Postmodernist themes

There are a number of themes in most postmodern writing on the family:

• Gender equality means that traditional male dominance has been challenged that the nuclear family is no longer the only possible family type for most people.
• Individualism means that people choose to act on the basis of what is good for them and not on a sense of what others may expect or think.
• Modern society is fragmented. There are few connections between various groups or between or between some members of our society so the influence of society on behaviour has weakned.

What do postmodern theorists say about the family?

The Rapports (1982) described and listed the variety of types of family diversity in modern society:

• Family structures and organisation
• Cohort (the generation you were born into)
• Ethnic and cultural variations
• Social class differences
• Life course (events that occur to people)

In 1993, Cheal theorised that the family has undergone major change because society is no longer predictable. People have choices in their lifestyles and excercise those choices. At about the same time, Anthony Giddens said that the cause of change in family and marriage was triggered by the greater equality between men and women, but the cost of this equality was that personal relationships were less stable. Beck talked in terms of the risk society. By this, he meant that as a tradition has less influence and people have more choices, we become aware of risks and rewards that come from decision making. Families are now negotiated, people…