Textbook Reading Guide Chapters 8 9 10 11 12 pp 389 399 only FAD 4265 Reading Guide2 Chapter 8 Over the generations the purpose of marriage has moved from an economic necessity to companionship to personal growth and individual fulfillment Has the modern social order caused intimate relationships to be more or less intense Have intimate relationships become more or less fragile o more intense o In the postmodern world the intense need for intimate relationships creates a contradiction the very intensity of emotional and physical intimacy make the bond increasingly fragile How has the role of kin and community changed regarding support for couples as they try to build intimate relationships o Individuals pursue goals of their own We have moved away from them What is the difference between calling and dating Which gender was more in control in each What rules govern dating o Calling a young woman would invite a young man to come to her home under her parents watchful eyes By the 1920s courting couples began to go out on dates without adult supervision From private to public o Control went from girl and her family to the boy o Rules govern dating Defined by peers rather than by adults Courting led to dating Although traditional dating has declined our culture still affirms the premise that dating provides valuable experience that will help individuals select mates and achieve happy marriages What are the positive and negative outcomes of dating Of online dating o Some teens who date frequently have higher levels of self esteem perceive themselves as more popular and have higher levels of autonomy than their peers Others have more conflict with parents more depression and lower academic motivation and achievement than other teens o Could be used to truly find your match or could be used by predators with the intent to harm Principle of least interest power to control it o the person with the least interest in continuing the relationship has the o Since the high power person has less to loss by discontinuing the relationship they can make excessive demands on the lower status partner o EX the high status male can make excessive demands on his lower status partner than if she were of equal or reversed status o This class hierarchy influences courtship as people from higher social classes are likely to be viewed as more attractive dating partners than those from lower classes Assortative mating homogamy hypergamy hypogamy o Assortative mating addresses the question of who individuals choose as mates people choose a mate with traits similar to their own Individuals date and mate within their class race ethnicity and religion homogamy o Hypergamy o Hypogamy the patriarchal structure of society has provided women with a powerful incentive to marry a man of higher status Hypergamy is a woman s principal avenue for upward mobility in societies that prescribe domesticity for women and limit their access to workplace opportunities a professional woman who finds a dearth of possible mates with similar professional standing may be willing to marry a lower status man Hypogamy is marrying downward Despite an ideology that rests on personal choice the structual influences in mate selection remain strong o availability of marriageable partners appropriate age or economic circumstances o individuals varied affiliations with different groups diverse affiliations provide opportunities to meet and stay in contact o schools narrow the choice of available partners o EX I cannot marry someone I never meet and what neighborhood I live in or what college I attend profoundly affects my pool of potential partners o Side note Technology has the ability to increase diversity in the pool of eligible partners by creating global connections Difference between sexual identity sexual orientation and sexual behavior o Sexual identity self classification an individual s sexual self classification as lesbian gay bisexual or straight o Sexual orientation o Sexual behavior sexual attraction and desire the sex of those to whom one is attracted people s sexual acts and activities o you can identify with being one thing but desire something else What are four major findings of the NHSLS National Health and Social Life Survey o Most comprehensive sex survey o designed to help researchers learn about the sex lives of US men and women o the study explored the extent to which sexual behavior is influenced by gender age marital status and other demographic characteristics o Major Findings Adultery is the exception rather than the rule Both men and women are remarkably faithful to their partners Nearly 75 of married men and 85 of married women say they have never been unfaithful Over the lifetime a typical man has 6 partners a typical woman 2 People in this country are divided into 3 categories according to how often they have sex 1 3rd have sex twice a week or more 1 3rd a few times a month and 1 3rd a few times a year or none at all The incidence of homosexuality is lower than the 10 reported by Kinsey and widely reported since then Just 2 8 of men and 1 4 of women identify themselves as homosexual or bisexual Still 9 of men and 4 of women report they have had a seual experience with someone of the same sex since puberty While these numbers are surprisingly low the research team admits that stigmatization probably makes people reluctant to discuss homosexual behavior Married couples have the most sex they enjoy it and they are the most likely to have orgasms when they do Nearly 40 of married people have sex twice a week compared to 25 for singles What is the most significant dimension of sexuality relating biological and social contexts of behavior and desire o Gender According to Rubin and most other similar studies women depend on emotional attachment to call up the sexual while men rely on the sexual to spark the emotional quoted in Zinn et al 2015 p 240 What is emotion work in the love relationship and how does it relate to women o Arlie Hochschild s term for the work that woman do to keep right feelings in vs men relationships try to find and keep the right feeling to keep everything fine EX a mother who promotes a positive father child relationship by offering suggestions for joint activities encouragement and support Chapter 9 Bateson notes that two individuals who marry come from different histories social networks etc and then must create a new novel household She calls this a marriage of two strangers o They continue