3. couples(f&h) Flashcards
what are traditional gender roles?
-elizabeth bott (1971) identified two ways roles can be shared.
*joint conjugal roles- roles are shared and flexible, leisure time is shared and responsibility for decision making is shared and equal
*segregated conjugal roles- roles are segregated, with clear and distinct responsibilities in the family.
-rise of nuclear family led to joint conjugal roles.
what is Talcott Parsons view of gender roles in the family?
-wives & husbands complimented each other because their ‘natural’ gender differences were reflected in their different roles in in marriage
-womens role is expressive (provide care, love, affection)
-men have instrumental role (stressful challenge which can cause men to breakdown so womens functions is to relieve this burden
what is the march of progress view?
-some sociologists argue that its factually incorrect, conjugal relationships are changing
-others argue the traditional description of the relationship is still factually accurate, but that it ought to be different
what is wilmott & youngs theory of the symmetrical family?
-march of progress view of family, a new man was arising
-family became more symmetrical, husband and wives had more joint conjugal roles
-symmetrical family was key idea believing family became more equal and democratic
-views apply to younger couples, more affluent & have become more privatised due to geographic mobility away from kinship networks
what was Gershuny’s views on changing gender roles in the family?
-trend towards equality in the family, he found that women working full time did less domestic work
-non-working wives did 83% of housework whilst working wives did 73% of housework
-longer the wife had been working, higher the chance the husband would contribute more in housework
what were Ann Oakley’s views on gender roles in the family changing?
-criticised wilmott & youngs march of progress view claiming their ideas were over exaggerated
-housewife role came from industrialisation of 19th century making the role dominant for years
-housewife role is socially constructed because women were excluded from workforce during most of industrial period
what were Wardes views on changing gender roles in the family?
-conducted studies in manchester and found that sex typing in domestic tasks still remains strong
-wives were 30x more likely to have been the last peron to do washing up
-husbands were 4x more likely to be the last person to wash car
what were ferri and Smiths view on changing gender roles in the family?
-focused on the dual burden and disregarding the new man
-women who did full time work also did housework
-on their studies of 1589 men and women aged 33 in families; 4% of fathers had main responsibility of childcare
what were Duncombe and Marsdens views on changing gender roles in the family?
-triple shift-emotional work was another job the wife had to do on top of paid work and housework, roles not becoming more equal
why are gender roles changing?
-economically active mothers
-decline in extended family networks
-weakening gender identities
-technology and living standards
-commercialisation of domestic labour
what is domestic abuse?
any incident or series of incidents of physical, psychological or sexual abuse by a current or previous partner
what are some statistics of domestic abuse?
- 1 incident of DA is reported to the police every minute
- 2 women a week are klled by a current or former partner
- for every 3 victims of DV, 2 will be women and 1 will be male
what are some issues with these DV statistics?
-not everyone reports
-not being taken seriously
-being threatened
what are some sociological explanations of DV?
-rad fems= emphasises role of patriarchal ideas, cultural values and institutions in explaining DV
-Dobash and Dobash=see family + marriage as key institutions in patriarchal society + main source of womens oppression
-male domination of institutions helps explain reluctance of police and courts to effectively deal with DV cases
what are some evaluations points for dv and inequality in the family?
-Faith Robertson Elliot (1996)= rejects rad fem claims that all men benefit from violence against women
-rad fems fail to explain female violence including child abuse by women & violence against male partners
-rad fems use concept of patriarchy to explain why most dv victims are women, wrongly assume all women are at risk
what are marxist feminist views on dv?
-inequality causes dv
-Fran Ansley describes wives as ‘takers of shit’
*argues dv is product of capitalism: male workers exploited at work + take it out on women
-helps to explain why dv is mostly male violence
-doesnt explain why not all male workers commit acts of violence against their partners
what are the 3 faces of power identified by Stephen Lukes?
-decision making= examines how power is gained through winning argument
-agenda-setting=helps address capacity to create major & minor issues
-shaping desires= group/individual shaping wishes/desires of another group or individual without them realising theyre being manipulated
what did Edgell (1980) find about decision making in households?
-husband dominated the more important decisions, ‘less important’ decisions left to wife. these decision indicate power is more complicated than just winning the discussion
what did Michelle Barrett and Mary Mclntosh (1991) say about decision making in the family?
-men gain more from womens domestic work than they give back in financial support
-financial support that husbands give to their wives is often unpredictable and comes with ‘strings’ attached
-men make decisions about spending on important items
what did Elaine Kempson find about decision making in the family?
-among low income families, women denied their own needs, seldom going out and eating smaller portions of food or skipping meals altogether in order to make ends meet
what did Jon Pahl and Carolyn Vogler find about money management?
-identify 2 types of control over family income
*allowance system=men give their wives an allowance out of which they have to budget to meet familys needs
*pooling=both partners have access to income and joint responsibility for expenditure
what did Irene Hardills study do?
-study of 30 dual career professional couples found
-important decisions usually taken either by the man alone or jointly
-his career normally took priority when deciding whether to move house for a new job
what is the personal life perspective on money?
-focuses on the meanings couples give to who controls the money
-the meanings that money may have in relationships cannot be taken for granted
-evidence that same-sex couples often give a different meaning to the control of money in relationships
what did carol smart say about the plp of money?
some gay men and lesbians attached no importance to who controlled the money and were perfectly happy to leave this to their partner
what did feminists say about decision making in the family?
the system of decision making in the family is down to patriarchal society and gender roles socialisation that gives power to men
