1 Couples

Question 1

The domestic division of labour- Functionalist view?

Answer 1

1.) Parsons 1955
Conjugal roles- the instrumental male breadwinner
-the expressive female nurturer/carer

2. ) Gender division among couples= functional for the family (members) and wider society.
3. ) He sees the division as biologically based. Women are naturally suited to nurturing and men to providing. =EVERYONE BENEFITS FROM THIS SPECIALISATION

Question 2

The domestic division of labour- New Right perspective?

Answer 2

The New Right agree with Parsons.

The biologically based gender division of labour is the best way of organising family life.

Question 3

The domestic division of labour- Feminists opinion of the functionalist view?

Answer 3

Feminists reject the functionalist view.

The division of labour is not ‘natural’- it is not found in all societies.

It only benefits men.

Question 4

The domestic division of labour- The ‘march of progress view’

Answer 4

It sees conjugal roles becoming more equal in modern society
Bott (1957) identifies 2 types:

1. ) Segregated conjugal roles- are separate. There’s a sharp division of labour between male breadwinner and female homemaker. Husband and wife spend leisure time separately. Young & Willmott (rhyme bott) found segregated conjugal roles in WC extended families in Bethnal Green 1950s.
2. ) Joint conjugal roles- couples share domestic tasks and leisure.

Question 5

The domestic division of labour- The symmetrical family?

Answer 5

Young and Willmott (1973)
See long term trend to joint conjugal roles and symmetrical family, where roles are similar & equal.

-> Most women now go out to work.
-> Men help with housework and childcare (the ‘new man’)
-> Couples spend leisure time together.
Men have become more home centred.
Family have become more privatised.

Question 6

The domestic division of labour- Reasons for the rise of the symmetrical family?

Answer 6

Due to major social changes in the 20th century.
E.g. 
higher living standards
labour-saving devices, 
better housing, 
women working, 
smaller families.

Question 7

The domestic division of labour- Feminist march of progress view?

Answer 7

Feminists reject the march of progress view. They see family as patriarchal (male dominated), not symmetrical or equal.
Women still do most housework/ childcare.

Oakley 1974- found no evidence of symmetry in labour. Young & Will exaggerate men’s role. Although husbands ‘helped’ it could just be ironing shirt once a week.

Boulton 1983- we need to look at whose responsible for tasks not just who performs them.
Wife is see as responsible for children’s welfare, even when men ‘help’.
Less than 1 in 5 husbands took a major part in childcare.

Question 8

Are couples becoming more equal- The march of progress view?

Answer 8

Most women today are in paid work. The march of progress view argues this is leading to a more equal division of domestic labour.

Sullivan 2000 found women do less domestic work, men do more traditional ‘women’s’ tasks and more couples have equal division of labour.

Question 9

Are couples becoming more equal? Feminist view

Answer 9

Feminists don’t believe women working has led to greater equality.
Women now carry a dual burden of paid and domestic work.
British social attitudes 2013 show women do twice as much and couples still divide household tasks along traditional gender lines

There’s been little change since the 1990s.

Question 10

Are couples becoming more equal?-feminists

Responsibility for children?

Answer 10

Although fathers help with specific tasks, usually mothers take responsibility for children’s well being.

Dex and Ward 2007 (7 letters)- only 1% of fathers took the main responsibility for caring for sick children.

Braun et al 2011 found most fathers were ‘background fathers’. They held a provider ideology: their role was breadwinner not primary carer.

Question 11

Are couples becoming more equal? -feminists

responsibility for quality time

Answer 11

Women generally take responsibility for managing the family’s quality time.

But in late modernity, the 24/7 society and flexible working mean people’s time is more fragmented and de- routinised.

Working mothers find themselves juggling competing demands on their time.

Question 12

Are couples becoming more equal? - feminists

the triple shift

Answer 12

Duncombe and Marsden (1995)
Found women required not only carry dual burden, but triple shift.

Emotion work
Domestic work
Paid work

Question 13

Explaining the gender division of labour- The cultural and ideological explanation

Answer 13

1. Patriarchal cultural norms shape gender roles.

Women perform more domestic labour because it is what society expects/ socialised them to do.

Question 14

Explaining gender division of labour- evidence of the cultural ideological explanation

Answer 14

Equality will be achieved only when attitudes, values, expectations, role models and socialisation change.

-> Gershuny 1994- couples are adapting to women working full time, establishing a new norm of men doing more domestic work.
-> Kan 2002- found younger men do more domestic work (kan do more)
THESE MAY REFLECT CHANGES IN GENDER ROLE SOCIALISATION OF YOUNGER GENERATIONS FAVOURING EQUAL RELATIONSHIPS
-> British social attitudes 2013 found long term change in attitudes

Question 15

Explaining gender division of labour- the material economic explanation

Answer 15

Women earn less, so it’s economically rational for them to do more domestic labour while men spend more time earning money.

Question 16

Explaining gender division of labour- evidence of the material and economic explanation

Answer 16

If women earn as much as their partners, we should see couples doing more equal domestic work.

• > Arber and Ginn 1995 better paid women could buy in products/ services e.g. childcare rather than carrying out domestic tasks themselves
• > Ramos 2003 found where the woman is full time breadwinner and man unemployed, they do equal amounts of domestic labour.

Question 17

Same sex couples and gender scripts

Answer 17

Radical fems argue heterosexual relationships are inevitably patriarchal and unequal- even when women are in paid work.
However, for same sex couples, Dunne 1999 studied 37 lesbian couples with children. Found more equal labour division. Dunne used the idea of gender scripts:
Heterosexuals socialised into gender scripts,that set out different masculine and feminine roles and gender identities.
Lesbians didn’t link household tasks to gender scripts, so they were more open to negotiation and this more equal.

However- partner who did more paid work did less domestic. Material factors still influence.

Question 18

Resources and decision making- Kempson

Answer 18

Kempson 1994 found women in low income families denied their own needs to make ends meet.
Even in households with adequate incomes, resources are often shared unequally, leaving women in poverty.

Unequal shares of resources often result of who controls the family’s income and who makes decisions on spending it- usually man.

Question 19

Decision making and paid work

Answer 19

One reason men take greater share of resources and demand a bigger say in decisions is because they earn more.
Supported by Pahl and Vogler 1993 they identify two types of control over family income:
1.) The allowance system: men work and give non working wives allowance from budget to meet family’s needs
2.) Pooling: partners work and have joint responsibility for spending e.g. Joint bank account

Question 20

Resources and decision making- professional couples and decision making

Answer 20

Edgell’s 1980 study decision making among professional couples where both work full time also found inequalities.
Important decisions e.g. Finances or moving house were usually taken jointly.
Less important e.g. Food purchases usually taken by wife.

Question 21

Resources and decision making- explanations for professional couples and decision making

Answer 21

Two main explanations for inequalities in decision making

1. ) Material- men have more power in decision making as they earn more. Women economically dependent, so less say.
2. ) Cultural- feminists argue gender role socialisation in patriarchal society instils the idea that men are decision makers.

Question 22

Resources and decision making- The personal life perspective on money

Answer 22

It focuses on the meanings couples give to who controls the money.
The meanings money may have in relationships can’t be taken for granted.
Nyman 2003- different couples give money different meanings. These meanings reflect the nature of the relationship.
Smart 2007- some same sex couples did not see the control of money as meaning either equality or inequality. This may be as they don’t enter relationships with the same ‘heterosexual baggage of cultural meanings’ that see money as a source of power.

Hence Smart argues it’s essential to start from personal meanings of the actors involved in the situation

Question 23

Domestic violence statistics

Answer 23

Too widespread to be behaviour of a few disturbed individuals.
The British Crime Survey estimated there are 6.6 million assaults per year.
But assaults aren’t random- mainly men against women.

According to BCS, 1 in 4 women assaulted by partner at some time. But police stats under estimate extent as of under reporting and under recording.

Question 24

Domestic violence under recording

Answer 24

DV is the violent crime least likely reported to police.
BCS estimated under a third of assaults are reported.

Yearnshire 1997 found on average women suffer 35 assaults before reporting abuse.

Question 25

Domestic violence under recording

Answer 25

Police often unwilling to record/ investigate/ prosecute domestic violence as they are reluctant to become involved in the ‘private sphere’ of the family.
They often take the view that individuals are free to leave if unhappy.
But many women can’t as their children are financially dependent on their partners.

Question 26

Domestic violence- the radical feminist explanation

Answer 26

Radical feminists see DV as the result of patriarchy- male domination.
In their view, all societies are patriarchal and the key division is between men and women.
- Men oppress women mainly through family. They benefit from women’s unpaid domestic labour and sexual services. DV (or threat of it) enables men to control women, so it is inevitable in patriarchal society.
- Men also dominate state and explains why police and courts fail to take DV seriously.
Dobash and Dobash provide evidence. They found violence was triggered when husbands felt their authority was challenged. They conclude that marriage legitimates violence by giving power to women.

Question 27

The materialist explanation

Answer 27

Focuses on economic factors such as inequalities in income and housing to explain why some groups are more at risk.

Women not only group at risk. Other groups likely to be victims:
Children and young, poor and lower classes, alcohol and illegal drug users

Lack of resources- Wilkinson and Pickett 2010 argue these patterns result of stress on family caused by social inequality. Families that lack resources e.g. Low income, poor housing- suffer more stress and this increases risk of violence.

Marx feminists- see inequality producing domestic violence. Ansley 1972 argues male workers exploited at work take out frustration on wives.