Article 1 – Her Support, His Support: Money, Masculinity, and Marital Infidelity

Article 2 – The All-or-Nothing Workplace: Flexibility Stigma and “Opting Out” Among Professional-Managerial Women

Article 1 – Her Support, His Support: Money, Masculinity, and Marital Infidelity

Munsch’s (2015) main question is to determine the effect of differing financial positions on both men and women on their marital institutions. Also, the article aims to determine the impact of relative income contributions    within    contemporary    heterosexual    marriages on infidelity (Munsch, 2015). The article main viewpoint is on spouses who are the breadwinners and the spouses who are economically dependent on their spouses.

            The data used in the article hypothesis was obtained from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY1997).  The sample comprised of 9000 youths that were between the ages of 12-16.  Latinos and Blacks in the group were oversampled.  The survey data used in the article was filled by youths who were over 18 years old and eligible in answering all of the research questions between the year 2001 and 2011.  The main methods used in collection of data as described here is the survey method.

             The research article findings indicate that the economic dependency among men fueled the increase in the overall infidelity in a marital relationship. However, the breadwinners among women did not engage in marital infidelity. Women who earn more than men managed to keep their relationships firm through being true to their spouses despite their financial capabilities. The findings are absolute that cheating is rampart among the high income women. Income was not direct linked with  marital infidelity as women remain faithful to their spouses.  Interestingly, for women, the decrease in earnings was linked with an increase in their probability to engage in marital infidelity.

            The research article found out that the equity in one’s earnings did not mediate the relationship between the infidelity and marital satisfaction. The satisfaction in marital set up is gauged by how one does feel about their spouse caring for them or how the closeness between the spouses is determined. The self-esteem levels among the spouses can increase the prevalence of marital infidelity as the economically dependent individuals seek extra marital affairs to boost their self-esteem.

            On Marital stability, the research found out that for women, the economic dependency for men fueled an increase in the stability of the marriages. Low-income earning men are less likely to engage in emotional infidelity.  Breadwinning women,  according to the findings aided in the marital stability, as a proof of deviance neutralization in the different kinds of relationships.  The article findings stipulate that the different reactions of women and men to the marital instability are based on the differences between masculinity and feminism.

           Article 2 – The All-or-Nothing Workplace: Flexibility Stigma and “Opting Out” Among Professional-Managerial Women

             The article main question is on the role that stigma and flexibility bias in the understanding of the decision of professional women in quitting their careers, a decision known as opting out.  

            The research used data drawn from the previous research carried out by Stone, 2007.  The research target population comprised of middle-income college educated mothers who were previously in professional jobs but are currently engaged as the primary care givers for their families.  The sample of the study was geographically diverse covering a huge geographical location since seven cities were covered in the study. The different racial backgrounds such as Latino, Whites, and Blacks were well represented in the sample.  Semi structured interviews were used in the sample for data collection.

             The research findings indicate that the workplace flexibility is greatly devalued and stigmatized.  The findings outlined the various penalties for stigma bringing up the issue of stigmatization of the workplace flexibility. The stigmatization perception among the various women in the workplace is bound to be perceived from various factors. For instance; the special favor basis upon which the flexibility is offered becomes an issue of contention.  The women in workplaces where the biasness in the offering the flexibility is experienced often become disillusioned in the long run and might ultimately quit the job.

            The research findings indicate that women often perceive themselves as victims of stigmatized treatment and not as victims of bias and prejudice. The often attribute the workplace professional treatment as normal. Though, the issue of flexibility emanates from the additional responsibility that the women hold as mothers.  The individualization of the treatment of the women hinders organizations from carrying out group activities around the issue of flexibility. Further along, the consciousness of stigma emanates from the presence of other issues such as race, immigrant status and sexual orientation may lead the women experiencing it to term the bias as discriminatory and unfair. The article concludes that the flexibility in workplace need to be done through policy formulation.  Policies formulated should entail that the working mothers have flexible work arrangements to ensure that they last in their jobs.  Organizations can no longer continue to negate the rising numbers of working mothers and should work in ensuring that equity between the working mothers in terms of pay despite the flexibility in the workplace should be determined.

             The Reason why I find the Two Articles Interesting

            I find the first article interesting in a society that is meant to empower the women on ascending the career ladder while balancing the family issues. As such, women may become more financially powerful as compared to men . The gendered difference in income in the family may bring about the differences that may threaten the stability of the families. Marital infidelity has additionally been attributed to the income levels in families. Through addressing the three areas, the article is interesting as it presents finding from the actual research conducted.

             The second article is interestingly in its address of what women perceive as bias and prejudice regarding flexibility in the workplace. The responsibilities that come around with parenthood and eventual motherhood may determine the effect it may have on the workplace issues on the woman. The article sheds light on what makes many women to quit their jobs on the basis of the stigmatization on the flexibility of the workplace. The article helps in elaborating the varying perception of workplace bias.

Lessons Learnt

            The first article, Her Support, His Support: Money, Masculinity, and Marital Infidelity, has helped broaden my knowledge on  the link between money, masculinity and marital infidelity.  I learnt that women who earn more than men tend to restrain from engagement in extra-marital affairs as opposed to men. Women increased earnings help in stabilization of their marriage due to the deviance neutralization.  In the contrary, I have learnt that men that earn higher income than their spouses are likely to be involved in marital infidelity. Also, lower income earning men tend to engage in marital infidelity. They may be suffering from low self esteem and the marital infidelity may be a means of boosting their self-esteem.  I learnt that in families where the breadwinner is the man, their spouses are less likely to be involved in marital infidelity as they come out as more satisfied. Ultimately, I find masculinity is linked to marital infidelity as men either earning less or more than their spouses tend to engage in marital infidelity. Women whether they are earning more than their spouses or less than them they tend to remain faithful in their marriages leading to stabilization of the relationships. Satisfaction or dissatisfaction with spouses linked with income levels may ultimately lead to marital infidelity.

             The second article is informative on diverse ways. Women are continually getting engaged in the workplace and flexibility is important in ensuring that there shall be no gender gap due to the continual quitting from mothers. I have learnt that the perception of stigmatized treatment among the various groups of women may be different. Women who have in the past experienced stigmatization due to race or gender may perceive the prejudiced treatment in the workplace on a higher basis. I have noted that the collective treatment of the issue of workplace flexibility on the women as group is an uphill. It’s encouraging to note that organizations are continually embracing the workplace flexibility of women through development of policies that shall eliminate the stigmatization involved.  The flexibility of women in the workplace will lead to improved outcomes since work- family conflicts shall be reduced as well as enhancement of job satisfaction. Thus, in the future, the article provides ideal working scenario where the women would not be opting out of their careers on the issue of flexibility.

References

Munsch, C. L. (2015). Her support, his support: Money, masculinity, and marital infidelity. American Sociological Review, 80(3), 469-495.

Stone, P., & Hernandez, L. A.(2013). The all‐or‐nothing workplace: Flexibility stigma and “opting out” among professional‐managerial women. Journal of Social Issues, 69(2), 235-256.

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