Answer to Question 1
D
Answer to Question 2
As everyone is aware, the institutions of marriage and family in America are changing, but
it not particularly clear exactly how they are changing. Hackstaff compares two groups of
couples, which were married in the 1950s and the 1970s to assess how the generations have
changed. She observed that there are two basic orientations about the health of marriage in
America today the optimistic view, that changes in marriage and family relationships
reflect a healthy effort to adapt to changing conditions in modern society, and the
pessimistic view, that modern changing patterns of divorce and family dissolution reflect
fundamental rot and decay in the marriage and family institutions. She posits that
pessimists focus upon the tenuous nature of threads of commitment in modern marriages,
and the threat of individualism of marital and family members. The pessimists see security
in traditional gender roles and the subordination of females in marriage, as this structure
maintains stability in the family unit. In this system, males are allowed greater
independence than wives, even though they may have greater responsibility for providing
economic support for the family. Wives have greater responsibility for emotional support,
kin-work, marital work (doing the little things to keep harmony in marriage).
Hackstaff contends that changing economic roles and responsibilities for women is
fostering a new sense of individualism among 1970s couples, which is more equalitarian,
less gender based, and is based upon greater mutual sharing of marital and family work.
These changes are leading to a redefinition of gender roles, and the power of women in
modern marriage. The new sense of individualism for women fosters new attitudes of
contingent marriage, by making marriage more conditional today than in the past.