The personal life perspective

Intro For family diversity Micro theory They argue that to understand the family today, we must focus on the meaning, its members gives to their relationships and situations, rather than on the familys supposed ‘functions’ Don’t like structural theories

Beyond the ties of blood and marriage Relationships with your friends Fictive kin Gay and lesbian ‘chosen families’ Relationships with dead relatives Relationships with pets

Smart: Donor-conceived children Issues and difficult feelings that could emerge for non-genetic parents and genetic parents: Non-genetic: Issues with attachment Awkward moments-> they look like they Genetic: Attachment of mother to biological child could lead to depression/anxiety May want contact in future/ involvement The personal life approach is concerned with the feelings that arise due to donor conceived children

Smart: The connectedness thesis We are fundamentally social beings whose choices are always made ‘within a web of connectedness’ We live within networks of existing relationships and interwove personal histories, and these strongly influence our range of options and choices in relationships We have choice but not as much as the individualisation perspective propose Examples of choices that maybe restricted: Pressure to get marries, arranged marriages -> religion Pressure to have children in an extended family

How can income and gender affect levels of freedom and choice within families? Low income: Limited amount of luxury items that they can buy with their small or none disposable income May not be able to be a unit of consumption Mum and dad may have to both work outside the home even if they don’t want to Forces them into a symmetrical family (even if they don’t want to) Gender: Male will be pressured to become the ‘breadwinner’ in a nuclear family. They are socialized to provide income for the family Females are socialized to be seen as a ‘mother’ and an expectation to still carry out domestic labour- house wife role Gender stereotypes still exist for things such as domestic labout

Budgeon: Friends Aruges that traditional norms within families can limit peoples relationship choices Family life- it is important to explore the non-conventional families (friends) Individuals now centering their lives on friends Individuals do not always have complete freedom like the individualization thesis would suggest Close non-family relationships as seen as part of contemporary family life Individuals are now starting to centralize their friends -> move away from the conventional family

Smart: same sex couples Individuals in same sex relationships attach no importance to who controls the money and are often quite happy to leave this to their choice Egalitarian relationship Greater freedom amongst same sex couples- no gendered beliefs surrounding money/ domestic labour

Criticisms of the personal life perspective It can be accused of taking too broad a view. Critics argue that, by including a wide range of different kinds of personal relationships, we ignore what is special about relationships that are based on blood or marriage The personal life perspective rejects the top down view taken by other perspectives such as functionalism

Evaluation of the personal life perspective It helps us to understand how people themselves construct and define their relationships as ‘family’, rather than imposing traditional sociological definitions of the family (based on blood of genes, for example) from the outside It does see intimate relationships as performing the important function of providing us with a sense of belonging and relatedness However, unlike functionalism, the personal life perspective recognizes that relatedness is not always positive. For example, people may be trapped in violent, abusive relationships or simply in ones where they suffer everyday unhappiness, hurt of lack of respect More relevant because its more recent-> looks at modern day society Takes into consideration family diversity and what individuals consider as family whether it is conventional or not Its takes into consideration (relationship wise) wider kinship networks