An Abstract of Bernard's the Good-Provider Role: It's Rise and Fall of the Good Provider
An Abstract of Bernard’s The Good-Provider Role: It’s Rise and Fall
2010
Khedra E. Fields-Barclay
SCOI 316: Marriage & Family
2/1/2010
An Abstract of Bernard’s The Good-Provider Role: Its Rise and Fall
Jessie Bernard’s, The Good-Provider Role: Its Rise and Fall, surprisingly begins with a reference to Psalm 23 and then pivots into the Israelites journey from Egypt to Canaan, thus depicting God as the original good provider. Subsequently the role of the second “great provider” was fulfilled by the mother, who according to Bernard was the known “gather, planter, and general factotum” (Bernard 1981:43). As depicted by the following chart, it is overwhelmingly evident that the woman’s role as the “good provider” superseded that of her counterpart.
Although these figures are rather impressive, Bernard will eventually explore the concept that when trading was on the rise, the female contribution, in that sense, was on the decline (to be discussed later). Bernard’s reference of the virtuous women (Proverbs 31) was her next area of exploration, consequently referring to her as a “productive conglomerate” (Bernard 1981:44). We learn that her responsibilities included, but were not limited to: * The sale of her handmade items to local merchants * Overseer of household * Monitored the realestate market.
With that said, the idea of a “Substance Economy” comes into play, depicting husbands and wives as co-entrepreneurs. That said, it is later noted that the term provider surfaced in 1532, however, it had not yet become gender biased. According to Bernard, Webster’s Dictionary defines the good provider as “one who provides, especially, colloq, one who provides food, clothing, etc for his family; as he is a good or an adequate provider” (Bernard 1981:44). Therefore the wife was considered as the counterpart of the good provider. She owned property in addition to accumulating earnings. However, they were not her own. He owned his
2010
Khedra E. Fields-Barclay
SCOI 316: Marriage & Family
2/1/2010
An Abstract of Bernard’s The Good-Provider Role: Its Rise and Fall
Jessie Bernard’s, The Good-Provider Role: Its Rise and Fall, surprisingly begins with a reference to Psalm 23 and then pivots into the Israelites journey from Egypt to Canaan, thus depicting God as the original good provider. Subsequently the role of the second “great provider” was fulfilled by the mother, who according to Bernard was the known “gather, planter, and general factotum” (Bernard 1981:43). As depicted by the following chart, it is overwhelmingly evident that the woman’s role as the “good provider” superseded that of her counterpart.
Although these figures are rather impressive, Bernard will eventually explore the concept that when trading was on the rise, the female contribution, in that sense, was on the decline (to be discussed later). Bernard’s reference of the virtuous women (Proverbs 31) was her next area of exploration, consequently referring to her as a “productive conglomerate” (Bernard 1981:44). We learn that her responsibilities included, but were not limited to: * The sale of her handmade items to local merchants * Overseer of household * Monitored the realestate market.
With that said, the idea of a “Substance Economy” comes into play, depicting husbands and wives as co-entrepreneurs. That said, it is later noted that the term provider surfaced in 1532, however, it had not yet become gender biased. According to Bernard, Webster’s Dictionary defines the good provider as “one who provides, especially, colloq, one who provides food, clothing, etc for his family; as he is a good or an adequate provider” (Bernard 1981:44). Therefore the wife was considered as the counterpart of the good provider. She owned property in addition to accumulating earnings. However, they were not her own. He owned his
Bibliography: Bernard, Jessie 1981. “The Good-Provider Role: It’s Rise and Fall.” The American Psychological Association vol 36: 43-60.