couples Flashcards
Parsons view of roles of man and woman
qhusband has an instrumental role, he is the breadwinner. he provides financial stability
wife has a expressive role, she is the primary socialisation + meets families emotional needs, housewife
why do feminists reject Parsons views of the fixed roles of man and woman
Parson claims that these differences in roles are from biological differences, whereas feminists believe that the patriarchy made them up for mens own benefits
why do these sociologists criticise Parsons view of fixed roles
Young + Willmott - men are now taking a greater division of labour in the home
what are joint and segregated roles according to this sociologist
Bott
segregated conjugal roles - male = breadwinner whereas female is the homemaker. leisure activities done separate
joint conjugal roles - couple chares housework + childcare
what were the patterns of Young and Willmotts study in the 1950’s
pattern of segregated conjugal roles, in their study of traditional WC extended families in Benthal green, east london
men breadwinner, play little part in house + leisure activities done separate
women spent time with other family women, men spent time with colleagues
what is the symmetrical family
march of progress view, family is improving for all members, trending away from segregated roles
women working too now
men help with housework+ childcare
couples spend time together not separately
why are roles changing in the family
changes in women’s position like going out to work - raises standards of living
geographical mobility - away from the traditional mindset of family
new technology - raised standards of living can afford technology that makes homeowning easier
higher standards of living
who criticises Young and Willmotts view that the family is now symmetrical
Oakley
they claims are exaggerated men help only once a week - hardly any convincing information of symmetry
what did Oakley find in her own study of husbands helping in the home
only 15% of husbands had high level of participation in housework, only 25% in childcare
what do women miss out on because of homeworking duties
men only take part in the pleasurable part of childcare, so that women can clean. A good father was one that took baby away from mother so mum can miss out on playing with her own children
what sociologists findings support Oakley
Boulton supports Oakley
fewer than 20% husbands had major role in childcare y+w exaggerate men’s contribution of looking at tasks involved in childcare
sex - typing
Warde + Hetherington found sex- typing of domestic tasks remained strong
wives 30 x likely to have done the washing up, husbands 4x likely to have done the car cleaning
men only do feminine tasks if wife not around + found change of attitude on young men
who argues that working full-time leads to equality
Gershuny
what is a sociologists analysis from different timepoints findings in the spread of domestic work
Sullivan analysis of nationally representative data in 1975, 1987, 1997 found trend of women doing less domestic, men doing more
men participating more in women typed tasks
trends reflect changes in the attitudes to traditional division of labour
what did the British Social Attitudes survey find about attiudes to gender roles
a fall in the number of people who think its the mans job to financially support and women’s job to look after home
(1984) - 45% men + 41% of women think that compared to 13% men and 12% of women (2013)
how much do men really do in comparison to women
2012 British Social Survey men did 8 hours of housework a week, women did 13 hours
men do 10 hours of care for family members, women did 23
60% of women felt this division of labour was unjust because they were doing more than just fair share
who does what? British Social Attitudes
women more likely to care for elderly family members, do laundry, shop for groceries - patterns same as they has been in 1994
Boultons views are supported by a number of sociologists which are
Ferri + Smith - fathers took responsibility of childcare in fewer than 4% families
Dex + Ward - although fathers have high involvement, 78% played but when it came to caring 1% fathers took responsibility
Braun + Vincent + Ball - 3/70 families father is main carer. most were background fathers = relationship over responsibility
who coined the term the triple shift
Duncombe + Marsden- emotion, labour, paid work
managing the emotions of the family
who does the responsibility of managing quality time fall to according to this sociologist
Southerton - falls to mothers
managing quality time is becoming harder, women have to work now, they are increasingly juggling the demands of work + career personal leisure time + family
what is the difference of leisure time in men and women according to this sociologist
Southerton - women’s quality time is punctuated by childcare so they multi-task they deal with the dual burden , whereas men have uninterrupted leisure time
what are the two explanations of unequal division of labour according to these sociologists
Crompton + Lyonette
-cultural / ideological explanation of inequality
division of labour is controlled by patriarchal norms + values. society expects women to do these feminine roles
material/ economic explanation of inequality
women generally earn less so its economically traditional to do more housework + childcare while men do the earning
what is a sociologists evidence for the cultural explanation of unequal division of labour
Gershuny - couples with parents who had equal relationship also go on to have equal division of labour - suggests that it is socialised in primary socialisation
Man Yee Kan - younger men do more domestic work suggests a generational shift is occurring
British Social Attitudes survey 2013 found less than 10% under 35agreed with traditional division of labour against 30% in the over 65s - reflects changes in gender role socialisation
Dunne - lesbians had more symmetrical relationship because of absence of traditional gender scripts so do not conform to norms
all evidence for the material explanation for the inequality in the division of labour
Kan - for every 10,000 a year a woman earns, a woman does 2 hours less per week
Arber + Ginn - better paid, MC able to buy commercial products that help with labour made them spend less time in labour
Ramos - where woman is the full time breadwinner and if man is unemployed he does as much domestic labour as she does
Sullivan - working full time rather than part time makes biggest difference of how much domestic work a partner does
why are women more likely to earn less than men
women, especially those with children more likely to work part - time to meet demands of family as well as work healthily
Barrett and McIntosh sat what about decision making
- men gain far more from women’s domestic labour than women gained from financial support
- financial support that husbands give comes with strings attached
- men usually make the decisions about the important stuff
what does this sociologist find about the share of resources within WC families
Kempson - amongst WC families, women denied their own needs, seldom going out, skipping meals
woman has no entitlement to share of household resources so she spends money on essentials for children
what is the two main types of control over family income according to these sociologists
Pahl + Vogler
-allowance system - men give wives allowance of which they have to budget from
- pooling - both partners have access to income + joint responsibility for expenditure
how does pooling not mean that decision making is equal according to sociologists
Pahl + Vogler when pooling controlled by husband it gives them the power in decision making
how do dual earners spread the decision making according to this sociologist
Hardill’s study on 30 dual professional couples
decisions made by man or joint decision
according to Edgell how do couples decision make
very important decisions - taken by husband alone or taken jointly with girl but male has final say
important decisions - taken jointly , and seldom by wife alone
less important decisions - by wife
what Laurie and Gershuny find out about wives with high income and decision making
by 1995 70% of couples had an equal say in decisions, if high paid were more likely to have a say`
what do feminists argue about the reason in which males are more likely to be the decision makers
the patriarchal society cultural definition of men as decision maker is deeply ingrained in men + women through gender role socialisation
what shows that pooling does not mean equality
Vogler et al found cohabiting couples do not pool their money for a sense of independence, but still make more equal decisions than married
what is a personal life perspective on money from Smart
same sex couples have different meanings to the control of money in their relationship
gay coupled attached no importance to who controlled money perfectly happy to leave it to their partner - do not see control of money as meaning equality or inequality
what is the typical pattern for pooling according to this sociologist
couples had pooling for household spendings together with their sperate accounts for sense of identity
they had a co - independence where they share but also retain control over money
why do sociologists oppose the view that domestic violence is the result of someone with psychological problems
domestic abuse is sociological not psychological
- domestic abuse is too widespread - according to Women’s Aid Federation 2014, domestic abuse accounts for 1/4 of crime
- domestic violence does not occur randomly but follows social patterns
Coleman et al women more likely to experience this abuse across all 4 types of abuse
Coleman + Osborne - two women a week are killed by a partner
Dobash + Dobash own research on domestic violence
research in Scotland based on police + court records + interview with women refuge
of women being abused e.g beaten,raped…
what did Dobash and Dobash find about violent incidents
violent incidents were set off by what husband see as challenge to his shutouts e.g wife asking why he was late to dinner
how does marriage legitimise violence against women
marriage legitimises violence against women by conferring power and authority on husbands and dependency on wives
what did the Crime Survey for england and wales find in a gender gap
7.3% of women compared to 5% men reported having experienced formative abuse
what are Walby and Allen’s findings of who is more likely to become a victim
women more like to be victims of multiple abuse and of sexual violence
what did samsara and Hindin find about women’s suffering of domestic abuse
women suffered more severe psychological effects + physical abuse
women more likely to fear their sexual partners
why is it difficult to count speedster domestic violence incidents according to this sociologist
Dar- difficult to. punt deprecate counts of domestic abuse as abuse can be continuous e.g living under constant threat or victim cannot reliably count instances
why may victims be unloading to report domestic abuse according to this sociologist
Dar - less likely to report because fhey believe it is not a matter for the police or that it’s too trivial or fear from reprisals
how many counts of assaults do women go through before reporting according to this sociologist
Yearnshire on average women suffers 35 assaults before reporting it
domestic violence is least out of violences to be reported
according to this sociologist why is there a reluctance of the police to investigate domestic abuse within couples
police + prosecutors believe that
- family is a private sphere - access should be limited
- family is good do agencies tend to ignore the darker side of the family
individuals are free agents so if women is experienced domestic abuse, she is free to leave
what goes against the fact that women are free agents and so they are free to leave as individual agents
make violence is softer paired with make economic power, abused women more likely to be financially dependent on their husbands
what are the two explanations for domestic violence
radical feminists- the patriarchal system and patriarchal ideals, cultural values + institution
matriarchal explanation - economic factor such as lack of recourses
what sociologists back the radical feminist explanation for domestic violence
Millett + Firestone - argue all societies are founded on patriarchy so men = enemy + exploiters of women
why do some radical feminists believe that widespread domestic violence in inevitable feature of patriarchy
domestic violence helps to conserve the power men have over women by controlling by fear therefore it is not psychological, it is sociological
according to radical feminist explanation for domestic violence why is there reluctancy of police investigating abuse
male domination in institutions explain why males are reluctant to investigate
why does Elliot reject the radical femisnist claim that all men benefit from domestic violence against women
Elliot - not all men are aggressive and opposed to violence - radicals ignroe this
what do radical feminists fail to explain about abuse
fail to explain why abuse happens with women against men, children and lesbian relationships
also fail to explain why different women are more susceptible to abuse e.g evidence from Office of National Statistics suggest
young women
low social class + deprived areas
long term illness
high alcohol consumption
shared + rented accommodation
according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales how much men have experienced domestic abuse by 16
18% men have experienced abuse
- fail to explain why abuse against men also happens
according to these sociologists what is domestic abuse the result of according to the materialistic explanation
domestic violence is the result of stress in family caused by social inequality
why types of inequality would increase stress and so domestic violence in the home
- worries about jobs, hosing may spill over into domestic abuse as conflicts and tempest become frayed
lack of money + time restricts people’s social circle so refuse social support if under stress
what is a positive evaluation of Wilkinson and Pickett
they both are useful in showing how social inequality produces stress that triggers violence
expansions why those in lower classes are more vulnerable to DV - unlike radical explanation
what is a negative evaluation of Wilkinson and Pickett
they do not explain why women rather than men are victims
who and what type of feminists support Wilkinson + Pickett
marxists feminist - Ansley describes women as takers of shit
DV is the product of capitalism, make workers exploited at work and so take out their frustration on their wives - helps to explain why DV is against women more than men
