Couples Flashcards
Couples- Parsons - Domestic Division of Labour
• Traditional NF has clearly defined roles
- Instrumental –> Husband, Breadeinner
- Expressive –> Wife, Primary soc, fulfills emotional needs, homemaker
Couples - Evaluate Parsons - New Right
• NF roles are based on natural bio differences
- women are naturally nuturing, men are naturally competitive
• Provides stability for household
Couples - Evaluate Parsons - Feminists
• Allocation of roles isn’t biological, it’s socially constructed
• Reatricts female identity + desires
• Women’s financial dependency = physical + Psychological abuse
• Benefits men
Couples - Evaluate Parsons - Young + Willmott
• Men now take a greater share of domestic tasks + more wives are becoming wage earners
Couples - Bott - Domestic Division of Labour - Conjugal Roles
• 2 types if conjugal roles
- Segregated –> Seperate roles, men breadwinner + woman homemaker, seperate leisure (men spend leisure at pubs, women spend it at home)
- Joint –> Couples share tasks + housework, spend leisure together
Couples - Young + Willmott - Domestic Division of Labour - Symmetrical family
• March of progress view - more equal
• Symmetrical family –> Husband + wife roles are similar
- women go to work (part-time)
- Men help with housework
- couples spend leisure together
• Study - found symmetrical families more common amongst young + affluent couples
• Rise of symmetrical family is result of changes in women’s position, new tech, higher living standards
Couples - A Feminist view of housework
• Reject march of progress
• Little has changed - still unequal
• Inequality stems from patriarchal soc
• Women are still dependent
Couples - Oakley - Feminist view of Housework - Criticise young + Willmott
• Criticise Young + Willmotts symmetrical family
- Husbands help but no evidence towards symmetry
- only 15% have high level of participation in housework, 25% in childcare
Couples - Are couples more equal?
• More women in work –> 50% (1975), 70% (2015)
• March of Progress view –> Things are more equal over time
• Sullivan –> increase in symmetrical family
Couples - Are couples more Equal - Feminists - Braun and Duncombe + Marsden
• Women going to work hasn’t led to equality
• Women suffer dual burden (Braun) –> paid work + domestic labour
• Dex + Ward –> 1% fathers take main responsibility for sick child
• Duncombe + Marsden –> Triple Shift: paid work, domestic labour + emotional work
Couples - Explaining Division of Labour - Cultural/Ideological - Dunne + Gershuny
• Women’s roles determined by patriarchal norms
• Gershuny –> People’s who’s parents share domestic work more likely to equally divide
• Dunne –> Lesbian couples have a more equal relationship - no gender script
Couples - Explaining Gender Division - Materialist - Ramos + Sullvian
• Women tend to work part-time so have more time for housework
• Ramos –> where woman is breadwinner, men do more housework
Couples - Dark side of the Family - Official stats - Coleman + Osborne
• March 2023 -
- Estimated victims: 2,124,000
- Recorded: 889,918
- Suspect charged: 47,361
• Coleman + Osborne - 2 women a week killed by partner
Couples - Dark Side - Problems with Offical Stats - Yearnshire, Cheal and Millet + Firestone
• Yearnshire –> Under reporting - takes 35 assaults before reported
• Cheal –> Under reporting - Family considered private- assume victims free to leave
• Millet + Firestone –> State dominated by men - explains reluctance to prosecute
Couples - Dark Side - Evaluation - Elliot
• Elliot –> not all men are aggressive, most oppose DV
- Radical Feminists fail to explain female violence against men (4.2% 2019)
