Conjugal Roles and the Domestic Division of Labour Flashcards
Define ‘conjugal roles’.
Roles played by the male/female partner in a relationship.
Define ‘segregated conjugal roles’.
Bott (1957) identified it as when men do stereotypically masculine chores (e.g. DIY) and the women do stereotypically feminine chores (e.g. cooking).
Define ‘joint conjugal roles’.
Bott (1957) identified it as when couples share chores and roles equally.
Define ‘instrumental role’.
The individual (stereotypically a man) in a family who holds the characteristics such as the breadwinner and the authority figure providing for the family.
Define an ‘expressive role’.
The individual (stereotypically a woman) in a family who holds the characteristics such as caring, loving, affectionate.
Explain a change in conjugal roles with Wilmott and Young’s (1973) questionnaire.
- Questionnaire asking 2,000 people about domestic roles
- Found 72% of married men claim to ‘help their partners at least once a week’
- Argued the ‘new man’ has started to emerge
- This means that men are more in touch with their feminine side and so are more likely to help out in the house with chores, leading to a symmetrical family
Why was Ann Oakley critical of Wilmott and Young’s (1973) research?
- Wilmott and Young only asked if the men helped out more than once a week
- This does not define what ‘helping’ is as it doesn’t account for jobs they do alone
- Only male respondents were asked to create the 72% figure which can have bias of social desirability
What did Ann Oakley (1974) summarise in ‘The Sociology of Housework’, including a statistic.
- Women found housework boring
- There has been an improvement in men doing housework
- She also compared housework to working in a factory due to it being boring and monotonous with no one enjoying doing it
- Fathers do the pleasant aspects of childcare, such as entertaining their child whilst the mother cooks dinner
What criticisms could be made of Ann Oakley’s (1974) research?
- Some people might enjoy housework
- The ‘new men’ help out more
- She used a small sample so it wasn’t representative
Define ‘second shift’, give an example.
Someone having two work loads, such as having a job and doing housework.
Describe Hochschild’s (1983) research.
- 46% of males made no reference to their home or domestic matters
- This shows that they don’t share conjugal roles even when they are also working, showing they do second shifts
Define ‘triple shift’, giving an example.
When a parent is responsible for three jobs at a time, such as caring for kids, having a job, and housework.
Define ‘emotion work’.
Management of your own feelings in a conscious effort to maintain a relationship.
What did Duncombe and Marsden (1995) find?
- Women feel their male partners lack ‘emotional participation’ and so they carry out more work
- This is due to men finding it hard to express their emotions
What did Fiona Devine (1992) argue?
Men’s involvement in domestic labour increased when their wives re-entered paid work.
What did Gershuny (1994) argue?
- Stated that men’s roles have changed but there is a ‘lagged adaption’
- Women do the majority of housework and childcare
- Men will eventually catch up
What did Kan (2001) find?
- Sample of 2,000
- Women did 18+ hours or housework a week
- Men did 6 hours of housework a week
- Higher income gave women more bargaining power
Identify a survey and issues that it might have with identifying how much housework a gender partakes in.
- British Household Survey (2001)
- Might over estimate the time spent doing work
- Can under estimate too
- Some people may think ‘helping’ is entertaining their child whilst their partner does chores
How have the roles of fathers changed?
- Involvement in the home has increased
- Playing central roles for play mates with their children
What aspects of men’s roles have remained traditional?
- Being the main provider and the head of the family
- Working longer hours than their female partner
What obstacles prevent men from playing a more active role in their children’s lives?
- If they are a step father or not
- Being at work all the time
- Constrained by traditional expectations
- Sandwich generation - looking after older relatives instead of children
What did Catherine Hakim (2000) find?
- 20% of women wanted to play a more active part in the workplace
- 20% of women wanted a more traditional set up and are happy to be full time housewives/mothers
- 60% are adaptive
Define ‘shift parenting’.
When both parents work but at different times so that one of them is there to look after the child.
Give 2 pros of shift parenting.
1) There is always someone there to look after the child
2) Both parents can still gain an income, increasing their disposable income
Give 2 cons of shift parenting.
1) Children may grow up unhappy due to never seeing parents together and limited family outings
2) More stress
Define ‘economic power’, giving an example.
Using money to gain power over someone else (e.g. men being the breadwinner means women can’t leave)
Define ‘political power’, giving an example.
Influencing people using political aspects (e.g. decision making - men have more power in decisions)
Define ‘physical power’, giving an example.
Using force to control someone (e.g. domestic violence - men being the main perpetrators)
Define ‘sexual power’, giving an example.
Using sexual mans to control someone (e.g. men using rape - socialised to objectify women)
What did Edgell (1980) find?
- Women make small decisions, such as interior decor
- Men have the main power in marriages
What did Pahl (2004) find?
- The lowest levels of marital satisfaction were recorded when the husband controlled the finances
- Women’s greater economic power leads to greater political power in the household
- Checking the bank statements correlates with power and decision making
Summarise conjugal roles and the domestic division of labour using decades in between 1950s and 1990s.
1950s - Conjugal roles were segregated into male (e.g. DIY) and female (e.g. cooking). Parsons argued the inevitability of the division of labour was due to biology
1970s - Wilmott and Young (1973) argued the emergence of the ‘new man’ with 72% helping leading to a more symmetrical family v.s Ann Oakley (1974) who criticised that 28% of men still didn’t participate in housework
1980s - Traditional roles were challenged due to major economic changes allowing women to enter the workplace demanding a new system of labour at home
1990s - Devine (1992) argued men’s involvement in domestic labour increased when their wives entered paid work leading to more symmetry however Gershuny (1994) argued there was ‘lagged adaption’ stopping an equal division of labour
Identify 2 theories which state segregated conjugal roles are functional to society.
1) Functionalism
2) New Right
Describe Functionalism’s view on conjugal roles.
- Natural division due to biology (Parsons)
- Expressive and instrumental roles must be fulfilled
- Segregated conjugal roles are functional to society as allows the breadwinner to go out and work whilst the housewife cleans and cares for their child
- Men working more gives them more power
Identify 3 sociologists who would agree with Functionalism’s perspective.
1) Duncombe and Marsden (1995) - expressive role
2) Edgell (1980) - men have power
3) Hakim (1996) - some women enjoy housework
Identify 3 criticisms of Functionalism’s view on conjugal roles.
1) Ann Oakley (1970) found that women find housework boring and don’t like doing it
2) Pahl (2004) argued that women’s economic power leads to political when they work and so women are gaining more power
3) Expressive and instrumental roles don’t need to be specified to a gender, as with gay parenting
Describe the New Right’s view on conjugal roles.
- Sexual equality from feminism causes crisis of masculinity
- Nuclear family is the best model as the division of labour can be divided accordingly and socialisation of both roles occurs
- Women are less committed to working outside the home
Identify 2 sociologists who would agree with the New Right’s perspective.
1) Murray (1984) - there is a lack of instrumental role for single mothers
2) Wilmott and Young (1973) - the ‘new man’ causes crisis of masculinity as more feminine
Identify 3 criticisms of the New Right’s view on conjugal roles.
1) Ann Oakley (1974) criticises Wilmott and Young (1974) for only asking one question that required men to help at least once a week to establish equality with lack of definition on ‘helping’
2) Radical Feminists argued there isn’t complete sexual equality
3) Kan (2001) found that women do an average of 18+ hours of housework a week compared to 6 for men
Identify 2 theories which state division in conjugal roles are unequal.
1) Marxism
2) Feminism
Describe Marxism’s view on conjugal roles.
- Middle class women have more control in relationships than working class women
- Inequality in conjugal roles passes on ruling class ideology of hierarchy and exploitation to children
Identify 2 sociologists who would agree with Marxism’s perspective.
1) Pahl (2004) - women having economic power equates to political
2) Althusser (1970) - ideological state apparatus
Identify a criticism of Marxism’s view on conjugal roles.
Dated explanation as working world and class division have changed meaning there is less exploitation.
Identify the 3 main types of Feminism.
1) Liberal
2) Radical
3) Marxist
Describe Liberal Feminist’s view on conjugal roles.
- Parents socialise children differently
- Laws challenge patriarchal division and create more gender equality (e.g. Equal Pay Act 1970 and Sex Discrimination Act 1975)
- This demands changes to how domestic labour is divided as women enter work
Identify 2 sociologists who would agree with Liberal Feminist’s perspective.
1) Ann Oakley (1974) - men participate in pleasant work
2) Hakim (1996) - some women want active roles in work
Identify a criticism of Liberal Feminist’s view on conjugal roles.
There are obstacles for fathers socialising their children, such as having a job, being a step-father, etc.
Describe Radical Feminist’s view on conjugal roles.
- Equality is an illusion
- Patriarchal society dominates and suppresses women’s power through physical and sexual means (e.g. domestic violence and rape)
Identify 2 sociologists who would agree with Radical Feminist’s perspective.
1) Hochschild (1983) - 46% of men didn’t address housework, second shift
2) Hartmann (1981) - employed women still have bulk of housework
Identify 2 criticisms of Radical Feminist’s view on conjugal roles.
1) Fiona Devine (1992) argued that men participate in housework more when their wives are employed
2) Gershuny (1994) argued that men’s roles have changed they only experience ‘lagged adaption’ but will see equality eventually
Describe Marxist Feminist’s view on conjugal roles.
- Division of labour functional for contemporary families who have dual income
- Shift parenting creates natural division
- Male breadwinner causes economic disadvantage in power for women
Identify a sociologist who would agree with Marxist Feminist’s perspective.
Pahl (2004) found the lowest marital satisfaction when only men had economic power.
Identify 2 criticisms of Marxist Feminist’s view on conjugal roles.
1) Shift parenting can lead to child growing up unhappy due to limited family time
2) There are more diverse types of families that don’t involve a single male breadwinner
