AUSOC 275 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Emotion Work, Homophobia, Main Source

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Augustana Faculty - Sociology
• Course: AUSOC 275
• Professor: Kierstin Hatt

Document Summary

Historically, men"s friendships represented the strongest of bonds and were more emotional friendships than women could hold. Women were able to gossip and make small talk, but their relationships with other women would not be any deeper than that. In the 1970"s, feminism began to celebrate solidarity among women and reversed the traditional belief that women could not be friend. Now men are seen as emotionally limited in regards to friendships. Proposed this could be a consequence of the structured family. Some cultures include ritual separation of boys from their mothers and yet, boys in these cultures are still seen as having deeper emotional lives and more intimate friendships. The family structure explanation may feel right to many of us, but it is not universal and the correlation is not essential. The 19th and 20th centuries brought dramatic transformation in the gendered division of emotional labour. Emotion work: the wife"s job description now included meeting her husband"s emotional needs.