(3) Feminist Theorists Flashcards
Ann Oakley (1974)
What is she arguing against and why?
She’s arguing against the ‘March of Progress’ towards a symmetrical family because her study shows that Young & Willmott’s claims are exaggerated:
Only 15% of men participate in housework.
Only 25% of men participate in childcare.
Mary Boulton (1983)
Why does she argue against the trend towards more symmetrical families?
She argues against the growing trend towards a symmetrical family because even if men are participating more, Boulton’s study shows that men still see women as responsible for domestic tasks:
Fewer than 20% of fathers take a major role in childcare.
The mother was mainly held responsible for that.
Warde and Hetherington (1993)
What did they argue for the feminist view?
Husbands are doing a lot less housework and they only carried it out when their wives were not around:
Wives were 30 times more likely to be the last doing the washing.
Husbands were 4 times more likely to be the last to wash the car.
What is a ‘dual burden’?
Its a feminist argument that’s believed to be caused when a woman wants to take part in paid work whilst having having to take care of housework.
As a result it’s harder for women to start working as this will become a ‘dual burden for them’.
Therefore the ‘March of progress’ can’t take place if women are just having to work even more when doing paid work.
What part of the results from the British Social Attitudes survey (2013) supports the feminist view?
Over the years, men still don’t majorly take part in housework/childcare, making more women doing paid work experience a ‘dual burden’:
(1994) , 1% of men would always do the laundry vs 79% women.
(2012) , 6% of men would always do the laundry vs 70% women.
(% of men doing housework not high enough for working women to rely on them)
What does the British Social Attitudes survey (2013) say about the average hours spent on housework for men and women in 2012?
Housework: 8hrs men , 13 hrs women
Caring for family: 10 hrs men , 23 hrs women
On average, overall, women do twice as much as men.
Graham Allan (1985)
What aspect on domestic tasks compared to paid work does Allan argue on?
The quality of the two roles. The expressive role involving housework is typically less satisfying.
Ferri and Smith (1996)
What feminist argument do these sociologists support? (about responsibility)
The point made by Mary Boulton in the 80’s about most men not taking responsibility for any tasks under the expressive role:
Their study shows that in less than 4% of families do fathers take responsibility for childcare.
Dex and Ward (2007)
What does their study show? (about responsibility)
Only 1% of fathers took responsibility for caring for a sick child.
Although they might play with their children, many do it in order to avoid being nagged at by their wives.
Elaine Kempson (1994)
What does this sociologist’s study show about income for women in families?
The study shows that recourses and earnings are not equally shared in many households. In many low income families, women will deny their needs and budget whatever income they get on domestic tasks and childcare, leaving a lot of women in poverty.
Pahl and Volger (2007)
What was their argument around pooling income.
Although in pooling both parents have joint access to income, the father will still have more power in making the final decision on expenditure.
Arlie Hochschild (2013)
Other than housework and paid work, what else does this sociologist argue is what a working woman ends up being responsible for?
Emotion work. This involves the woman being responsible for managing the emotions and feelings of family members. E.g squabbles between siblings.
Duncombe and Marsden (1995)
What do these sociologists argue on what working women have to perform?
A ‘triple shift’ that involves paid work, housework and emotion work.
Carol Smart (2007)
What is her reasoning for arguing in support of the cultural explanation for inequality?
She found that in same-sex couples, there is a greater freedom since they haven’t entered a relationship with the same ‘historical, gendered, heterosexual baggage of cultural meanings around money’ and how money is seen as a source of power.
