Feminist, New Right and Postmodernist Perspectives on the Family
Feminist, New Right and postmodernist perspectives each challenge the functionalist picture of the harmonious family from a different direction. Radical feminists, including Delphy and Leonard, argue the family is founded on patriarchy, a system in which men as a group benefit from women's unpaid domestic labour and emotional work, so the family is a site of exploitation rather than mutual support, and they are sceptical that reform alone, rather than more fundamental change, can remove this inequality. Marxist feminists, including Ansley, argue women's domestic role also serves capitalism specifically, since unpaid housework reproduces and emotionally sustains the workforce at no cost to employers, with Ansley describing wives as 'taking the strain' of the frustrations capitalism produces in their husbands. The New Right, associated with Murray, argue family breakdown and rising numbers of lone-parent households, sometimes reliant on welfare, threaten social stability and children's development, favouring policy that supports and privileges the traditional nuclear family over alternatives. Postmodernists, including Stacey, reject any single 'normal' family form, documenting instead a genuine diversity of family arrangements, including her concept of the 'divorce-extended family' linking former spouses and their subsequent partners into a wider, non-traditional network, arguing individuals now actively construct their own family arrangements rather than following one fixed pattern.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Present each perspective as a distinct challenge to the same functionalist target, family harmony, so structure answers around what specifically each perspective disputes rather than treating 'critics of functionalism' as one undifferentiated group.
- Use Delphy and Leonard's radical feminist argument precisely: patriarchy is a structural system benefiting men as a group through women's unpaid domestic and emotional labour, so the family itself, not simply individual bad relationships, is the site of the problem.
- Use Ansley's Marxist feminist argument precisely: unpaid housework and emotional support reproduce a fit, willing workforce for employers at no cost to them, and her phrase 'taking the strain' describes wives absorbing the frustration capitalism generates in their husbands, echoing but gendering Zaretsky's wider claim.
- Explain the New Right's diagnosis and prescription together, as with education policy: family breakdown and lone parenthood are diagnosed as harmful to children and to social order, and the prescription is policy that privileges and supports the traditional two-parent nuclear family.
- Use Stacey's 'divorce-extended family' concept precisely: it describes a network formed after divorce and repartnering, linking former spouses, their new partners and children from different relationships, showing family life can be actively, individually constructed rather than fixed by a single template.
- When an item gives a specific example of a family arrangement or a family-related debate, name the exact perspective and concept it best illustrates before building your evaluation.
- Evaluate radical and Marxist feminism against each other: radical feminists see patriarchy as the fundamental structure, independent of capitalism, while Marxist feminists see women's oppression as ultimately serving capitalism's needs, a difference worth stating explicitly rather than treating 'feminism' as one view.
- For a 20-mark essay, use the item to anchor an opening perspective, bring in a contrasting perspective as evaluation, and close with a judgement that engages directly with the item's specific claim.
Worked example
Item B: A survey of dual-earner couples found that even where both partners worked full time, women reported doing significantly more of the household's cooking, cleaning and emotional support for children than their male partners, and many described feeling responsible for 'keeping everyone's spirits up' after a difficult day. Applying material from Item B and your knowledge, evaluate feminist explanations of the continuing unequal division of domestic labour. (20 marks)
- Identify the item's key evidence: unequal domestic and emotional labour persisting even when both partners work full time, and women describing responsibility for the household's emotional wellbeing.
- Build the radical feminist case from the item: Delphy and Leonard would argue this pattern shows patriarchy persisting structurally, benefiting men through women's continued unpaid labour, regardless of women's equal participation in paid work.
- Build the Marxist feminist case from the item, using Ansley: women's emotional labour, 'keeping everyone's spirits up', illustrates 'taking the strain' of frustrations from work, benefiting employers by sustaining a rested, willing workforce at no direct cost to them.
- Evaluate by contrasting the two: radical feminists would see this as evidence patriarchy operates independently of any particular economic system, while Marxist feminists would tie it specifically to capitalism's needs, a difference worth testing against the item's dual-earner detail, since the pattern persists despite women's full economic participation, arguably favouring the radical feminist reading.
- Bring in a further evaluative point: postmodernists would caution against generalising from any single survey, since family arrangements and divisions of labour vary considerably between households, and liberal feminists would point to gradual generational change as a more optimistic, less structural explanation.
- Conclude with a supported judgement, for example that the item's evidence of persistent inequality despite equal paid work participation better supports a structural, patriarchy-based explanation than an optimistic liberal account of gradual, self-correcting change.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Q1What do radical feminists such as Delphy and Leonard argue is the fundamental problem with the family?Show answer
Answer: That the family is founded on patriarchy, a structural system in which men as a group benefit from women's unpaid domestic and emotional labour, making the family itself a site of exploitation.
Q2Explain Ansley's phrase that wives 'take the strain' of capitalism.Show answer
Answer: Ansley argues wives absorb and soothe the frustration and stress their husbands bring home from work, providing free emotional labour that benefits employers by helping sustain a rested, willing workforce at no cost to them.
Q3What does the New Right, associated with Murray, argue about family breakdown?Show answer
Answer: That rising family breakdown and lone parenthood, sometimes reliant on welfare, threaten social stability and children's development, so policy should support and privilege the traditional nuclear family.
Q4Explain Stacey's concept of the 'divorce-extended family'.Show answer
Answer: A family network formed after divorce and repartnering that links former spouses, their new partners, and children from different relationships into a wider, non-traditional set of family ties.
Q5State one difference between radical feminism and Marxist feminism as explanations of women's oppression in the family.Show answer
Answer: Radical feminists see patriarchy as the fundamental cause, operating independently of the economic system; Marxist feminists see women's unpaid domestic labour as ultimately serving capitalism's specific need for a reproduced, sustained workforce.
Q6Give one criticism of the New Right view of family breakdown.Show answer
Answer: Critics argue it stigmatises lone-parent families and other alternatives to the nuclear family as inherently deficient, without strong evidence that family structure alone, rather than poverty or other factors, causes worse outcomes for children.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a A Level Sociology exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Outline two feminist criticisms of the functionalist view of the family.
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 4 available
Item C: Government data showed a rise in the number of lone-parent households over several decades, alongside a rise in cohabiting and stepfamily households, while surveys found most people, including many lone parents, still described a stable, loving family life regardless of its structure. Applying material from Item C, analyse two reasons why postmodernists reject the idea of one 'normal' family type. (10 marks)
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 10 available
Item D: A newspaper feature profiled several households: one where both parents worked full time and split housework by informal rota, one led by a single mother who described strong support from her own mother living nearby, and one blended family combining children from two previous relationships. All three families described themselves as close and functioning well, though the working couple noted that the mother still handled most last-minute childcare arrangements when plans changed. Applying material from Item D and your knowledge, evaluate the view that family diversity has made concepts such as patriarchy less useful for understanding family life today. (20 marks)
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 20 available
See real A Level Sociology past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the feminist, new right and postmodernist perspectives on the family worksheet pack - 6 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
Next topics
Not quite what you needed?
Tell us what is missing on feminist, new right and postmodernist perspectives on the family, or which topic to write up next. Every request is read, and we reply to every one.
Build a full practice pack.
This topic is one of hundreds in the library - pick the ones a student needs and generate a printable PDF in minutes.