Attitudes of African-American Women on Marriage and Family

 The scope of this research proposal will focus on the attitudes of African-American Women with marriage and family. It will discuss why are so many black women heading households alone. It will further answer whether black women changed their views on the traditional marriage and family or are they living alone due to other circumstances. Somehow, it aims to address the problem of gender inequality, which has been an existing problem since time immemorial.

Women, as they say, is the weaker sex. It has been said that they were created to follow the men. In political history, they were not allowed to participate in election and exercise their right to suffrage. The underlying principle behind this is that, the older generation viewed that women were indecisive, fickle-minded and were not aware of other aspects of life aside from their personal life. This is believed to be the reason why they were not encouraged to vote. They were restricted to go to school because, according to the elderly, it is more appropriate for them to do domestic works rather than heavy works, which requires physical effort and strength. This traditional belief or idea put the women in the lower class in terms of status in the economic society. The fact that they were deprived to go to school, many women were illiterate and was even more marginalized because they lack enough knowledge academically speaking.

There were also places where women were treated as if they were prisoners. They were considered as slaves, even worse if they became victims of white slavery. The status of women in the society before was degraded because of this inhumane practice. Despite of experiencing this, women remained silent and afraid to express their sides, causing them to develop inferiority in themselves. Leaving them without any sense of pride, led to their lack of self-confidence and insecurities. Even now, it is still evident to some countries, yet, the society or even the government seem to care less in addressing this problem.

 The role of women before is solely limited to being a mother and a wife. As the cliché goes, it is the responsibility of women to bear a child and take care of her husband and children. They were meant to stay home and do households chores. They were the ones who should take care of the needs of her family. From the start of the day, a mother keeps herself busy in performing her tasks at home. She should see to it that everything is prepared for her family. When she was left at home, there are also works waiting for her. All throughout the day, she was restless. But, her job does not end there. As soon as her children and husband arrived at home, she is again expected to prepare everything for them. Doing the obligations and responsibilities of a mother is tough job, yet, uncompensated.

            Eventually, some group of women started to resist this phenomenon. They began to express their thoughts and feeling against the biases of the society. The idea of gender equality started to exist and femininity commence to flourish. The time comes that the right to suffrage was already vested upon women. This happened in New Zealand in 1893 (Bryant, 1997). They were more liberated and demanded for change. Women invaded the different universities and colleges to experience schooling. Women in the labour sector also increased. This happened to most of conventional continents such as Europe and Australia. Some Asian countries also adhere to these kinds of changes to uplift the status of women and promote feminism. However, there were places still, where women stayed at home like in the African continent.

            At present, Africa remained to be conservative with this idea of liberation. Men are still dominating women. Marginalization and discrimination is still rampant. Though the women there are already allowed to work, still, they do domestic works alone. This is the reason why I tried to pursue this kind of research. It will allow us to know the attitude of American-African women in marriage and family life. Having knowledge in their culture and traditions will enable us to understand them and respect their beliefs as well.

 

Review of Related Literature

African-American families have a unique history and heritage. Broken and separated by capture and slavery, oppressed by prejudice and discrimination, African-American families have thrived in spite of difficulty. Black families represent a wide variety of economic, cultural, religious traditions, family histories, and values; there is no single "black family" experience (Kao, 2000). Society thinks more of black men than black women. A prime example of this is during the fifties and the sixties it was the black women who once again had to hold the family together. The black man was feeling down on himself, because of his situation, not being able to get a good job and support his family like he thinks he should. It is left up to the black women to get employment as maids and laundress, because in some instances it was easier for black woman to obtain a service job. Most young black girls did not have the companionship of their mothers. These black women held jobs as cooks or picking cotton for about four dollars a day. Sometimes they had to bring their children with them, but it was never expected for a black man to carry a child with him to work. If they had a babysitter, which was often a relative they did not get to spend a lot of time with their children (Booker, 1997).

Southerners are described as family-oriented, friendly, hospitable and loyal. They are said to be more religious, secure and approachable. Southerners also are thought to be naive, culturally deprived and not as competitive, focused and aggressive as their Northern counterparts. Blacks from the South have a stronger self-identity, and are more comfortable with their Blackness. Words like energetic and aggressive are used to characterize Northern Blacks, who are perceived to be more sophisticated, fashionable, more culturally aware and enterprising. Northerners also are viewed as callous, skeptical and suspicious. Due to the stressful environment of the urban North people are more afraid, less friendly and less open to others (White, 1991).

Black women outnumber black men in the age range when most people marry (20-49), and the ratio of employed black men to black women has declined. This has been connected the growth of black families headed by women (Zinn, 1993). Black women are less likely to get married than are white women. If a black woman is involved in serious relationships, she is more likely to be living with her mate than to be married to him; this is not related to differences in availability of employed men. This trend is present in middle class African Americans as well as poorer African Americans, though it is more pronounced among the less advantaged (Raley, 1996). Desertion rates are higher among black men than white, and the divorce rate for black women is twice that of white women (Knox, 1999).

Working-class black families are more likely to be headed by a single mother, more likely to be large (often consisting of four or more children), and more likely to have all members, including older children, working when employment is available (Rice, 1990). The number of children born to black women who are cohabiting is about equal to the number born to black married women (for white women, the number born to married women is greater). More than a fourth of all African-American children live with mothers who have never married. African-American households tend to be family households (members are related by birth, marriage, or adoption), but only half of the families are headed by a married couple, in contrast with the 83% of white families headed by married couples. Interestingly, the number headed by a married couple is closer to the white rate when considering only middle class black families. Adaptation within an extended family reduces economic need for marriage and may increase difficulties of dating and marrying (Rank, 1995).

Black families tend to be egalitarian: neither the husband nor the wife exerts more control in the marriage. Role flexibility (she shares the "breadwinner" role, and he helps with the homemaking tasks) helps African-American couples cope effectively with the stressors of life. This trait is strength only when to balance of power stays equal, however. The greater income and family power that employed black women enjoy is perceived as an advantage for wives, but not necessarily for their husbands. Black husbands are more satisfied with their marriage when the family income is higher, but men whose wives earn more than they and who have more power in the family may have a lower self-esteem, putting their marriages at risk (Peters, 1981).

African-Americans are more likely to live with members of their extended family than are whites. Such families enjoy benefits from pooling of resources, both economic and manpower: employment and domestic responsibilities are shared. And most African Americans maintain close ties with their family of origin even if not sharing a house. Black grandparents are also more likely to be active participants in the rearing of their grandchildren. These supportive family relationships are linked with higher self-esteem and an increased sense of personal efficacy (Taylor, 1990).

Most African societies and systems are patriarchal. This is evidenced by the following facts: authority is traced from male descendants, after marriage the residence becomes patri-local (not in the urban areas). In some communities, children are named after relatives from the man's side. African Christian churches have been accused of being influenced by western ideology to enslave women. Religious women are not trusted. A bishop or a delegate must be present to approve women's religious elections. If a cleric fails, he is sent for higher studies or promoted to other ranks in church; but a Sister is sent home with very little help, if any at all. This is a reaction by a religious woman who herself had occupied an important place in an education institution. With regard to the canonical approval of the canonical elections from the local ordinary, there has been a change towards more autonomy to diocesan religious in the New Canon Law. What is important here is the attitudes, which may render women, even the religious, appear to be responsible and mature.

Traditional socio-cultural values did not place any commitment on the males to do house work. Some were objected to it outright. The institution of polygyny itself was meant to be a sign of social prestige and wealth for men. It had very few advantages for women. It was the fruit of a situation where the family was seen as a unit of both consumption and production. The same could be said about the custom of "widow inheritance": It looked into the heredity of the deceased. His wife or wives were regarded as the property of his family. In a sense, it could be regarded as offering security to the widow. However, human freedom for the widow is not considered (Barbara, 2001).

Women are vulnerable to abuses by men. Sexual promiscuity may leave them carrying unwanted pregnancies, while the men go on with their lives as usual. We need to realize that men very often go on in life unnoticed. We need to exercise care and understanding by creating a community that helps rather than judges or at worst condemns such victims. Any pastoral intervention can only be medicinal if it heals without condemning to death.

In African culture, the woman is looked upon as the one who is instrumental in uniting the life force by giving birth, especially to boys. Although we are to respect procreation at all costs, we are also called to respect even women who cannot enjoy maternity, either due to infertility or opting to remain single. Human dignity is more in the person than in other functions one can carry out in society, especially in a childless marriage or for an unwed woman.

 

Hypotheses

            In line with this study, seven hypotheses have been formulated. First hypothesis is that black women are already contented in taking care of her family since they are used to this practice for a long time. They still follow the traditional concept of being a woman. In their perspective, the role of women is still bounded by the four corners of their homes. Another hypothesis formulated is women remained to be silent and unaware because they are being deprived of their freedom to express what their thoughts and feelings. This can be due to lack of education and knowledge that makes them unable to speak up their minds. Next is that, black men still dominate their society in terms of politics, economics and academics. Men in Africa are so dependent to their wives in terms of domestic works. This means that they lack initiative to engage themselves in household chores to protect their dignity as men. One more reason is the attitude children in Africa. They tend to be very much dependent to their mother. They are not reliable enough to be trusted that they can already stand on their own feet. With this hypothesis, another one arises and that is too much dependency from their parents can make the children futile. Futile in the sense that even they are old enough to take charge, or to help their mothers, they cannot do so because they think that there will be somebody else to do it for them.

We can also theorize that family life of African women is not happy. With the workloads they have each day of their lives, they do not have enough time for themselves. Lastly is that, they treated marriage differently with other countries. Most of the countries today, especially the Christian countries, look at marriage as a sacred union that involves man and woman to build a family. Together, they will help each other to achieve their goals in having a happy family. It is not the man, nor the woman alone will do this, but they have to work together.

 

Data Collection Methods

            In gathering data, the design used is the questionnaire. Questionnaires would constitute a scale-type questionnaire for better analysis. Interviews will also be one instrument to collect information regarding the topic.

            Random sampling will also be used in choosing the respondents. A hundred of black women are chosen to answer the questionnaire provided. But in letting them answer the questionnaire, its confidentiality will be rest assured to secure the privacy of the respondents.

            There will be also fifty other women, in varying ages, who will be respondents in the interview to be conducted. These respondents will help a lot by stating their views or beliefs regarding the situation of black women in the household. The privacy of the respondents will also be respected.

           

The table below will show the time line of this research proposal.

 

Time	Research Stage	Writing / Reporting
Week 1	Proposal developed	Proposal, Thesis Outline
Week 2	Reading Related Literature	Short papers on rationale & conceptual framework, review of literature
Week 3	Field research: finalise procedures and complete	Short papers on field research. Write up research procedures
Week 4	Analysis	Draft analysis and conclusion
Week 5	Revision	Minor Revisions
Week 6	Examination and Submission	Final Revisions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Barbara, E. (2001). African Christian Studies, Vol. 17, No. 1.

Booker R. (1997). Struggle of the Black Women. Yale: New Haven Teachers

Institute.

Knox. (1999). Marriage and the Family: A brief introduction. Belmont. Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Raley, R.K. (1996). American Sociological Review. Washington, D.C.

Rank, M.R. (1995). Diversity and Change in Families. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Rice, P. (1990). Intimate relationships, marriages, and families. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Co.

Peters, M. (1981). Strengths of black families. Lincoln: University of NE Press.

Taylor. (1990). Journal of Marriage and the Family.

White, B. (1991). African American Literature: A Contrast Between North and South.

Zinn, M. E. (1993). Diversity in Families. New York. NY: Harpers Collins.