Couples Topic 1 Flashcards
What did parsons argue?
This division of labour is based on biological differences where women are naturally suited to the nurturing role and men are suited to the provided role
This division of labour benefits men,women and society as a whole
What is parsons functionalist model of the family?
The husband has an instrumental role so is the breadwinner
The wife has an expressive role so is the full time housewife
What are two criticisms of parsons?
- Young and willmott argue men are now doing more domestic tasks and women are becoming wage earners
- feminist reject parsons view by arguing it only benefits men
What did Bott separate the two types of conjugal roles into?
Segregated conjugal roles - couples have separate roles, male is the breadwinner and female is the house wife and their leisure activities are separate
Joint conjugal roles - couples share tasks of house work and child care and spend their leisure time together
What do young and willmott argue?
Young and willmott have a ‘march of progress’ view. They argue more families are moving towards the ‘symmetrical family’ which is where roles between men and women are now more similar because women now go out to work and men help with house work and childcare
Young and willmott see the rise of the symmetrical family because of what reasons?
- changes in women’s position
- graphical mobility
- new technology and labour saving devices
- higher standards of living
What is the feminist view of housework?
Feminists reject the ‘March of progress’ view and argue that men and women are still unequal
What was oakleys view on the feminist view of housework?
Oakley criticised young and willmotts view of the symmetrical family and found only some evidence of husbands helping at home- only 15% had high level of helping with housework and 25% had high level of helping with childcare
Oakley says the housewife role has become the dominant role for married women where they are economically dependant on men
What did warde and herherington find?
Wards and herherington did research and found that sex- typing of domestic tasks were strong, for example women were 30 times more have likely to have done the washing up where as men were 4 times more likely to have washed the car
What did gershuny find?
Gershuny found that non working wives did 83% of the house work where as those working part time did 82 and those working full time did 73%
Couples who’s parents had a more equal relationship were more likely to share house work equally
Who supports gershuny?
Crompton supports gershunys view and argues that as women earn more, men do more in the home but men and women’s earnings are still unequal
What is silver and schor’s view? (Commercialisation)
There are two economic developments that reduced the amount of housework needed to be done
-housework has become ‘commercialised’ products such as freezers reduced the amount of domestic labour
-women working so they can afford to buy things
Silver and schor argue this has led to the death of the housewife role
Why are silver and schor criticised?
Critics argue pooper women can’t afford these products and even if commercialising reduced the amount of housework it doesn’t prove couples share housework equally
What is the dual burden and what evidence is there to support it?
Feminists argue women have a dual burden of paid work and housework and remains patriarchal
Ferri and smith found that employment of women didn’t have a big impact of the domestic division of labour, based on a sample if 5000 mothers and fathers, only 4% of the families had the father as the main carer
What does marsden argue in emotion work?
Women are expected to work a triple shift (housework, paid work and emotion work)
in lesbian couples and gender scripts what did dunne argue?
That the division of labour continues because of gender scripts which are expectations that set out the gender roles men and women are expected to play
What did dunne find?
She studied 37 lesbian couples and found lesbian couples are more likely to describe their relationship as equal and share housework and childcare equally
In lesbian couples and gender scripts what did weeks argue?
He argues same sex relationships create equality as the division of labour isnt based on patriarchal tradition
In resources and decision making what did Barrett and Macintosh claim?
- men gain more from women’s domestic work than they give back in financial support
- the financial support men give is often unpredictable with strings attached
In recourse and decision making what did kempson find?
Kempson found that in low income families many women ignored their own needs to make ends meet
What did Graham’s study find?
His study found over 50% of women living on benefits after separating from their husbands said that them and their child were actually better off because of benefits (more reliable source of income)
What did feminists pahl and vogler find?
They found two types of control over family income
- pooling, both parents have access to income and spending
- allowance system, men give women an allowance that they have to budget and spend the rest of the income on themselves
What did edgell’s study find in decision making?
Very important decisions - i.e finance were decided by the husband
Important decisions - I.e children’s education were usually taken jointly (man had final say)
Non important decisions - i.e food purchases were usually made by the wife
What do women’s aid federation describe domestic violence as?
Physical,sexual,psychological or financial violence in an intimate relationship
