Marriage and separation : a gendered story : a study on how gender and cultural differences impact upon marriage

Abstract

The main focus of this study is to examine and gain a deeper understanding of the effects of the cultural expectations concerning marriage and separation and how these expectations are expressed through the spousal roles. Furthermore, the use of the case study approach enabled the researcher to establish how the respondents see their roles and what they consider appropriate to these roles. It also established the values that the respondents place upon marriage, family, culture and what they perceive as sex appropriate gender roles. Finally it highlighted the fact that sharing a common language does not necessarily indicate a common culture. As both language and sex appropriate roles are extremely dependent upon the culture in which they were formed. The meanings and mental associations in language are specific to a particular culture and are not easily transferable and do lead to spousal conflict as do previous culturally accepted behaviours, that are not gender appropriate, within the now dominant culture.