Men and women have been socialized to perform certain gender specific roles. Values pertaining to these gender roles have been entrenched in the American psyche for generations and are difficult to alter. These roles have been changing at a relatively rapid pace, but the values that surround these roles have not been changing at the same rate. Many consequences arise from resistance to these role changes. This imbalance of role and value change have large implications for the future of the stability of the family. The difficulty our society has with accepting these changing roles can cause strain between spouses which can ultimately lead to divorce. The exploration of the effects of married women's employment, gender socialization, and divorce rates are intertwined and can not be discussed without referring to the other.
Divorce is something that has become a dramatically more common event in our society. In fact, "our society has the highest divorce rate in the world" (Macionis, 1995). When we are analyzing our society's propention towards higher divorce rates, by looking at gender soclialization as well as married women's employment as factors in the increasing divorce rates, we can not start the process of analysis without dicussing the structure our society has constructed to support the institution of divorce. Today the possibility of divorce may be considered from the onset of the martial engagement. Further, divorce has been normalized to the extent that there are specialized classes for children of divorced parents, support groups for those who have been or are going through a divorce, and even laws (i.e. no fault divorce laws) that all exist to make the process of divorce easier for all of those involved. The structure our society has created to support the institution of divorce is something that both gender socialization and married women's employment exists within. Further, when linking these two factors to climbing divorce rates this back drop of an environment where divorce is an accepted practice may in fact help to not only give these factors momentum but to participate in the actual creation of them as well. With this all said we can now go on to explore employment of married women and gender socialization as two major correlations with higher divorce rates.
There is a strong correlation between divorce rates and married women's involvement in the work force. "By 1990 according to the government projections, about four in ten marriages were ending in a divorce (for African American about six in ten)(Macionis, 1995). Also "In 1990, just one and five women was in the labor force, the proportion of working women has increased steadily since then. In 1993,....the labor force included...57.9 percent of women" (Macionis, 1995). Married women's increased participation in the work force may have many consequences. Some of the consequences that result form married women working are that there is less time spent at home, less time interacting with family, and changing goals for the future. These consequences may negatively effect the marital relationship and contribute to the increasing divorce rates because some people may be reluctant to adapt their traditional beliefs about the roles they think men and women should perform.
Traditionally the type of labor engaged in by women and men was largely sex determined. There were also limits that existed to how successful a person could be in a job depending on their sex. There were clear lines defining the difference between "men's work" and "women's work". Men and women have been socialized to perform different roles. Women were socialized to work in the domestic sphere and men were socialized to work in the labor sphere. The phrase the domestic sphere is used here to refer to taking care of the house and the family. The phrase the work sphere is used here in refernce to work done outside of the home for wages (Richardson, 1993). Some sociologists have argued that the sex division of labor was necessary for a functional society. Talcott Parson, a famous sociologist, argued that "sex role segregation is a functional necessity for marital stability and even for the viability of society itself" (Parsons & Oppenheimer, 1994). This is not an isolated perspective. Other social scientists shared this view point. Freud, a leading psychoanalyst of the time, concluded that "women have less a sense of justice than men, that they are less ready to submit to the great experiences of life, that they are often influenced by their judgment by feelings of affection and hostility" (Richardson, 1993). These sentiments imply that women are less rational and less equipt to work outside the household than men. Women have been stereotyped as submissive, independent, agressive, and ruled primarily by rationale.
In our society the characteristics that are stereotypically associated with men are deemed more important, while the characteristics that are stereotypically associated with women are not regarded as important. The valuing of these characteristics directly effects what type of roles each sex would perform. Women have been socialized to remain with in the confines of the domestic sphere. The characteristics that were thought to describe women were supposively key to the functioning of the domestic role. This role of domesticity was defined by specific acceptable behavior such as cooking, cleaning, and child care. These characteristics deemed femine were thought to be necessary to run a successful household. For instance, the nurturing qualities were thought to be essential for raising children. On the other hand, men have been socialized to remain with in the confines of the working sphere. Men have bee socialized to be the "breadwinner", the "king of the castle". Thus, working outside the home was associated with characteristics such as agressiveness, dominace, independence, and rational. This split in labor has a direct effect on the stability on the marital relationship. When men worked outside the household, and usually earned all the money coming into the hosuehold, women depended of them for support. This financial dependence helped, in part, to make the occurance of divorce rare because women would have great difficulty supporting themself with out the help of a man (Spitze, 1985).
More recently, traditional gender role assignments have been questioned. Changes in economic conditions, social norms, and in values (such as an emphasis on togetherness has shifted to an emphasis on individuality) have contributed to an increase in married women's involvement in the work force (Elkind, 1994). Also large societal occurences may force women and men to change their roles. During world war II most of the men were off fighting and it became necessary for women to work in order for the economy to remain stable. This was a time when many married women, who would not normally worked, became involved in the labor force. After world war II "married female employment, specially that of young mothers, had burgeoned and the proportion of marriages expected to end in divorce approached fifty percent" (Sptize, 1985). Traditional ideas such as appropriate roles for each sex and how serious it was to disrupt a marraige were challenged. Women's increased involvement in the work force has allotted for more independence for women. It has also caused a great deal of difficulties that are related to the deteriation of the family.
A double standard exists for men and women in the work place. If a man is a dominant and/or demanding boss or employee that may be praised and even expected of him at times. However, if a woman demonstartes those same qualities she may be considered bossy or overbearing. These ideas are shaped by traditional gender stereotypes. So, even if a woman does obtain a postions with in the work force traditional stereotypes still burden her. The idea that men and women are equal in the work force is disproved by the many times women are discredited just because of their sex. For example, if a woman does work she "earns on the average sixty eight percent of what men earn" (Baron & Graziano, 1991). Women may earn less because their work is less valued, as well as because women tend to engage in certain types of work designated as "female occupations" which pay less. It has been shown that women tend to engage in specific types of occupations. "According to the U.S. board of statistics (1994), women engage in a narrow range of occupations, with half of working women holding just two types of work.....administrative support work and service work". Thus, women and work have changed, but there is still more than a trace of traditional beliefs incorporated into the work force structure in regards to women's participation.
These traditional ideas about women working that are still present can directly effect the marital relationship. Many consequences follow from increased involvement of married women in the labor force, but the reason these consequences effect the family in a negative way is because the role of women has changed but traditional ideas about the role of women has not changed at an equally rapid pace. Many men still prefer a traditional marriage in "which the husband is dominant and the wife plays a supportive (subordinate) role as child rearer, housekeeper, and the husband's and family's emotional support" (Zastrow, 1993). Typically, men who have difficulties with their wives working may be men who have been socialized to accept traditionally defined gender roles. Thus, for men, when the roles shift and values do not, their self concept and their self esteem may suffer. Interviews with such men suggest that "their wive's employment served to exacerbate their need for dominance in the home because it was an indication of their failure" (Pyke, 1994). This could certainly resuolt in a power struggle between spouses and could work to destroy a marriage by emphasizing the perceived imbalance between the spouses.
Another instance where the perceived imbalance may cause a problem would be in the area of the household work. Role overload is a probelm working married women encounter partly due to traditional stereotypical views. A number of studies have shown that "husbands of employed wives do almost no more housework than other husbands" (Gaugner & Halxer, 1980). This can be explained by the fact that many men have been socialized to leave the doestic sphere to women. "The amount of time the wife spends away from the household has a disruptive influence on marital relations, given the traditional organizations of household work" (Spitze, 1993). This difference between role and expectancy may further harm the marital relationship by adding stress to it and breaking down the positive interaction and increasing the negative interaction.
Not every consequence of married women's employment that increase the possibility of divorce is a negative one. Women who have been involved in abusive marriages and have found themselves dependent on their husband to support them would certainly benefit from becoming involved in the work force. This could enable women to be more independent by decreasing financial dependence on their husbands. It could also work to increase their self esteem and self concept. Thus, involvement in the work force by women in such a condition may empower them and give them resources, the courage, and the power that would allow them to leave. This also contributes to the rising divorce rates, because women who would not normally have been able to leave a bad marriage could do so.
Throughout time, gender role stereotypes have existed and it has been difficult to alter these traditional ideas. The need and the desire for women to work may be inhibited by these views. The changing roles of married women working produces many consequences. These consequences effect the marital relationship. They have a particularily deteriorating effect of the marital relationship because of men's and women's ideas about tradional gender roles have not changed as rapidly as the roles themselves. This disproportionate change in roles and values may create many situations that are harmful and ultimately destructive to marital harmony. Considering current trends in divorce rates and the increase in married women's employment are likely to continue, and understanding of their linkage may facilitate amelioration of any further negative consequences and propel future adaptation and understanding between the sexes.
