couples Flashcards
THE DOMESTIC DIVISION OF LABOUR
This refers to the way that male & female roles are divided up within the home. This includes: Housework, Childcare, Leisure Time & Paid Employment.
Elizabeth Bott (1957)
distinguished between 2 types of conjugal roles.
2 types of conjugal roles.
Joint conjugal roles- Couples share tasks such as housework and childcare and spend their leisure time together.
segregated conjugal rules-Couples have completely separate roles. Men are the breadwinners and women are the housewives. Their leisure time also tends to be separate
INSTRUMENTAL ROLE (Parsons)
The husband is geared towards success at work and being the ‘breadwinner’.
EXPRESSIVE ROLE (Parsons)
The wife is geared towards domestic tasks such as primary socialisation and meeting emotional needs.
ANN OAKLEY & INDUSTRIALISATION
Oakley argues that the creation of factories in the 19th century saw paid work and the home become separated.
Women who had once been part of the labour force were now excluded from the workplace and confined to the home. They now had sole responsibility for childcare and men were seen as the breadwinners.
WILLMOTT & YOUNG
Willmott & Young studied working-class extended families in Bethnal Green (East London) between the 1950’s and 1970’s. They found a trend away from the segregated conjugal roles
1950’s families
The 1950’s family had a clear division of labour.
Men went out to work and spent their leisure time in working men’s clubs with other men. Whilst women stayed at home looking after the children spending their leisure time with other females.
1970’s families
the 1970’s they noted a shift towards a more symmetrical family. Women go out to work (all be it part time), men do house work and both spend more leisure time together.
In 1973, Young & Willmott…
published their ideas that families are slowly becoming more equal and democratic
impact of industrialisation
Geographical Mobility: more couples living away from where they grew up.
New Technologies: ‘Labour saving devices’
Changes in women’s positions: Married women going to work
Higher Standard of Living: With working household income rises, allowing for more labour saving devices and a more attractive home
Feminism and housework
Feminists reject the ‘march of progress view’. Instead they argue that women still do most of the housework.
Feminism and housework (Oakley)
Ann Oakley (1974) criticises Wilmott and Young’s view of the symmetrical family. Oakley argues that the claims are exaggerated and that women still do the majority of the housework. The ‘help’ men give women is no more than taking the children to the park once a week or occasionally making breakfast.
Feminism and housework (Mary Boulton)
Mary Boulton (1983) discovered that fewer than 20% of husbands had a major role in childcare. Boulton also argues that Y&W exaggerate the amount men contribute to childcare. Men may assist in childcare, but ultimately it is the woman who has the overall responsibility for the child’s safety and well being.
Kevin Hetherington and Alan Warde 1993
argued that sex typing with domestic chores remains strong. Wives were 30% more likely to do the washing up then men. Men only really did household chores when their partners were not there.
GERSHUNY: The trend towards equality
Gershuny (1994) argues that there is a trend towards equality between couples and uses the increase in the paid employment of women as evidence.
Gershuny’s evidence
Gershuny found how much housework women do:
Housewives 83%
Wives working P/T 82%
Wives working F/T 73%
Couples who’s parents had a more equal relationship were more likely to share chores.
evaluation
Housework has become commercialised
Goods and services that housewives previously had to produce are now mass-produced and supplied by supermarkets, fast food outlets and so on.
Freezers, microwaves, ‘ready meals’ etc all reduce the amount of domestic labour that needs to be done!
Ferri & Smith (1996)
Out of a sample of 1,589 parent couples, less than 4% of fathers took the main responsibility for child care. (approx 64 couples out of the total sample).