Conjugal roles and the Division of Labour

Question 1

Conjugal Roles

Answer 1

Roles played by men and women in the household in regards to things like Housework, Paid Work, Childcare and Emotion Work.
Who does what in the Household.
The domestic division of labour between husband and wife.

Question 2

Separated Conjugal Roles

Answer 2

Bott (1957) identified it as when men do stereotypically masculine chores like DIY and the women do stereotypically feminine chores like cooking.

Question 3

Joint Conjugal Roles

Answer 3

Bott (1957) identified it as when couples share chores and roles equally.
Where husbands and wives both perform paid work, share the unpaid work in the home and have shared leisure and social activities.

Question 4

Background

Answer 4

Sociologists have observed significant changes in conjugal roles, the roles of men and women within marriage over the last 50 years.
Sociologists have begun to explore other kinds of intimate relationships, such as cohabiting couples and same-sex couples, in order to discover how roles are organised in these relationships.
Not all sociologists agree that roles and relationships have changed significantly. Many feminists say heterosexual relationships are still patriarchal, with men playing a more dominant role and traditional female responsibilities are still done by women. (Childcare and housework)

Question 5

Background Evidence

Answer 5

In Britain in 2016, according to the Office for National Statistics, women did almost 60% more of the unpaid work, on average, than men.
Over the last half-century, across the developed world, more and more women have gone to work, the gender pay gap has been steadily narrowing, and fathers have spent more and more time with their children. But the “housework gap” largely stopped narrowing in the 1980s.

Question 6

Functionalism: Parsons

Answer 6

A division of roles between men and women in families is a functional necessity that ensures that each partner specialises in the role that they are most suited to instrumental and expressive.
Parsons suggests that to some extent these roles are based in biology. Women bear children and nurse them as babies, it is natural that they should also play a bigger role in their socialisation.
Sees humans as products of the socialisation process. Socialising males and females into different roles simply train each sex to fulfil the role to which they are naturally suited.

Question 7

Instrumental Role (Parsons)

Answer 7

The individual (stereotypically a man) in a family who holds the characteristics such as the breadwinner and the authority figure providing for the family. 
Involves providing an income for the family. The husband’s occupation also provides the family with its status in society.

Question 8

Expressive Role (Parsons)

Answer 8

The individual (stereotypically a woman) in a family who hold the characteristics such as breadwinner caring, loving and affectionate.
Ensuring that the psychological and emotional needs of the husband and children are provided for. This would include performing the functions of socialising the children and stabilising adult personalities by offering emotional support to her husband.

Question 9

Symmetry and the Democratisation of

Gender Roles

Answer 9

From the 1960s onwards, a number of sociologists noted a trend towards the breakdown of segregated conjugal roles and a shift towards more joint roles.

Question 10

Willmont and Young (1973)

Answer 10

Questionnaire with more than 100 questions to 2000 people in London asking about domestic roles.
72% of married men claimed to ‘help their partners at least once a week’
Argued a ‘New Man’ was starting to emerge (Men are starting to help out with children more and more, stay at home Dads and House Husbands)
Men are more in touch with the feminine side and helping around the house with chores as a result
A new form of the family called the ‘Symmetrical Family’ had emerged in Britain, first in the higher social classes and spreading to the working class from the 1950s onwards.

Question 11

Main Characteristics of the Symmetrical Family (Willmont and Young)

Answer 11

1. ) Conjugal Roles are Joint (roles are more equal because both paid work and unpaid domestic tasks are shared)
2. ) Family is Nuclear (Focus on the relationship between husband, wife and children, and not extended family)
3. ) Family is Privatised (spend more time in the privacy of their home together, rather than in the community. So husbands are more involved in domestic life and can spend time with their children.

Question 12

Willmont and Young and Functionalism

Answer 12

Contradicted the functionalist view that segregated conjugal roles are necessary and functional. They implied that there has been a historical march towards greater equality in men and women’s roles in the family, though this has progressed further in some sections of society than others.

Question 13

Late Modernity and Giddens

Answer 13

Argued that there has been a ‘transformation of intimate relationships’, meaning that women no longer need to accept male dominance as they have a much wider range of choices in societies like the UK.
Argues that this has led to a democratisation of family life, with men, in particular, becoming more willing to reveal their emotions and engage with women and children in an intimate way.

Question 14

Feminism Interpretation of Parsons and Wilmott and Young

Answer 14

Critical of segregated roles are functional for both men and women. Just men it benefits. It’s not biological, it’ socially constructed.
Criticised Young and Willmott’s argument that more equal and symmetrical roles have become more characteristic of nuclear families in the UK.

Question 15

Oakley’s critique of Willmot and Young’s Study

Answer 15

Only asked if men helped out more than once a week. Which isn’t equal.
This does not to define what ‘helping’ as it doesn’t account for jobs they do alone.
Only male respondents were asked to create the 72% figure which can have a bias of social desirability.
Only one question, it isn’t symmetry.

Question 16

Ann Oakley (1974) summarise in the ‘The Sociology of Housework’

Answer 16

Women found housework boring
Being a Housewife is like working in a factory. It’s ‘monotonous, isolating and deskilled’. No one enjoys it.
Men are doing more but there is no new man (stay at home Dads and home husbands). They are doing the ‘fun’ things like reading bedtime stories.
Childcare was housework to these men.

Question 17

Criticisms of Oakley’s Research

Answer 17

Some people enjoy housework
The New man does help more (Dush, Schoppe-Sullivan, and Yavorsky found men and women seemed to spend a roughly equal amount of time caring for their child and doing household chores on workdays)
Used a small sample which isn’t representative

Question 18

The 1980s and Sociological Research

Answer 18

Began to study the effects of women returning to paid work and how they related to conjugal roles
A major development with Hochschild ‘The Second Shift’

Question 19

The Second Shift

Answer 19

Referring to the responsibilities of childcare and housework borne disproportionately by women, in addition to their paid labour.

Question 20

Hochschild (1983)

Answer 20

Surveyed 145 dual-income married couples as well as 45 ‘other people involved in their lives’
The samples were middle class and white
Also carried out in-depth interviews with ten couples
Found that when men were asked ‘tell me about your typical day’, 46% made no reference to their home or domestic matters
Also found through 70% shared ‘reasonably close’ as many as 33% did ‘little or nothing to help’

Question 21

The Triple Shift (Duncombe and Marsden)

Answer 21

Parent is responsible for three jobs at a time, such as caring for kids, having a full-time jobs and catering to family members emotional needs

Question 22

Duncombe and Marsden (1995)

Answer 22

Some of the women interviewed in their research felt emotionally deserted, with their husbands leaving them to carry out all of the emotion work in the family. Men lack ‘emotional participation’ and so they carry out more work due to men being unable to express their feelings
Emotion work includes tasks such as offering emotional support, looking after ill children and listening to problems of family members. This leaves many women feeling as if they were carrying out a triple shift, having to take responsibility for not only paid work and housework but also emotion work.

Question 23

Emotion Work

Answer 23

Refers to supporting family members’ emotional needs; for example, listening to family members’ problems, looking after ill children and absorbing other peoples’ frustrations.

Question 24

Bernard (1982)

Answer 24

‘Emotional Loneliness’
Men are more satisfied in their relationships while women are not.
Men have no idea.

Question 25

Devine (1992)

Answer 25

Small scale study of car workers in Luton she tried to find out whether men involvement in domestic labour increased when thier wives reentered paid employment.
Involvement did increase. But position remained secondary.
‘Above all women remain responsible for childcare and housework and their husbands help’

Question 26

Gershuny (1994)

Answer 26

Found women do the majority of housework and childcare
But women who work full time in paid employment do less
Men compensated by doing more but it wasn’t symmetrical
‘lagged adaption’ as studies suggest that men’s roles have changed more slowly than women’s then eventually they will ‘catch up’
There is a ‘march of progress’

Question 27

Survey example and issues in finding out the reality of how much housework each gender does

Answer 27

British Household Survey (2001)
Women do more than men, even when men don’t work as it is seen as unmasculine and threatens their breadwinner position
But
People might overestimate the time spent doing work
Can underestimate too
What is the definition of ‘helping’. Playing with children whilst partner does chores

Question 28

Change in roles of Fathers

Answer 28

Involvement in the home increased

Playing central role as playmates with children

Question 29

How have the roles of Fathers stayed the same

Answer 29

Main provider and head of the family

Working longer hours than a female partner

Question 30

Obstacles to increased involvement

Answer 30

Step Father or not
No Paternity leave
Working all the time
Traditional Expectations and Toxic masculinity
Sandwich Generation: Looking after older relatives instead of children

Question 31

Kan (2001)

Answer 31

Oxford University researcher surveys 2,000 couples.
Many men said they did the same but still let the women do 3/4 of household chores.
18: Women while 6: Men.
Women who were younger, educated, high-earners did substantially less than women in lower paid work, as they have more bargaining powers.
Men are taking more of egalitarian role but women still do the majority of the housework.

Question 32

Hakim (2000)

Answer 32

Criticised feminists for constantly complaining that men are not doing their fair share of domestic work. She analysed data from time budget studies across Europe and argued that the reality is that most men already do more than their fair share.
20% want to more active at work
20% want to a more traditional setup
60% are adaptive
She states that ‘on average, women and men across Europe do the same total number of productive work hours, once paid jobs and unpaid household work are added together – roughly eight hours a day. Men do substantially more hours of paid work. Women’s time is divided more evenly between paid and unpaid work’.

Question 33

Shift Parenting

Answer 33

When both parents work at different times so that one of them is at home to look after the children.

Question 34

Pros of Shift Parenting

Answer 34

1. ) Always someone to look after the children

2. )Both still have an income, increasing their disposable income

Question 35

Cons of Shift Parenting

Answer 35

1. ) Children are unhappy because they never see their parents together or never having joint family outings
2. ) More stress
3. ) Relationship pressure as never together

Question 36

CJ Conclusions

Answer 36

• More women are in work and working for longer hours
• The most equitable set is where both parents work full time (in terms of total spent engaging in paid and unpaid work)
• When women work in paid employment part-time and husbands full time it is more unequal as women do more
• Young women are spending less time than predecessors
• Many fathers want to more parenting and childcare and they are but attitudes in the workplace are a major obstacle to them achieving this

Question 37

The Concept of Power

Answer 37

Sociologists look at the nature of power, then apply their responses to the nature of power within the family.
Decision making (what Lukes termed the first face of power)
Agenda setting otherwise known as non-decision making (what Lukes termed the second face of power)
Controlling wishes and desires (Lukes’ own radical or third face of power)

Question 38

Lukes (Three Different Views on Power)

Answer 38

Decision making
Agenda setting is otherwise known as non-decision making
Controlling wishes and desires
-Three ‘faces’ of power

Question 39

Economic Power

Answer 39

To be able to control or influence the behaviour of others through economic assets
(Men are breadwinners so women can’t leave)

Question 40

Political Power

Answer 40

Influencing people using political aspects (decision making-men have more power in the decisions made for the household)

Question 41

Physical Power

Answer 41

Using force to control or influence someone

Domestic Violence-Men are main perpetrators

Question 42

Sexual Power

Answer 42

Using sexual means to control someone (using rape/raised to objectify women)

Question 43

Edgell (Power)

Answer 43

Women make small (Interior Decorating)
Men make Big (Finances)
So men have more power

Question 44

Pahl (2004)

Answer 44

Studied how couples manage money
Found highest levels of marital satisfaction were expressed among couples when joint fiances were pooled and the wife had the most control
Found lowest levels when the husband controlled the finances
In households where women earn more than men suggests that when this is the case then it is understated
Women’s greater economic power leads to greater political power
“Checking the bank statement correlates with power and decision making”

Question 45

Money, Work, and Marital Stability (2016 Study)

Answer 45

For marriages formed after 1975, husbands’ lack of full-time employment is associated with a higher risk of divorce, but neither wives’ full-time employment nor wives’ share of household labour is associated with divorce risk. Expectations of wives’ homemaking may have eroded, but the husband breadwinner norm persists.

Question 46

Conclusion

Answer 46

The balance of power and decision making are shifting
Men are doing marginally more and women are doing substantially less than mothers especially when educated and higher earners
These women also enjoy greater power economically and politically
Men do more but are constrained by traditional workplaces
Some shift parenting
Move to greater equality but not greater quality in lifestyles
(Couples are spending 80 mins together mostly watching TV according to ONS)

Question 47

Perspectives that claim segregated Conjugal Roles is Functional

Answer 47

1) Functionalism

2) New Right

Question 48

Functionalist View on CR

Answer 48

Parsons believes a division of roles between men and women in families is a functional (Instrumental and expressive)
These roles are based in biology

Question 49

Sociologists that Agree with the Functionalist Perspective

Answer 49

1) Edgell

2) Hakim

Question 50

Criticisms of Functionalist View

Answer 50

1) Gender roles are socially constructed
2) Oakley - Women find this boring and don’t like doing housework
3) Pahl - Women gain more power when having financal power
4) Gay Parenting so not based on biology
5) Giddens - the transformation of intimate relationships’, meaning that women no longer need to accept male dominance as they have a much wider range of choices. the democratisation of family life, with men, in particular, becoming more willing to reveal their emotions and engage with women and children in an intimate way

Question 51

The NR View

Answer 51

Sexual equality due to feminism has caused a ‘crisis of masculinity’
The nuclear family is the best model as the division can be divided accordingly and socialisation of both roles occurs
Women are less committed to working outside of the home due to the Welfare state

Question 52

NR Sociologists

Answer 52

1) Murray - Mothers are less willing to take on instrumental roles/taken by the welfare state
2) Wilmont and Young - ‘New Man’ and masculinity

Question 53

Criticisms of NR View

Answer 53

1) Oakley v Wilmont and Young (Once a week)
2) Radical Feminists argue not total equality yet
3) Kan found that women do an average of 18+ hours of housework compared to men’s 16

Question 54

Perspectives that say it is Unequal

Answer 54

1) Marxism

2) Feminism

Question 55

Marxism

Answer 55

Gender roles and relationships in families but see these as shaped by the needs of capitalism
Unpaid labour such as housework and childcare performed benefits the capitalist class as much as family members, for example, by ensuring that workers are fit to return to work each day
MC Women have more power than WC women
Inequality aids the passage of RCI of things like a hierarchy to children
-Pahl
-Althusser

Question 56

Criticisms of Marxist Perspective

Answer 56

Dated Explanation

The working world has changed so less exploitation

Question 57

Three Types of Feminism

Answer 57

Liberal
Radical
Marxism

Question 58

Liberal View

Answer 58

Parents socialise children differently
Canalisation of Gender Roles
They want men and women to have the same legal rights.
As such, in the UK at least, when women got the vote on equal terms to men, the Equal Pay Act was passed, as well as the Sex Discrimination Act, and various other reforms in areas such as birth control and divorce, many liberal feminists think that their battle is well advanced and in those areas largely won.
Demands changes to domestic labour are divided as women enter work

Question 59

Liberal Feminism supported by Sociologists

Answer 59

1) Oakley: Men participate in the pleasant stuff. Also rejects these views, arguing that the division of labour between men and women is based in a culture, not biology. She points out: There are many societies which are exceptions to the general rule, e.g. amongst Mbuti Pygmies there are no specific sex roles. In contemporary societies such as China and Cuba, a lot of heavy work is done by women. The mother-housewife role is a cultural construction. Evidence shows that children do not have to be cared for by their mothers to grow up well-adjusted.
2) Hakim: Some women want to participate more in the workforce

Question 60

Criticisms of LF

Answer 60

Obstacles for Fathers socialising their children, such as having a job, being a step-Father
Gender Pay Gap

Question 61

Radical Feminism

Answer 61

• Equality is an illusion
• Patriarchal society dominates and suppresses women’s power through physical and sexual means
• Radical feminists, the way gender roles are organised in families reflects the patriarchal nature of traditional families and the fact that men still exercise more power than women
• Feminists argue that the family has a dark side that is ignored by functionalists and in the idea of the symmetrical family. This dark side can be seen at its most extreme in the form of domestic violence and child abuse, which feminists argue are most commonly committed by men

Question 62

RF Sociologists

Answer 62

1) Hochschild: 46% of men don’t mention housework, second shift
2) Hartmann: Employed women still so a bulk of the housework

Question 63

Criticisms of RF

Answer 63

1) Devine: Argued that men participate in housework more when their wives are employed
2) Gershuny: Argued that men’s role has changed they only experience ‘lagged adaption’ but will see equality eventually

Question 64

Marxism Feminism

Answer 64

Marxist feminists, however, would argue that by undertaking unpaid work in the family, women not only look after men’s needs but also serve the needs of capitalism.
Division of labour functional for contemporary families who have dual income
Shift parenting creates a natural division
Male breadwinner causes an economic disadvantage in the power of women

Question 65

MF: Pahl

Answer 65

Least satisfaction when men hold the economic power

Question 66

Criticisms of MF

Answer 66

1) Shift parenting is problematic

2) More diverse family types without male breadwinners

Question 67

Postmodernism

Answer 67

Too many sweeping generalisations
They would point to the much more diverse nature of families and relationships in the twenty-first century.
Sociologists cannot state that families are either symmetrical or patriarchal
Create their own family practices
Postmodernists would also argue that conventional sociological research has focused too much on roles and relationships in traditional nuclear families and point out that these cannot be generalised to other types of families, such as lone parents, cohabiting couples or same-sex relationships.

Question 68

Social Class

Answer 68

Analysis of secondary data by Kan (2008) suggests that middle-class women do less housework than their working-class counterparts. 
She suggested that every £10,000 increase in a woman’s annual income reduces the time she spends on chores every week by nearly two hours and educated women tend to do less housework than women who left school at 16. 
This is mainly explained by the fact that well-off women can afford to employ others (usually women) to do their housework for them, rather than because middle-class men contribute more to domestic work.

Question 69

Ethnicity

Answer 69

Berthoud’s (2001) study of ethnicity and family life suggests that South Asian families are far more likely to adopt more traditional gender roles than whites.
On the other hand, a high proportion of African-Caribbean families are headed by lone mothers, meaning that in these households, mothers often combine paid work with complete responsibility for housework and childcare, though in some cases with support from extended family members.

Question 70

Age

Answer 70

Divisions of labour vary between generations.
Younger couples are more likely to adopt more equal roles.
However, it also appears that when couples settle down and have children, women start to take on a greater burden of childcare and domestic work.

Question 71

Sexuality

Answer 71

Studies of gay and lesbian couples suggest that they are far more likely to have shared roles and responsibilities, often consciously rejecting the heterosexual norms.
Weeks (1999) Division of domestic labour as a matter for discussion and negotiation rather than making assumptions about who does what based on tradition.
Dunne (1997) found that in most cases housework and childcare were equally shared, though in some cases one partner was only employed part-time and couples had agreed that she should there fore undertake more of the domestic work.

Question 72

Same-Sex Couples Criticisms

Answer 72

Nor are same-sex couples immune from these sexist expectations.
In 2016, a revealing American study by the American Sociological Association presented people with fictional accounts of gay and lesbian households, asking them to judge which partner ought to take responsibility for childcare, groceries, laundry and fixing the car.
Reliably, respondents assigned the stereotypically female tasks to the partner described as having the more stereotypically feminine interests, such as a fondness for shopping or romantic comedies.