Document Type

Project

Publication Date

Spring 1997

Keywords

Violence against women, Male power

Abstract

In the United States, the image of the ideal American family has seen reinforcement in the mass media on a steady, on-going basis during the latter half of the twentieth century. Although the phrase “a man’s home is his castle” Is rarely heard In contemporary America, the patriarchal ideology from whence it came has scarcely disappeared. At a time when politicians loudly proclaim the urgent need for “family values” as a means of restoring the nation’s domestic tranquility, the ancient Biblical injunction to “respect, honor and obey” one’s spouse seems to constitute the underlying basis for the concept of a “new” contemporary moral compass. Republicans and Democrats alike gain political capital by advancing the notion that, if only the present-day American family possessed the requisite moral values, the nation’s moral fiber would not be so badly frayed and there would be no need for governmental Intrusion into the privacy of a man’s “castle.” As the prominent feminist social historian Del Martin writes, the American family home ideally provides “refuge from the stormy turbulence of the outside world.”

Department

Sociology

Subjects - Topical (LCSH)

Women--Violence against--United States; Violence in men--United States; Wife abuse--United States; Marital violence--United States; Families--United States; Power (Social sciences); Sex role

Geographic Coverage

United States

Genre/Form

student projects; term papers

Type

Text

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

Rights Statement

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

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