Soc 155/255   

The Changing American Family

Reading Questions; Check back regularly for updates

Rev 10/1/2025

Week 1:
Sept 22	Introduction to the class
Sept 24	Cherlin, Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage, Chapters 1-3 (Demographic Trends, Explanations, and Consequences) Cherlin, Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage, Chapter 1 (Demographic Trends).     * What is a cohort?     * What is the Baby Boom and when did it occur?     * Can you see evidence of the Baby Boom in Figure 1-1?     * What is the trend in extra marital cohabitation, and what is the effect of education on cohabitation? (see Figure 1-2)     * What is the effect of longer life expectancy on the percentage of marriages that eventually end in divorce? Cherlin, Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage, Chapters 2+3 (Explanations and Consequences)     * What is the difference between 'period' and 'cohort' explanations for the baby boom? What evidence is available for each explanation?     * What is the trend in married women's labor force participation, how might this affect the divorce rate?     * What are the effects of divorce and what are some limitations of the research on the effects of divorce?
Week 2:
Sept 29	Cherlin, Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage, Chapters 4+5 (Race and Poverty, The State of Our Unions)     * What are the differences between white and black family patterns in the late 20th century, and what explains these differences?      * What is the story of the infamous 'Harvard-Yale' study of female marriage probabilities?
Oct 1	Waite and Gallagher, Ch1-7 * What are Waite and Gallagher’s 5 myths about marriage? * What evidence do they provide about gender equality or inequality within marriage? * Why do they think married men are healthier and live longer than single or divorced men? What other explanations are possible for the apparent health benefits of marriage?
Week 3:
Oct 6	Waite and Gallagher, Ch 8-14 * What is the nature of the public and societal stake in marriage? * What policies do Waite and Gallagher propose to strengthen marriage? * What is Waite and Gallagher’s position on same-sex marriage?
Oct 8	Reading from the Feminine Mystique, Chapters 1 and 2, and the first 6 pages of Ch 3 (p 57-127 in the paperback edition)     * What is the problem that has no name, and why does it have no name?     * What is the feminine mystique, who promotes it, and who suffers by it?     * What kinds of choices does Friedan report having made about her own career ambitions?    * What kind of evidence does Friedan employ in her analysis of women’s happiness and satisfaction?
Week 4:
Oct 13	Reading from the Feminine Mystique, Chapter 4, Chapter 6, chapter 14 and chapter 15 (epilogue).     * What happened in Seneca Falls in 1848?     * Who were Lucy Stone and Susan B. Anthony, and what role did they play in 19th century feminism?     * What kind of image (or mis-perception) is Friedan trying to defend the 19th century feminists from?     * What is functionalism, and why in Friedan’s view is functionalist social theory inherently anti-feminist?
Oct 15	Betty Friedan, Feminine Mystique, Ch 5 Judith Stacey’s Op-Ed “Good Riddance to the Family” (linked on my website) David Popenoe’s “Two Parent Families are Better” (linked on my website) Questions: * How does Friedan characterize Freud and Freudian theory? * Summarize the debate between Stacey and Popenoe
Week 5:
Oct 20	Wallerstein, Second Chances, Read Chapters 1-7, Questions: * Why do the effects of divorce seem to last in children so long after the parental divorce itself? * In what ways does divorce make parenting more difficult? * What kinds of problems are the young adults having 10 and 15 years after their parents’ divorces?
Oct 22	Wallerstein, Second Chances, finish the book  * Who are the winners and losers in divorce? * How were families recruited into Wallerstein’s study? * How representative is Wallerstein’s sample of all children of divorce?
Week 6:
Oct 27	in-class Midterm assessment
Oct 29	Rosenfeld, The Age of Independence, Ch 1-3      * What is Family Government, and what is its significance?      * What was bundling?      * What effects did the Great Depression, World War II, and post-war suburbanization have on American families?       * What is the Independent Life Stage, when did it first appear, and what is its significance?      * What is the trend for young adults to live independently from their parents?      * What is the trend in age at first marriage?
Week 7:
Nov 3	Rosenfeld, The Age of Independence, Ch 4-7 see also Rosenfeld "Moving a Mountain"      * What are nontraditional unions, and what do their increasing numbers tell us?      * What is the relationship between nontraditional unions and geographic mobility?      * What explains the relationship between age and rate of interracial marriage?     * How has childhood changed over time, and how do we know?      * How do changes in childhood relate to other changes in the family system, such as the rise of the independent life stage?      * What are the key factors that influence tolerance towards homosexuals?      * What is demographic metabolism, and how does it work?      * In what way does income and parental education explain some of the differences in children’s outcomes among different family types?       * What explains Hill Collins: It's All in the Family       * How does Collins define intersectionality?       * Explain an example of how Collins uses the analogy between family and nation, for instance for adoption and immigration, or between family fertility and national family planning policy.
Nov 5	Roe v Wade (1973) Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org (2022) * How do the Roe majority and the Dobbs majority address the right to privacy differently? * What is the original intent argument in the dissents in Roe? * What is Stare Decisis? Cohen et al, The New Abortion Battleground (2023)
Week 8:
Nov 10	The Second Shift, chapters 1-6, 16, and 17     * Define the second shift, and explain why it continues to exist     * How do women rationalize allowing their husbands to do less than half of the work around the house?     * In what ways do the new expectations of gender equality make married life easier or more difficult?
Nov 12	Rosenfeld The Rainbow after the Storm Ch 1-9 * Identify Frank Kameny, the Hays Code, the American Law Institute, Stonewall, Harvey Milk, Intergroup Contact Theory, Gordon Allport, nondisplacing movements, sodomy laws * What are the forces or actors that led to greater acceptance of gay rights, and when did the liberalization of gay rights attitudes in the US occur? * What important precedents were set by Baehr v. Miike (Hawaii, 1996) and Roemer v Evans (1996, US SC) Josh Gamson: Must Identity Movements Self Destruct? * What in Gamson’s view is the paradox of fixed identity categories?
Week 9:
Nov 17	Rosenfeld The Rainbow after the Storm Ch 10-19 * What is the story of April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse and their children, and their suit against Michigan’s Republican governor and AG? * What does research show about children’s outcomes when raised by same-sex couples? * Why are trials important in establishing facts? Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)
Nov 19	Rosenfeld and Thomas: Searching for a Mate: The Rise of the Internet as a Social Intermediary Rosenfeld and Thomas:     * How has the way people meet partners changed over time, and why?     * How are couples who meet online similar to and different from couples who meet offline?     * What explains which groups are more likely to meet their partners online?
Nov 24-28	Thanksgiving Break
Week 10:
December 1	Levine and Heller, Attached, questions forthcoming * What are the 3 main attachment styles, and what is their origin in individuals? * What is the intellectual history of attachment theory? * What attachment style combinations work least well? * What evidence is there that attachment style is fixed in individuals, or can change? * Take the attachment style quizzes and post your results anonymously.
Dec 3	GSS Paper due
Final exam Tuesday, December 9, 8:30-11:30A	Final exam, in-class