1. Overview Marriage and Family Bell hooks Psychoanalytic Feminist Theories Nancy Chodorow

2. Marriage and Family Second wave feminists began to critique and deconstruct the nuclear family and women’s childbearing/rearing responsibilities as a major site of oppression –Different angles of analysis Connection to patriarchy and division of labor that separates men in the public sphere and women in the private

3. Marriage and Family Patriarchal nature of marriages –Men as head, women and children below in power and status –First place of learning domination/subordination Isolation of women in the home Lack of pay for labor in the home Low status of work in home Lack of equal responsibility in the home in parenting and caretaking –Second shift for those who worked outside of home

4. bell hooks These critiques of marriage and motherhood alienated as many women as it engaged –Especially poor women and women of color Lead to placing more value and significance on mothering as an important area of women’s lives –Recognition, praise, celebration

5. bell hooks Feminist analyses today –Rethink the nature of motherhood –Argue against compulsory motherhood and primary responsibility with women –Advocate sharing responsibilities with males –Acknowledges single mothers, lesbian mothers –Community-based child care –Non-sexist teaching of children –Shared idea of community responsibility for children

6. Psychoanalytic Feminists 1970s- reinterpretations of Freud Applied to relationships of everyday life –Heterosexual marriage, childrearing, nuclear family Trying to analyze why men dominate and fear women (misogyny) –Located in childhood relationship with mother –Men need women for intimacy and emotion but women are a threat to their independence and masculinity

7. Psychoanalytic Feminist Theories Thinkers: Nancy Chodorow, Lynn Chancer, Jane Gallop, Helene Cixous, Luce Irigaray Description of Problem: –Men’s domination and fear of women begins in childhood and impacts culture, power, etc. –Problematic relationships of everyday life Such as marriage, parenting

8. Psychoanalytic Feminist Theories Analysis –Women and men develop gendered personalities as the outcome of separating from mother –Women are primary caregivers –Men separate from mother and devalue femininity to develop masculinity (in absence of male role model) –Women have a direct model of femininity and connectedness -submit to males to stay connected

9. Psychoanalytic Feminist Theories Remedies –Shared parenting –Non-sexist childrearing Contributions –Analysis of unconscious sources of masculinity and femininity –Analysis of dominance of phallus as marker of male power Shortcomings –Based on western, middle class nuclear family (two hetero parents) –Assumes all men are misogynist and all women are emotional and caregivers

10. Nancy Chodorow Psychological development of masculinity, femininity, and heterosexuality Hetero development –Mothers are first love object, primary love –Boys transfer love to another woman like mother –Girls have to change to father and create a triangle –Regaining primary love is main goal of adult sexual relationships

11. Nancy Chodorow Leads to problematic heterosexual relationships –Offer more to men while women turn to children and other women for emotional needs –Boys/men don’t know how to meet girls/women’s needs for connection and emotion Gender development- relationship- inhibited men and relationship-extended women which reproduces woman as mother and continues oppressive cycle