A Penny For Their Thoughts: Young Women’s Meanings of Money and Economic Self-sufficiency in a Gender Context. Master’s Thesis in Sociology Gender, Sexuality and Society By Joëlle Tieks 10672532 1st supervisor: M.D. Cottingham 2nd supervisor: S.M. Steinmetz Amsterdam, July 2017 Werkman, H.N. Vrouweneiland 9. 1942 J.B. TIEKS | 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................... 4 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 6 2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................... 8 2.1 Gendered money ........................................................................................................... 8 2.2 Gender and economic dependence .............................................................................. 11 2.3 The Dutch context ....................................................................................................... 12 2.4 Materialist Feminism .................................................................................................. 15 2.5 Masculinities, Femininities and Heteronormativity ................................................. 16 3 METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................................... 18 3.1 Research objectives ....................................................................................................... 18 3.2 Integrating feminist research principles..................................................................... 19 3.3 Design ........................................................................................................................... 20 3.4 Sample .......................................................................................................................... 21 3.5 Analyzing the data ....................................................................................................... 22 4 FINDINGS ....................................................................................................................... 24 mo money / mo problems: 4.1 Young women’s meanings of money ............................................................................. 25 4.1.1 Self-determination ..................................................................................................... 25 4.1.2 Concerns .................................................................................................................... 26 4.1.3 Money as a necessity ................................................................................................. 27 all the women, who are independent / throw your hands up at me: 4.2 Young women’s meanings of economic self-sufficiency ............................................. 28 4.2.1 Lifelong learning process .......................................................................................... 28 4.2.2 Hierarchies of dependency ....................................................................................... 29 4.2.3 Make your own luck ................................................................................................. 30 money trees is the perfect place for shade / and that's just how I feel: 4.3 Gender-based beliefs of money ...................................................................................... 31 4.3.1 Dating demands ........................................................................................................ 31 4.3.2 (E)masculation .......................................................................................................... 32 4.3.3 Manly money ............................................................................................................ 33 MSc. Thesis Sociology | Gender, Sexuality and Society J.B. TIEKS | 3 give me a run for my money: 4.4 Gender-based beliefs of economic self-sufficiency (ESS) ........................................... 35 4.4.1 Supportive care vs. Unhealthy partner dependency ............................................... 35 4.4.2 The Breadwinner ...................................................................................................... 36 4.4.3 Urgency ..................................................................................................................... 37 4.4.5 Domestic obligations ................................................................................................ 37 5 DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................. 40 5.1 Becoming an independent woman 101: everyday practices ....................................... 40 5.2 Mighty Mechanisms of Masculinity .......................................................................... 42 5.3 The Heteronormative Underpinnings ...................................................................... 44 6 CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................. 47 6.1 Main outcomes ............................................................................................................ 47 6.2 Recommendations for future (policy) research ......................................................... 50 6.3 Limitations ................................................................................................................... 51 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................ 53 APPENDIX I: INTERVIEW GUIDE .............................................................................. 56 APPENDIX II: OVERVIEW FINAL CODING CATEGORIES ................................ 57 MSc. Thesis Sociology | Gender, Sexuality and Society J.B. TIEKS | 4 ABSTRACT I present an empirical study that investigates Dutch women’s meanings of money and economic self- sufficiency in a gender context. These themes are often framed in a research context that illustrate economic inequalities in merely quantitative ways, or they theorize about the microsociology of the family and division of labor. From a critical feminist perspective, I argue that both scientific- and policy research are failing to address underlying meanings and beliefs. That is, how do women perceive concepts of money and economic self-sufficiency and how do these play out as themes in women’s everyday lives? Furthermore, I am exploring how young women are connecting money and economic self-sufficiency to meanings of gender and ideas of masculinity and femininity. A materialist feminist framework enables me to carry out the objectives of this thesis while adhering to certain feminist research principles. I based my study on six focus groups that were organized with young women across various educational levels. The results show that they all recognize the importance of economic self- sufficiency, many having it set as a life goal. Through their meanings and discourses of economic self- sufficiency, women have constructed the image of the strong and independent woman - an identity all participants embraced. Simultaneously, traditional gender beliefs and conventions prevail; a majority of the women – regardless of educational level- expect men to take responsibilities for the costs on a 1st date. Highly educated women do not dismiss money as being directly connected to masculinity, but they do emphasize how they prefer men to be ambitious, determined and completely self-sufficient. A proportion of the MBO educated participants did acknowledge money to be important for men to have, linking it directly to certain material prosperity. They also desire men to work hard and be financially capable to provide for the family. One of largest discrepancy between educational levels lies in the attitudes towards (non) paid labor; MBO educated women perceive the private sphere as their domain with domestic work and childcare being a woman’s strength and responsibility. Men, in their perception, are not capable nor suitable to perform structural domestic tasks. My research makes novel contributions to the existing literature by demonstrating how gendered economic inequalities are comprising much more of the social world beyond quantitative data. I view my findings as provocative starting point for future (policy) research that centralizes women’s everyday existence in a variety of social contexts. MSc. Thesis Sociology | Gender, Sexuality and Society J.B. TIEKS | 5 Many thanks.. To all the amazing young women who cared to share their everyday realities with me. To Marci for her supervision and helpful feedback. Special thanks and much love.. To my parents - for wanting nothing but the very best for their girls. I am so grateful for your love and support during all these years of university. To Ax - for all your valuable input and many hours of proofreading. Above all, for reminding me, time after time, that this master's degree was one of the best choices I made. To Esmée and Naomie - my favorite feminists. MSc. Thesis Sociology | Gender, Sexuality and Society J.B. TIEKS | 6 INTRODUCTION 1 Since the end of the 1980’s, the Dutch government has made it a political priority to promote the economic independence among the Dutch female population. The first national campaign introduced the catchy slogan “Een slimme meid is op haar toekomst voorbereid”, which loosely translates to “A clever girl