couples Flashcards
what is the domestic division of labour?
refers to the roles that men and women play in relation to housework, childcare and paid work.
Parsons theory
Traditional nuclear family roles, segregated
Parsons- functionalist model of the family clear division of labour between spouses
Husband- instrumental role-breadwinner, provides financially geared for success
Wife-expressive primary socialisation of children and carer
what does parsons argue about the divisions of labour?
is based on biological differences, with women naturally suited to the nurturing role and men the provider. he claims that the divisions of labour is beneficial to both men and women and their children and wider society.
sociologists that have criticised parsons?
- young and willmott- men are taking a greater share of domestic tasks and more wives are becoming more age earners
- feminists reject the division of labour- natural and only benefits men
Bott’s theory
bott distinguishes between two types of conjugal roles; roles within marriage: segregated conjugal role and joint conjugal role.
what does segregated conjugal roles mean?
Separate roles including leisure interest
what are joint conjugal roles?
where the couple share tasks-housework and childcare and spend their leisure time together.
young and Willmott theory?
March of progress view, trend away from segregated roles towards joint symmetrical roles- although not identical similar
what does the symmetrical family mean?
They mean one in which the roles of the husband and wives, although not identical are now much more similar.
Examples of a symmetrical family?
- women go out to work
- men now help with housework
- couples spend more leisure time together
why there a rise in the symmetrical family?
- changes in women’s position, including married women going to work.
- geographical mobility, there are more couples loving away from the communities which they grew up in.
- new technology and labour saving devices
- higher standards of living.
what are feminists opinion on the “march if progress view”
Reject the March of progress view- little has changed’ men and women are still unequal. Society still patriarchal and women occupy subordinate and dependent role within family and wider society
what does the feminist Oakley criticise about young and Willmott’s view?
Criticises young and wilmott, argues claims exaggerated, although husbands interviewed helped at least once a week- could include simply taking children for a walk/making breakfast
what evidence did Oakley find of husbands helping in the home?
Only 15% of husbands has a high level of participation in housework, and only 25% had high level of participation in childcare.
what was Boulton’s view on housework?
she found that fewer than 20%of husbands had a major role in childcare .she also agrees with Oakley by saying that young and Willmott exaggerate men’s contribution rather than the responsibilities. A father may help out with specific tasks, but it was almost always the mother who was responsible for the child’s responsibility and well being and security.
what is the march of progress view on the symmetrical family?
they argue that women going out to work is leading to a more equal division of labour at home. in the march of progress view men are becoming more involved in housework and childcare just as women are becoming more involved in paid work outside the home.
Gershuny view
argues that women working full time is leading to a more equal division of labour in the home. He found that these women did less domestic work than other women. I.e couples parents had more equal relationships likely to share housework more equally
Nuclear family (serial packet family)
Married heterosexual family who have their own biological children
Household
A person who is living alone or people who share meals and bills
Family
Monogamous married couple with children sharing a residence. Any set arrangement is considered a family
What are symmetrical families common in
Young couples- geographically and socially isolated and the more better off
What major social changes in the past century have caused a rise in the symmetrical family
- changes in women’s position
- geographical mobility
- higher standards of living
- higher standards of living
Why does Boulton support Oakley view
Boulton found that fewer than 20% of husbands had a major role in childcare
Sullivan
Found a trend towards women doing a smaller share of domestic work and men doing more
British social attitudes survey
2013 found a fall in the number of people who think it is a mans job to earn money and women’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
Duncombe and Marsden- triple shift
Argue that women have to perform a “triple shift” of housework, paid work and emotion work
What does Hoschild believes that women are required to perform
Feminist have noted that women are often required to perform emotion work, where they are responsible for managing emotions of the family
What do a number of studies suggest that women are more likely to do
Women were much more likely to do laundry, care for sick family members, shop for groceries and do cleaning and prepare meals
What do Barrett and Mclntosh note bout decision making in households
- Men gain more from women’s domestic work than give back in financial support
- financial support that husbands give to their wives is unpredictable and comes with strings attached
- men usually make the decisions about spending on items
What did kempson find about family members not sharing resources such as money and food equally
In low income families, women denied their own needs: rarely going out eating smaller portions or skipping meals.
In many households, women have no entitlement to share or household resources. As a result she is likely to see anything she spends on herself as money that should be spent on children
What two types of control do Feminists pahl and Bolger identify over family income
Allowance system: wives given an allowance to budget for family, any extra keeps for himself
Pooling: both have access to income and joint responsibility, this is on the increase and now most important
Why is there still inequality
When pooling income is controlled by men, gives him more power to make major financial decisions (pahl and Vogler)
What did Hardill find about dual-career relationships
Study of 30 dual career couples found
- Important decisions taken by man alone or jointly
- His career took priority
- Women lives are structured around mens
What did Edgell find in their study of professional couples
Husbands gave the final say about moving house/job
Important decisions such as children’s education rarely makes by women alone
Less important decisions such as home decor made by the wife
This is because men earn more
Gershuny
Some evidence of a move towards equality
High earning well laid women are more likely to have a say
What does vogler suggest about the meaning of money
Cohabitating couples are less likely to pool money, but more likely to share domestic tasks
Money had no automatic meaning and couples define it in different ways
What did smart find about same sex couples
They placed no importance to who controls the money, control control of money doesn’t define equality
Greater freedom for same sex couples to do what they want done have cultural meanings attached to money
Weeks
Co independence share household money, but retains control over some Mindy for personal spending
Domestic violence
Physical, psychological, sexual or financial violence that takes place within an intimate or family-type relationship and forms a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour. May involve partners, ex-partners , household members and other relatives
What did Dobash and Dobash find about violent incidents
Violent incidents could be set of by what a husband saw as challenge to his authority. Argue marries legitimated violence against women by conferring power and authority on husbands and dependency on wives
How do radical feminists interpret Dobash and Dobash evidence
Feminist interpret it as patriarchy. Radical feminists see family and marriage as key institutions in patriarchal society and main source of women’s oppression
Within the family men dominate women through domestic violence/threats of it
Evaluation of radical feminist explanation of domestic violence
Robertson Elliot-Reject claim all men benefit from violence against women, not all men aggressive and most opposed to domestic violence- radicals ignores this
Radicals also fail to explain female violence including, child abuse by women and violence against male partners
