companies. Like we saw with Working Girl. I think you could maybe research on what social class these woman came from or even maybe their partners social status. Just a suggestion?
ReplyDeleteAlex, I love your topic! This is something we have discussed in many of my psychology classes. I know the divorce rate is much higher in marriages where the wife makes more than the husband! I bet you can find a ton of statistics to support all of the issues you brought up in your blog! I am a nanny and sometimes have the 4 kids when their parents go on vacation. I will tell you from first hand experience (i know just for a week or so) that being a stay at home mom/dad is NOT as easy as one might think!
ReplyDeleteI like that you chose this topic. I only know of two families that the mom is the primary breadwinner and the dad may work but he is the one to take care of the kids.I would say timing and an individuals own perspective would determine who takes what roles and how they feel about it. I don't think stay-at -home dads feel less like a man so to say. I think you should look into this role reversal and how it plays a part in social class. You may find that it is more common in lower or middle class families and uncommen in upper class families.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for all the feedback! I really appreciate it!
ReplyDelete