couples Flashcards
what is domestic division of labour
This refers to the assignment of different household jobs to each partner in order to improve the efficiency of the home
different types of domestic division of labour
- Instrumental and Expressive Roles - Parsons
- Joint and Segregated Conjugal Roles - Bott
- The symmetrical family - Willmott and Young
- Feminism and Housework - Oakley
Instrumental and Expressive Roles
Parsons argues that in the traditional nuclear family, the roles of husbands and wives are separate and distinct from one another. There is a clear division of labour between spouses. The husband has the instrumental role geared towards achieving success at work so he can provide for his family, he is the breadwinner. The wife has the expressive role - geared towards primary socialisation of the children and meeting the families emotional needs. She is the homemaker. Parsons argues that this division of labour is based on biological differences with women more suited to the nurturing role and men to that of the provider. Right realists also support this view adding that the nuclear family provides stability for those within the household.
joint and segregated conjugal roles
Bott - segregated conjugal roles - the couples have seperate roles similar to parsons instrumental and expressive roles
Joint conjugal roles - the couples share tasks and responsibility for housework and child care.
Y and W identified a pattern of segregated conjugal roles in their study of traditional working class extended families in east london in the 50s. Men were the bread winners, they played little part in home life and spent their leisure times with workmates in pubs and working mens clubs. Women were full time housewives with sole responsibility for housework and childcare, helped by their female relatives. This limited leisure women had was also spent with female kin
symmetrical family
young and willmott take a march of progress view of the history of family. They see family life as gradually improving for all its members, becoming more equal and this led to the rise of the symmetrical family. This is a family in which the roles of husbands and wives are now more similar although not identical. Women now go out to work, though this may be part-time, men now help with housework and childcare and couples now spend their leisure time together. In their study of families in London, they found that the symmetrical family was more common among younger couples, those who were isolated and more efficient.The rise of this family is as a result of major social changes that have taken place during the past century - feminism
feminism and housework
Feminists reject this march of progress view and criticise Young and Willmotts view that the family is now symmetrical. They argue that little has changes as men and women remain unequal within the family and women still do most of the housework, this inequality stems from the fact that the family and society are patriarchal.
what does Ann Oakley argue
Oakley argues that Young and Willmotts view are exaggerated. Although they did a study which found that men helped their views at least once a week. For Oakley this is hardly convincing evidence of symmetry. In her own research, she found some evidence of husbands helping in the home but no evidence of a move towards symmetry. Only 15% of husbands had a high level of participation in housework and only 25% had a high level of participation in childcare. Most couples defined the husbands role as one of ‘taking an interest’ meaning husbands were more likely to share in the pleasurable aspects of childcare this means that women were left with doing the un-cool housework and lost out in playing with children.
later research that supports Oakley
Burton found that fewer than 20% of husbands had a major role in childcare, similarly research by Warde and Hetherington found that sex-typing of domestic tasks remained strong. Wives were 30 times more likely to be the last person to do the washing, while husbands were four times more likely to be the last person to wash the car
eval of Young and Wilmott
Young and Wilmott exaggerate mens contribution by looking at tasks involved in childcare rather than the responsibilities. Fathers might help with specific tasks but it was always the mother who was responsible for the childs security and well-being, men would also only carry out routine female tasks when their partners were not around to do them.
why did the symmetrical family grow
They see the rise of the symmetrical nuclear family as a result of major social changes that have taken place during the past century.
Changes in womens position as married women are going out to work
Geographical mobility
New tech and labour saving devices
higher standards of living
criticisms of domestic division of labour
Feminists criticise parsons for a number of reasons
1. Gender roles are not defined by nature of biology but are a social construct. There is nothing proving women are better at housework than men or vice versa
2. The nuclear family limits womens individuality and desires. If women are restricted to home-making it limits their potential desires to advance their career
3. The nuclear family makes women financially dependent on a male. This can result in dependency, lack of freedome, and makes women vulnerable and leads to domestic abuse
views of are couples more equal
March of progress view
Feminist view
Family responsibilities
march of progress view
Gershuny argues that women working full-time is leading to a more equal division of labour at home. Using time studies she found that these women did less domestic work than other women. Sullivan argues that the increase in symmetrical families also means that there is a more equal distribution of domestic labour. She analysed data collected on housework and found a trend towards women doing a smaller share of domestic work and men were participating more in traditional division of labour. For example, the British social Attitudes survey found a fall in the number of people who agreed to the idea of instrumental and expressive roles in 1984 - 45% of men and 41% of women. 2012 - 13% - men 12% of women
radical feminist view
They argue that women going to work has not led to greater equality in the division of labour. There is little sign of the ‘new man’ who does an equal share of housework and according to Hotschild women carry a dual burden, meaning despite entering paid employment, women are still expected to and regurlarly carry out unpaid domestic labour. ONS 2015 - 83.7% of women aged 16-64 who are in employment also reported being responsible for daily or weekly housework compared to only 34.4% of men in the same age group. Women face a dual burden of responsibilities in the house and at work
family responsibilities
Men contribute very little to childcare. Braun et al argues that most fathers are background fathers with provider ideology. They saw their role as that of the breadwinnrs while their wives were the primary carers. Dex and Ward found that 1% of fathers took the main responsibility of caring for a sick child. Another responsibility is that of coordinating, scheduling and managing the family’s quality time together a responsibility according to Southerthon which usually falls to mothers. Another responsibility is what Hochschild calls emotional work which she argues that women are required to perform, it involves keeping everyone happy in the family. Duncombe and Madsen summarise it all up by arguing that women have to undertake the triple shift of housework, paid work and emotional work. Southerthon argues that women are carrying a dual burden in which they face an increased volume of activities to be managed, even their leisure time is disturbed by childcare and they are required to multitask a lot more than men
