SOC214H1 Lecture Notes - Jessie Bernard, Matriarchy, Social Reproduction
Document Summary
Definitions of & theoretical approaches to studying family. Household is a residential unit; it is people who live together. Our class defines family as people who give support, who provide caring, people you love and they love you also : some said blood & marriage aren"t necessary for a family to happen. State says that married heterosexual couples with no children are not a family. Government decided that marriage is not necessary for family. Definition must encompass the diversity of family patterns in canada today, across cultures and through history. Governments have their own interests in defining family: family definition has expanded more i. e. common law couples are like married couples. Definition based on biology can be problematic. Census family is a couple married or common law, heterosexual or homosexual, and children with both or either (?) Margrit eicler"s criticism: it focuses on blood and marriage, doesn"t matter who they are but what they do.
