COUPLES: Domestic division of labour Flashcards
Parsons
- What type of domestic division of labour does he describe
- How is this labour described
- Why does he describe the domestic division of labour this way
TYPE: Segregated conjugal roles
HOW: Expressive and instrumental roles
WHY: It is biologically determined - E.g. women naturally suited to a nurturing role
Who are the 2 critics of Parsons view and explain why they criticise him
+ 1 statistic
1) Young + Willmott - “New man”
- Men nowadays do more domestic work, and more wives are wage earners
STATISTIC: Female employment to rise from 50% in the 1970’s to 75% in 2021
2) Feminists - Ideological
- Division of labour is not natural, and it only benefits men, not all of society as Parsons claims
Bott - Keyword
- What did she say about the GDoL
- Conjugal roles
WHAT: Two types of roles - segregated roles: couples have separate roles
- joint roles: couples share tasks in the household
Young + Willmott - Keyword
- Define Symmetrical family
- Define MOP
- How are roles becoming more similar
- Who is this type of family most common among
- Who are the 3 critics of this view
MOP / Symmetrical family
Symmetrical family: Roles, although not identical are more similar
MOP: Family life improving, is becoming more equal toward joint conjugal roles
HOW: Women go to work, men do more domestic work
WHO: Young couples - they’re more geographically and socially isolated
CRITICS: Oakley, Boulton, Warde + heatherington
2) Young + Willmott
- Why has there been a rise in this new type of family (4 reasons)
1) Changes in womens position
2) Geographical mobility - more couples moving away from the communities they grew up in
3) New technology - Labour saving devices
4) Higher living standards
Oakley (criticising Young + Willmott) - Keyword
- Why does she criticise Young and Willmots view
- What did she find from her own studies
- Why does she say that the family is still unequal today
- What did she find about fathers and childcare
- Exaggeration
WHY: Men they interviewed only took part in small tasks like making breakfast once
WHAT: Men did help more, but no evidence for a symmetrical family
INEQUALITY: Because society and the family are male dominated - patriarchy = persistent inequality
CHILDCARE: Took more part like playing with them, but that only meant the rewards of childcare were taken from the wife, and they would be left with more time for domestic work now
Boulton (criticising Young + Willmott + supporting Oakley)
- What did she say
- How did she directly criticise Young and Willmott
- How do sociologists Brawn, Vincent and Ball back this up
- Responsibilities
WHAT: > 20% of husbands had a major house role
Y+M: Exaggerated mens contribution by looking at jobs involving children compared to responsibilities - mother only looked after child and was responsible for their well being
BRAWN, VINCENT + BALL: Background fathers who saw childcare help was more about their relationship than their children. Also had a provider ideology
Warde + Heatherington (criticising Young + Willmott)
- Define the keyword
- What did they say
- Give an example of this
- So, when did this sex typing diminish
- What did they find in younger generations however
- Sex typing
SEX TYPING: Stereotypical categorisation of people according to traditional conventions of what is typical of each sex
WHAT: Sex typing of domestic tasks stayed strong.
EXAMPLE: Wives were 30x more likely to be the last person to have done the washing
DIMINISH: Men only did work when females weren’t around
YOUNGER GENERATIONS: Younger men had a different attitude, unassuming thats women should do the housework and they would do a fairer share
