Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Women as Breadwinners
I'm trying to study for this Sex, Marriage and Family course that I'm taking and the things that I keep reading in the texts become more and more disturbing. Ever experience that? You're trying to memorize the facts but the facts keep becoming more and more disturbing that you wish to debate them.. and really see if there is more research to back up statistics.
So there is this one chapter about the roles in a marriage and it says that whoever earns more tends to hold most of the power in decision-making process. Men tend to dominate in decisions about the car and women kind of things that concern the house and children. Then there are the few decisions that are made together between husband and wife.
One part of the chapter really stuck out and it was about power. It said that because men tend to make more money, they generally hold most of the buying power in the home, however, women tend to influence the mens' decisions. It also said that women who make more than men always find it detrimental to their marriage.
I'm not sure if this is true in present-day situations but the reaons it listed for this was because men tend to have lower self-esteems when they are making less than their wives and because of this, women downplay their successes and allow men to believe they have the power in the relationship. Otherwise, there is a marital strain.
So what's up with THAT?! I grew up in a household where the woman (my mother) was the main breadwinner and it was something that I grew to admire. We are not women of the 50's right? So how come men are so uncomfortable with the idea that women can actually make more money than them? To the point where a woman is said to "downplay" her successes to boost her husband's esteem?
The text also said that women offer more support and understanding towards the careers of their male counterparts but it is not often that they receive the same treatment. Reading all of this material was frustrating.. not only that, but it made me feel as if women are really getting the shorter end of the straw.
Men prefer women of lower-status and lower-education than them because it gives them an authority role within the relationship. So apparently women who are of higher status will find it difficult to find a partner because the number of higher-status men is few.
Gees... is something wrong with this picture or what?
So there is this one chapter about the roles in a marriage and it says that whoever earns more tends to hold most of the power in decision-making process. Men tend to dominate in decisions about the car and women kind of things that concern the house and children. Then there are the few decisions that are made together between husband and wife.
One part of the chapter really stuck out and it was about power. It said that because men tend to make more money, they generally hold most of the buying power in the home, however, women tend to influence the mens' decisions. It also said that women who make more than men always find it detrimental to their marriage.
I'm not sure if this is true in present-day situations but the reaons it listed for this was because men tend to have lower self-esteems when they are making less than their wives and because of this, women downplay their successes and allow men to believe they have the power in the relationship. Otherwise, there is a marital strain.
So what's up with THAT?! I grew up in a household where the woman (my mother) was the main breadwinner and it was something that I grew to admire. We are not women of the 50's right? So how come men are so uncomfortable with the idea that women can actually make more money than them? To the point where a woman is said to "downplay" her successes to boost her husband's esteem?
The text also said that women offer more support and understanding towards the careers of their male counterparts but it is not often that they receive the same treatment. Reading all of this material was frustrating.. not only that, but it made me feel as if women are really getting the shorter end of the straw.
Men prefer women of lower-status and lower-education than them because it gives them an authority role within the relationship. So apparently women who are of higher status will find it difficult to find a partner because the number of higher-status men is few.
Gees... is something wrong with this picture or what?
