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 As depicted by the following chart, it is overwhelmingly evident that the woman’s role as the “good provider” superseded that …show more content…

Therefore, it was generally kept as a secret. Not all men welcomed the role as being the good provider. That said, their resentment was often at the expense of the family, thus bringing us to Bernard’s account of “Role Rejectors. It is at this point she categorizes them as being tramps, bums, and hoboes. Role Rejector Term | Definition | Tramp | “…he gave up and dropped out of the role entirely. He preferred not to work, but he would do small chores or other small scale work for a handout if he had to. He was not above begging the housewife for a meal…”(Demos 1974:438) | Hobo | “…migratory worker who spent several months harvesting wheat and other large crops and the rest of the year in cities…”(Bernard 1981:51) | Bum | “When the tramp became wholly demoralized, a chronic alcoholic, almost unreachable…” (Bernard 1981:51) |

Although these “role rejectors” were essentially abandoning their loved ones, the family was not left without, as in many instances the community took over his role. World War II had a significant effect on the labor work force and its correlation with the male generally being labeled as the good provider. This is because women began to enter the workforce yet again, thus leading to studies/surveys pertaining to the overall satisfaction of men (and women) in regards to their respective family roles.
***(1976 figures based upon an average)***

As women continued to enter