couples

Question 1

Sullivan

Answer 1

Found a trend towards women doing a smaller share of the domestic work and men doing more

Question 2

British Social Attitudes survey (2013),

Answer 2

found a fall in the number of people who think it is the mans job to earn money and the woman’s job to look after the home and family. In 1984, 45% of men and 41% of women agreed with this view, but by 2012 only 13% of men and 12% of women agreed

• 2012 = On average men did 8 hours housework a week. Women’s did 13 hours
• Men spent 10 hours on care for family members. Women spent 23

Question 3

Boulton

Answer 3

He pointed out that although fathers my help by performing specific childcare tasks, it is usually the mother who takes responsibility for the child’s security and well-being

Question 4

Duncombe and Marsden

Answer 4

argue that women perform a “triple shift” of housework, paid work, and emotion work. Emotion work being where women are responsible for managing the emotions and feelings of family members

Question 5

Southerton (2011)

Answer 5

women also take responsibility for coordinating, scheduling and managing the family’s “quality time” together. This has become difficult because of recent social changes such the emergence of the 24/7 society and flexible working patterns. These changes have led to peoples time being more fragmented and ‘one-routinized’ Southerton also argues that men and women’s leisure time differs. Men are more likely to experience consolidated ‘blocks’ of uninterrupted leisure time, they have different experiences of it. Women carry a duel burden

Question 6

Crompton and Lyonette

Answer 6

identified two different explanations for the unequal division of labour.

Cultural/ideological explanation - Patriarchal norms and values shape gender roles in our culture. Women perform more domestic labour because society expects them to do it and socialises them to do it
The cultural explanation claims that equality can only be achieved when norms and values about gender change.

Material/economic explanation - The fact that women generally earn less than men means it is economically rational for women to do more housework and childcare while men spend more time earning money. he material explanation claims that equality can only be achieved if women join the labour force and earn the same as their partner

Question 7

Man Yee Kan (2001)

Answer 7

• Found that younger men do more domestic work. Most men claimed to do more housework than their father. This suggests a generational shift in behaviour is occurring. Supports cultural explanation

Question 8

Ramos

Answer 8

Found that where the woman is the full-time breadwinner and the man is unemployed, he does as much domestic labour as she does.

Supports economic explanation

Question 9

Dobash and Dobash

Answer 9

Research in Scotland
- Looked at Police and court records and interviews in refuges (sheltered housing)
- Found evidence of wives being abused by their husbands
- They found that violent incidents could be set off by what a husband saw a challenge to his authority (should be in charge - power)
- They concluded that marriage legitimates violence against women
- By conferring power and authority or husbands and depending on wives

Question 10

Walby and Allen 2004

Answer 10

Found that women suffered severe violence and control with more serious with more serious psychological effects. They also found that women were much more likely to than men to be fearful of there partner.

Question 11

Ansaruthindin

Answer 11

Women were much more likely to be victims of multiple incidents of abuse and of sexual violence

Question 12

Millett (1970) and Firestone (1970)

Answer 12

argue that all societies have been founded on patriarchy
- The key division in society is between and men and women
- Men are the enemy; they oppress and exploit women
- Family and marriage are the key institutions in patriarchal society and are the main source of women’s oppression
- Men dominate women within the family through domestic violence, or the threat of it
- Widespread domestic violence is an inevitable feature of patriarchal society
- Domestic violence preserves the power that all men have over all women
- Male domination of state institutions explain the reluctance of the police and courts to deal effectively with cases of domestic violence

Question 13

Elliot (1996)

Answer 13

rejects The radical feminist claim that all men benefit from violence against women. Not all men are aggressive, and most are opposed to domestic violence. Radical feminists ignore this

Question 14

Wilkinson and Pickett (2010

Answer 14

Material explanation for domestic violence
see domestic violence as the result of stress on family members caused by social inequality
- Families with fewer resources, on low incomes or living in overcrowded accommodation are likely to experience higher level of stress
- The chances of maintaining stable and caring relationships are reduced and the risk of conflict and violence is increased
- Worries about money, jobs and housing may spill over into domestic conflict
- Lack of money and time restricts peoples social circle for those under stress
- Not all people are equally in danger of suffering domestic violence. Those with less power, status, wealth, or income are often at greatest risk

Question 15

Ansley

Answer 15

Marxist feminist. Wives are the ‘takers of shit’ she argues that domestic violence is the product of capitalisim

Question 16

Barrett and Mcintosh

Answer 16

Men gain far more than women’s domestic work that they give back in financial support
- The financial support that husband give to their wives is often unpredictable and comes with strings attached
- Men usually make the decisions about spending on important items

Question 17

Kempson

Answer 17

e found that among low income families, women denied their own needs, couldn’t go out, and eating smaller portions of food or skipping meals altogether to make end meet. Woman had no entitlement to a share of household resources in her own right

Question 18

Vogler

Answer 18

even when there was pooling, men would more likely have the final decision than women (financial)

Question 19

Hardill (1997)

Answer 19

She studies 30 duel - career couples
- Men make decisions alone or do it jointly
- Men’s career takes priority

Question 20

Laurie and Gershuny

Answer 20

show some evidence of a limited move to greater equality. - 70% said they had equal say in a decision
- women who had high earnings and were well qualified said it was equal

Question 21

Smart (2007)

Answer 21

Gay men and lesbians attached no importance to who controlled the money. Or perfectly happen to leave the decision to their partner
There is greater freedom for same-sex couples. Entering relationships without the same historical, gendered baguage of a cultural meanings.

Question 22

Weeks et al

Answer 22

That the pooling system reflects a value of co-independence
- Each partner remains control over same independence and same money

Question 23

Parsons

Answer 23

Parsons had very clear views on the gendered division of domestic labour
- Male instrumental role (breadwinner) and female expressive role (homemaker - as per the 1950s housewife)
- For parsons, in the traditional nuclear family the roles of husbands and wives are segregated
- He suggested this was a natural and biological division of labour

Question 24

Elizabeth Bott (1957)

Answer 24

segregated conjugal roles: Refers to marriage where the couples have separate roles. The male is the breadwinner and the female the homemaker and carer. Their leisure activities also tend to be segregated

Joint conjugal roles: refers to marriage where the couples share tasks such as housework and childcare. Might both work. Leisure activities or time is usually spent together

Question 25

Young and Willmott

Answer 25

• March of progress, symmetrical family view

The march of progress view means that throughout history and over time, family life has evolved and improved
Conjugal roles have become joint and have moved away from being segregated, leading to what they describe as the symmetrical family
In the symmetrical family the roles of husbands and wives are not necessarily identical, nor entirely equal, but are much more similar

They evidence this in the following ways:
- More woman are now in paid work, albeit for many this is part-time and balanced with childcare responsibilities, not full-time.
- Men now help with housework and childcare
- Couples are now more likely to spend leisure time together

• Studied families in East London
• More common symetrical families -= younger couples as they were usually more financially well off and both geographically and socioally isolated

Question 26

Ann Oakley

Answer 26

suggests young and willmots evidence is wrong , and just because some some of the men they interviewed said they ‘helped’ their wives at home by making the breakfast once that week, this does not constitute symmetry