American Marriage and Divorce 02.docx
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American Marriage and Divorce 02.docx
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AmericanMarriageandDivorce02
Whicheverdefinitiononetendstoagreesto,Americansgenerallybelievethatpowerinmarriagehastitledinfavorofmen,becauseinthepastmenwerethebreadwinnersandnowtheyaretheprimarysourceoffamilyincome.Asaresultofhiseconomicpower,ahusbandcannotonlyenforcehiswillonhiswifebyinsistingthathedecidewhethertheyshouldbuyanewhouseornot,hemayalsosuccessfullyconvincehiswifethathiscontroloverthedecisionistheonlyrationalandlegitimateone.
Overthepastfortyyearsorso,thankstotheincreasingnumberofwomenreceivinghigheducationandgettingemployed,maledominanceinmarriagehasbeenchangedquiteconsiderablyintheUnitedStates.Whileequalpowersharinginmarriagehasyettobeachieved,women,withtheirsocialandeconomicstatusgreatlyincreased,arenowenjoyinggreatercontroloverfamilymatters.Manystudiesonhusband-wifepowerrelationshipintheUnitedStateshaveshownthatwhenwivesbringmoresocialandeconomicresourcestothemarriage,likeahighereducationandgoodsalary,theirpowerinmarriagerisesproportionately.StudiesofdatingcouplesintheUnitedStateshavealsoindicatedthatstrongcareergoalandhighacademicdegreecanaffecttheequationofpowerbetweenmenandwomen.
However,powerinmarriagesisnotsimplyconfinedtodecision-makinginfamilyaffairs.Ifdecisionsoverfamilymattersarevisibleindicatorsofunbalancedpowerbetweenhusbandsandwivesinmarriage,verbalcommunicationbetweenhusbandsandwivesrevealsaninvisibleformofpowerhusbandshaveovertheirwives.IntheUnitedStates,forexample,researchershavefoundanumberofdifferencesinthewayinwhichwomenandmencommunicate.Astudyin1992discoveredthathusbandsandwivestalkingtoeachotherarenotequal.Mentalkmore,interruptmore,andcontroltheconversationmove.Women,ontheotherhand,listenmore,askmorequestions,andusemorequalifiers,like“inmyopinion”and“itseemstome”.Additionally,researchershavealsofoundthatwhilemencontroltheconversation,womenofferanarrayofpossibleconversationtopics.Menchoosewhichtopics,ifany,theywanttodiscuss.Conversationfrequentlyfollowsthepatternofawomenofferingatopicthroughaquestionandamaneitherstoppingtheconversationbyashortresponse—“yes,no,uh-huh”—oracceptingthetopicandthenexpoundingonitasthewomaninterjectssupportivewordstokeeptheconversationgoing.Ifthemandeclinesthetopicbycuttingitshort,thewomanwillcontinueherwork,offeringotherpossibletopicsfromwhichhecanselect.AccordingtoAmericanresearchers,theselanguagedifferencesaresignsofpowerdifferences.Mendonotneedtoasktobeheard.Theyarethecenterofattention.Theircommunicationdominance,intermsofcontrollingtopicsandofthetimespentspeaking,isanindicationoftheirsocialdominance.
Thus,althoughdifferencesinpowerbetweenmenandwomenhavebecomelessovertatthemacrolevelinmarriagelawintheUnitedStates,husbandsstillexercisegreaterpowerthanwivesinmarriage,bothatthevisiblelevel(differenceinincomeearningability)andtheinvisiblelevel(differencebetweenmenandwomenincommunication).Basedonalltheseandmanyotherhardevidences,AmericansociologiststendtoagreethatintheUnitedStatestoday,mostmarriagesareprobablythe“senior-partner/juniorpartner”type,wherethehusbandassumesthesenior-partnerroleandthewifethejunior-partnerrole.FortherestofmarriagesintheUnitedStates,theyeitherfallintothe“husband-head/wife-helper”type,orintothecategoryof“husband-wifeequalpartners”.TheformerisverymuchresentedbyAmericanwomenandthelatterisstillbeenstrivenforbybothmenandwomenintheUnitedStates.Inshort,whilewomenhavewitnessedsteadyprogresstowardequalstatusforthemselvesinmarriage,therelationshipsbetweenhusbandsandwivesintheUnitedStatesarefarfromequal.FormostAmericanwomen,equal-partnershipmarriageremainsagoalratherthanareality.
NewTrendsinMarriageandChangingViewsonMarriage
SurveyaftersurveyintheUnitedStatesshowsthatagoodmarriageranksatthetopofmostpeople’ssourcesofsatisfaction—abovewealth,fame,andstatus,abovegoodhealthandgoodjobs,andaboveotherfriendshipsandrelationship.Againandagain,however,statisticsseemtoindicatethatmarriagerateintwentieth-centuryAmericahasbeenonthedeclineoverthepastthirtyyears.Forinstance,in1970,therewere15.6percentofwhitepeople18andolderwhohadneverbeenmarried,butby1991,thisfigurehadrisento20.5percent.Similarly,forblackandHispanicpeople18andover,thepercentageofpeoplewhohadneverbeenmarriedhadalsoincreasedfrom20.6and18.6to37.1and27.3in1991,respectively.Largelyduetotheriseinthenumberofpeoplewhohadneverbeenmarried,andtotheriseinthedivorcerateintheUnitedStatesoverthepastthirtyyears,thepercentageofpeople18andolderwhoremainedin“intactmarriages”(thecategoryin“intactmarriages”excludesboththosewhohavenevermarriedandthosewhomighthavemarriedbutarenowdivorcedorwidowed)hadseenacorrespondingdecreasebetween1970and1991.ForWhites,BlacksandHispanics18andover,therewere72.6,64.1and71.8percentthatremained,respectively,in“intactmarriages”in1970;butby1991,thosepercentageshaddroppedto63.7,43.6and61.1respectively.
AllthesefiguresbearstrongtestimonytothefactthattheinstitutionofmarriageintheUnitedStates,whichstillhighlycherishedbythemajorityofthepeople,hassomehowlostitsappealtoasignificantnumberofpeople.Therearemanyreasonstoaccountforsuchalossofappeal,butsincemarriageintheUnitedStatesislargelyamatterofpersonalchoiceandindividualdecision,thechiefreasonforthedecreaseofmarriagerateintheUnitedStatesprobablyliesinthechangedandchangingviewsofAmericansonmarriageinthepastthirtytofortyyears.AstheAmericanexpressiongoes“Ittakestwotoangle,”weneedtolookatbothmen’sandwomen’sviewsonittofullycomprehendthephenomenonofdecreaseinmarriagerateintheUnitedStates.
Itiscommonlybelievedthat,forAmericanwomen,theirviewsonmarriagehavechangedsignificantlyasaresultofthewomen’sliberationmovementofthe1960s,ledbyvocalcriticsoftheinstitutionofmarriage.Asagrowingnumberofwomenhaveattendedintothelabormarket,moreandmorewomenarenowdemandinggreaterequalityinthehome,theworkplace,marriage,andthelaw.Helpedbyeasieraccesstohighereducationandencouragedbymoreopportunitiesinallwalksoflifeinthesociety,Americanwomenincreasinglyfindthemselvespursuingcareersinareaspreviouslydominatedbymen.Forthisgroupofwomenintentonseekingequalityanddevelopingcareers,oneshouldnotgetmarriedjustforthesakeofmarriage.Indeed,theywillnotallowmarriagetocompromisetheiridealsofequality,norwilltheyallowittoimpedetheirpursuitofcareers.Consequently,theydelaymarriageindefinitelyand,notinfrequently,endupinlifetimesinglehood.
Ifthewomen’sliberationmovementhasfreedwomenfrom“bondage”ofmarriage,changedandchangingviewsonmasculinityhaveaffectedthewayAmericanmenlookattheinstitutionofmarriageaswell.Inthe1950s,forexample,therewasafirmexpectationthatrequiredmentogrowup,marryandsupportwives.Todoanythingelsewaslessthangrown-up,andthemanwhowillfullydeviatedwasjudgedtobe“lessthanaman”.Thisexpectationwassupportedbyanenormousweightofexpertopinion,moralsentimentandpublicbias.Butbytheendofthe1970sandthebeginningof1980s,adultmanhoodintheUnitedStateswasnotburdenedwiththeautomaticexpectationofmarriageandbread-winning.Themanwhopost-ponesmarriageintomiddleageorsimplynevermarries,themanwhoavoidsanywomanwhoislikelytobecomehisfinancialdependant,andthemanwhoisdedicatedtohisownpleasures,islikelytobefoundnotsuspiciouslydeviant,but“healthy”.Andthisjudgment,likethepriorone,issupportedbyexpertopinionandbythemoralsentimentsandbiasesofaconsiderablesectoroftheAmericanmiddleclass.
So,theconvergingforcesofchangedandchangingviewsonmarriageonthepartofAmericanmenandwomen,plussuchotherfactorsasthewidespreadpracticeofcohatitation(betweenheterosexuals)anddomesticpartnerships(betweenhomosexuals),andthehighunemploymentrateamongBlacksandHispanics(financiallyunabletomarryandraiseafamily),haveallcontributedtothedeclineofmarriagerateintheUnitedStatesoverthepastthirtyyears.
However,tosaymarriageratehasbeenonthedeclinedoesnotmeanthatAmericansnolongerattachseriousnesstotheirmarriage.Indeed,ifwetakealookatthechangingviewsonmarriageonanotherlevel,wewillfindthatAmericansarenowtakingmarriagemoreseriouslythanbefore.Inthe1950s,forexample,mostAmericansassumedthatmarriagewouldlastforever.Rolesofhusbandandwifewereclearlydefined,andstabilitywenthandinhandwithmarriage.Thegoldenweddinganniversarysymbolizedtheidealgoal.Then,inthe1960s,thepostwarbabyboomerscameofageandmanyofthemwererebelliousagainstthestatusquo.Inthemidstofgreatsocialmovements,people’sviewsonmarriagehadchangedaswell.Forsome,marriagebecamearelationshipwhereeachpartnerwasfreetodo“hisorherownthing”.Inthe1970s,anemphasisforsomewasonexperimentation,freedom,“openmarriage”(mutualtoleranceofextramaritalsex),andmultipleoptions.Forothers,marriagewasnolonger“tilldeat
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