Which statement best reflects a feminist view on the function of the family?

• A. Maintain divisions of power between men and women
• B. Stabilise adult personalities through emotional security
• C. Prepare children for full-time wage labour
• D. Regulate religious practices in society

Answer: (A)

Feminist analyses of the family focus on how it reproduces gender inequalities. The statement that the family maintains divisions of power between men and women best fits this view because it highlights how control over resources, decision-making, and domestic labour often rests with men, while women carry out much of the caregiving and housework. This arrangement sustains patriarchy in the home and shapes women’s opportunities in wider society, not just within the family.

The other ideas reflect different perspectives. The notion that the family stabilises adult personalities through emotional security comes from functionalist thinking about social order. The idea that the family prepares children for full-time wage labour relates to socialisation into a gendered economy, which feminists critique but isn’t the central focus on how the family function maintains power dynamics. Regulating religious practices isn’t a primary feminist concern about family function.