Marriage, a history: Part three

Remember to be prepared to share what you found "remarkable".

Chapter 9:

1. Comment on the quote from page 149, "they worry that the unprecedented idea of basing marriage on love would produce rampant individualism."

**2. What is the shift in male/female power structure in the family? What caused the shift?

Chapter 10:

1. What did "home" come to mean in 19th century North America and Europe?

2. Did the change in the family in the 19th century undermine our devotion to community?

3. Was this ideal "home" available to all?

Chapter 11:

1. Why would making love the center/purpose of marriage raise divorce rates?

2. Do we still have a "gender yardsticks"?

3. How did the notion of female purity undermine marital intimacy?

Chapter 12:

1. Why might the " pleasure principle" de-stabilize marriage?

2. Your text states "'sex appeal' replaced 'submission' as a wife's first responsibility to her husband" (p. 204). What does this mean? Has it changed?

Chapter 13:

**1. Why are the years following World War II called the Golden Age of Marriage? How many years are we talking about? What factors conspired to create this golden age?

Chapter 14:

1. Does the quote on page 235 "One reason people didn't find fault with the 1950s model of marriage in gender roles was that it was still so new that they weren't sure they were doing it right." sound at all familiar? If so, why?