Husband-wife Relationship In Modern Urban Chinese And American Marriage And Families

The thesis is a comprehensive study on the husband梬ife relationship in both modem urban Chinese families and modem American families from the social and cultural perspectives. Family covers a wide range of knowledge and it is hard to explOre it lroivi aJiY aSpeCt. Husband-wife relationship is the first relationship in all the lhmily relationships as all the others are derived from it. It is the key link in the litmilv chain, closely related with the family structure and family iunclion. Therefore. the thesis IUSCS on the husbandife relationship, discussing the division of liimily power, the distribution of the household work and the changing f the gender roles in both the modem urban Chinese and Ameiiean lhniilies. At the present time, traditional families are disintegrating, and family structure and Ihmily values are changing, which, doubtlessly, is the unavoidable result of the scientific-technical revolution and the social developnient. Meanwhile. fhmil - ges are greatly influencing the economic and social development. What is more, family problems differ due to the different social systems and traditional ideas in different COUfltI1CS. hi modern urban Cinese niarrtage and families, husbandife relationship has become the main shah of the family relationships. In traditional Chinese families, husband-wife relationship was not the center of the fhmily structure; it is father-son relationship that dominated the whole fiimily relationships. This is an inevitable outcome of the patriarchal family system in old China. Along with the improvement of the socialist mode of proClLIcUon. the feudal family system has been removed and the new family relationship has been established in the actual social life, and the husband? wii~ relationship is becoming the cent of the whole family relationships. l-lusband-wife relationship has changed from feudal and semi-fe~jdal mode to modern egalitarian mode: the equality in economy, democracy in family decision, sharing of housework, upholding of the spouse's social participation and gradual equality in educational level. However, the husband-wife conflicts are increasing in modem urban Chinese marriage and families, since Chinese social system, family relationships and husband- wife relationship are experiencing changes fro the old, traditional to a new, modern model. In modem American families, husband-wife relationship is the main sha?of the thmily. Firstly, along with the industrialization and urbanization. more and more nuclear families appear. Compared with other family systems, nuclear families and dual-career families are more independent of kinship. Secondly, contemporary customs m the American society do not require social economic exchanges by way of marriage, nor the establishment of formal alliance by affinity. Thirdly, modem American fiLmily emphasizes the horizontal relation inside the f~rnily, not the vertical rclation. Fouiihlv. the modern families pay much more attention to the litmily attachment. Husband-wife relationship has changed from traditional mode to modern egalitarian compared with that in the colonial and pre-industrial period. More and more women go out to seek employment and to receive education, which greatly improved their family status. the husband-wife relationships in both Chinese and American marriage dnd fitmilies have...