Strengths, Weaknesses and Critics
Consumer culture hits families hard - think about "pester power" when kids nag parents for the latest trainers or gadgets. If you don't have what everyone else has, you get mocked at school. This constant spending keeps the capitalist machine running.
Marxist theory's main strength is recognising that families aren't just about love and cuddles - they genuinely do help maintain inequality. Wealthy families pass down advantages whilst working-class families stay trapped in their circumstances.
However, critics absolutely hammer Marxist theory. It's seen as way too deterministic - basically assuming families have no choice but to follow capitalist patterns. The theory also ignores how different cultures, religions, and ethnicities shape family life in completely different ways.
Functionalists argue Marxists only focus on the negative stuff whilst ignoring all the emotional support and stability families provide. Feminists reckon Marxists miss the point about patriarchy - they're so obsessed with class that they overlook how gender inequality works within families.
Postmodernists think the whole theory is outdated. They argue that in today's world, people have much more freedom to choose different family arrangements, and Marxist theory is too rigid to capture modern family diversity.
Key Point: While Marxist theory highlights important economic influences on families, it struggles to explain the full complexity of modern family relationships and individual experiences.