Which theoretical analysis views families in terms of patterns of gender inequality?

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Re-stating the question and the answer options to set the stage: The question asks which theoretical analysis views families in terms of patterns of gender inequality. The available options are: social-exchange analysis, symbolic-interaction analysis, structural-functional analysis, and feminist analysis.

Option 1: social-exchange analysis. This approach typically emphasizes costs, benefits, and reciprocity in relationships, often framed in economic terms. While it can touch on gender roles, its primary focus is not on systemic patterns of gender inequality within families, but rather on exchange dynamics and power within relationships. Therefore, this option does not center on gender-inequality patterns across families.

Option 2: symbolic-interaction analysis. This micro-level perspective examines everyday interactions, meanings, and symbols that people attach to their social roles. It explains how gender roles are constructed and enacted in daily life, but it does not inherently analyze families as patterned systems of inequality across society; its emphasis is more on interactional processes than broad structural patterns of inequality. So this option is not the best fit for viewing families specifically as patterns of gender inequality.

Option 3: structural-functional analysis. This macro-level framework views society as a system whose parts work together to promote stability and cohesion. It has been used to describe traditional gender roles in the family, but its core focus is on how social structures contribute to functioning and equilibrium rather than explicitly analyzing persistent gender inequality patterns. Thus, while it can discuss gender roles, it doesn’t inherently foreground patterns of gender inequality across families as its central claim.

Option 4: feminist analysis. This perspective centers on how gender relations shape social institutions, including the family, and explicitly analyzes patterns of gender inequality, power, and dominance. It investigates how family structures sustain or challenge unequal gender hierarchies and emphasizes gender as a central axis of analysis. This option directly corresponds to viewing families through the lens of gender inequality.

In summary, among the given theories, feminist analysis uniquely foregrounds patterns of gender inequality within families, whereas the other approaches address related concepts (such as exchanges, daily interactions, or structural roles) but do not center on gender inequality as their defining focus.

SOC 225-001 Quiz 13

Which theoretical analysis views families in terms of patterns of gender inequality?

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