Karen Zittleman's Theory Of Modern Marriage

Modern Marriage: The Ultimate Test Have the roles of men and women in marriage changed in modern society? There are many theories hoping to answer this controversial question. One theory comes from David Popenoe, a Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University. Popenoe's theory of roles in marriage is that a modern marriage needs to be reestablished to a more traditional way of living, or to “restore the traditional nuclear family of bread-winning husband and full-time housewife that flourished in the 1950's” (Page 186). Another theory comes from Karen Zittleman (Ph.D), an education author and teacher; who takes her theory of modern marriage and brings it to a younger generation. Zittleman's theory of marriage roles is “in more ways
The first set of charts displays the sex and race of the students in 5 public middle schools. Zittleman reveals that “gender plays a significant role in the lives of middle school students, expanding some options, but more often limiting the academic and social development of females and males” (Page 241). Zittleman then reveals charts that convey answers that display “The best thing about being a boy and the best thing about being a girl.” “Both sexes had more positive things to say about being a boy than being a girl” (Page 241). Zittleman then proceeds to pose the questions, “What is the worst thing about being a boy and what is the worst thing about being a girl?” For boys, “they listed fighting, discipline, poor grades, fear of homophobia, and difficulty with friendships and emotions” (Page 241). For girls, “relational aggression” was the top answer for most, and that included gossip, spreading rumors and the trust in friends. Zittleman jumps to her main point of importance in educating schools about gender
Zittleman, also took advantage of using charts, but there were an overwhelming amount. Some studies in Zittleman's essay really didn't need to be represented in chart form; a simple written explanation would have been better for the readers. There were a few charts that were sometimes unclear to the readers. At times throughout their essays, both Popenoe and Zittleman became unaware of their audience, which could have explained the distorted views in Popenoe's essay. It can be argued that Zittleman's target audience could be students, but it mostly pertains to the professors and teachers. When it came to Popenoe, his target audience was rather confusing at times; I really couldn't place a proper target audience for his essay. Both Popenoe's and Zittleman's essays try to answer the question of the shift of roles in modern marriage. Though Zittleman uses charts and Popenoe doesn't, the styles in both works are best understood by an audience of pre-educated readers in this topic. After re-reading both studies done by both authors, their area of study is similar, but the way they approached it was completely