Couples Flashcards
Define ‘instrumental role’.
The breadwinner or provider role in the family.. Functionalists and the NR view this as the mans role.
Define ‘expressive role’.
The caring, nurturing ‘home maker’ role within the family. Functionalists and the NR argue women are biologically better suited to this role - feminists reject this.
Define ‘segregated conjugal roles’.
Where the couple have separate roles: A male breadwinner and a female homemaker. Their leisure activities also tend to be separate.
Define ‘joint conjugal roles’.
Where the couple share tasks such as housework and childcare. They spend their leisure time together also.
Define ‘symmetrical family’.
Willmott & Young
A nuclear family with equal, joint conjugal roles in which husbands participate in domestic labour as well as being bread winners and wives work as well as be the homemakers. The couple spend their leisure time at home and are more home centred.
Describe the debate of the the gender division of labour.
- Do we actually want symmetry in the gender division of labour?
↓ ↓
Yes No
↓ ↓
Feminists Functionalists: Parsons
New Right: Charles Murray - Do we have symmetry? Are we making progress towards it?
↓ ↓
Yes No
↓ ↓
Willmott & Young Liberal Feminists: Making some
progress.
Anne Oakley: No
What four reasons make the family more symmetrical?
- New technology;
- has made it easier to share responsibilities and
household chores around the house.
- has made it easier to share responsibilities and
- Women in employment;
- has meant that families have to become more equal
and symmetrical with both parents, in particular,
mothers/women in work.
- has meant that families have to become more equal
- Being geographically mobile;
- the move away from the extended family allows
families to shift away from the traditional and
stereotypical roles i the family.
- the move away from the extended family allows
- Higher standards of living;
- allows duties to be externally offloaded - paid childcare, cleaners ect. This reduces the role of women = equality.
What is the cultural/biological explanation for the division of labour?
The division of labour is determined by patriarchal norms and values that shape gender roles in our culture.
Women perform more domestic labour simply because that’s what society tells them to do and has socialised them to do.
Evidence for the cultural/biological explanation for the division of labour?
Gershuny (1994)
- Couples who’s parents had a more equal relationship were more likely to share housework equally. Social values are gradually adapting to establish new values that men should do more domestic work because women are working full time.
Future Foundation (2001) - Most younger men claim to do more housework than their fathers and most women claimed to do less housework than their mothers. --> Suggesting a generational shift in the division of labour.
The British Social Attitudes Survey (2013)
- Less than 10% of under 55s agreed with a traditional division of labour vs 30% of over 65s. –> Indicating a long term change in social norms and values.
Gillain Dunne (1999) - Lesbian couples had more symmetrical relationships as a result of the absence of traditional hetero-sexual 'gender scripts'
What is the material/economic explanation for the division of labour?
Women generally earn less than men meaning it’s economically rational for women to do more of the housework and childcare while men spend more of their time earning money.
Evidence for the material/economic explanation for the division of labour?
Kan
- For every £10,000 a woman earns per year, she does 2 hours housework less per week.
Arber and Ginn (1995) - Better paid, middle-class women were more able to buy in commercially produced products and services such as labour, ready meals, domestic help and childcare rather than having to spend time carrying out labour-intensive domestic tasks.
Xavier Ramos (2005) - When the woman is the full-time breadwinner and the man is unemployed, he does as much labour as she does.
Sullivan
- Shows that working full time rather than part-time makes the biggest difference in terms of how much domestic work each partner does.
How does inequality in the division of labour affect the division of decision making?
Where there is inequality in the division of labour there is inequality in the division of decision making.
Barrett and McIntosh (1991) note that;
- Men gain more from women’s domestic work than they give back in financial support.
- The financial support husband’s give to wive’s is often unpredictable and comes with ‘strings attached’
Kempson (1994)
- Found that among low-income families, women denied their own needs; going without, eating smaller meals, skipping meals completely to make ends meet. –> Evidence of families not diving resources equally.
How is money managed in couples?
Pahl and Vogler (1993) - identified two types of main control over family income.
- The allowance system: where men give their wives an allowance out of which they budget to meet the families needs, with the man retaining any surplus.
- Pooling: Where both partners have access to an income and joint responsibility for expenditure, for example, sharing a joint account.
Does more equality in money management result in more equality in decision making?
No, despite pooling indicating more equality in decision making, pooled income is still often controlled by husbands it often gives them more power in financial decisions.
Stephen Edgell (1980)
- Very Important Decisions - such as those involving finance, a change in job or moving house were made by the husband alone or taken jointly with the husband having the final say.
- Important Decisions - such as those about children’s education, or where the family go on holiday were either taken jointly or made by the wife alone.
Less Important Decisions - such as choice of home decor, children’s clothes or food purchases were made by the wife.
Define domestic violence.
Any incidence or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been in intimate partners or family regardless of gender or sexuality.
(According to the Home Office 2013)
