Division Of Labour Flashcards
Parsons theory of division of labour is
That there’s an instrumental and expressive role for men and women respectively and that this is functional and natural in terms of what the genders are better predisposed to do.
Wilmott and Young are responsible for the…
March of progress view
What is the march of progress view?
The theory that in relation to gender equality, times are changing gradually in the right direction.
How might feminists criticise the functionalist view on the domestic division of labour?
They would say it only benefits men in that they do not do the meanial work in the house and that women more often do more work anyway. The men gets the better arrangement
Elizabeth Bott in the 1950s posited what theory?
Joint and segregated conjugal roles
What’s the difference between joint and separate conjugal roles?
Joint: the couple share the households work as best they can across all aspects
Separated: the man and woman have accepted separate roles, and even live separate social lives around and away from one another.
The march of progress view informs the theory of the ____________ family by ________ and ________
Symmetrical.
Wilmott and Young
The theory of the symmetrical family posits that..
Family’s are becoming more equal and open to discussing or being democratic about the domestic work.
Husband and wife are more similar than ever before.
Women can and do work full time and men are expected more than ever to be present fathers.
Wilmott and Young found in their study of symmetrical families that…
The more financially secure and remote couples were, correlated with symmetry in domestic work.
It’s also been found however that the younger more affluent couples tended to be the most equal.
What about class/money could affect domestic division of labour that needs considering?
- technological access that makes tasks more convenient.
- Education encouraged as a path for women to go down more than ever.
- access to childcare.
Oakley criticises Wilmott and Young from a Liberal feminist persuasion. How?
She said most men still aren’t doing the most they could/should be doing.
For example …
. Mary Boulton found that fewer than 20% of husbands had a major role in childcare in the 1980s (so this may be outdated)
. Oakley reported that only 15% of the husbands she interviewed did a substantial amount of domestic work work could be compared to their wives
(This has likely changed though)
Gershuny argues that women…
In working more than ever full time have lead to more work at home being picked up by their male partners.
Using time studies they found that these women compared to others still did less domestic work.
The British social attitudes survey of ____ found what?
2017,
A fall in the number of people thinking that it’s the man’s job to earn the salary for the house
Only 8% agreed compared to over 43% in the 1980s
In 2012, the British social attitudes survey found what about men’s housework and their wives’ thoughts?
Only 8 hours housework average, was being done whereas women were doing 13 hours.
60% of women asked, reported that they thought the division of labour was unfair.
Braun, Vincent and Ball found what about fathers?
Only 1/70 fathers were the primary carer of the child, most of them had a
‘Provider ideology’ and thus an idea about the mother’s duty to be motherly.
Hochschild coined the term…
Triple shift
How many different angles can you think of that might the domestic division of labour be explained?
Economically: class, whether both partners work.
Patriarchy: the attitudes and idleness of men and the social training of women.
Cultural: Some cultures such as fundamentalist Islam try to control the activities of women.
Materially: job timetables and access to household conveniences do have a bearing although they must lean on other explanations.
Dunne studied Lesbian couples. The results were
They rejected heyronomative gender role scripts.
Irene Hardhill studied who?
30 dual career couples
The male partner almost always had the presiding voice on big decisions or he’d take the decision alone.
Decisions often centred around the man when considering a new job or house, an admission that them breadwinning takes priority
Pahl and the meaning of ….
Is what?
Money
The modern couple’s tendency to pool money signals less about power dynamics today than we realise.
We must consider who earns most, who can live well without the other’s finance.
Pahl and Volger
Decision making in the household is an indicator of power imbalance.
Do they pool it?
Is there an allowance system?
Whose career took priority?
In 1983, who observed that women’s lives tended to orbit around their husband’s career prospects/happenings.
Finch.
Barret and Mclintosh, as well as Liberal feminist Oakley,
Made a point about who gains most in the home.
That men gain far more from women running a household for them to return to than women gain directly from men’s wage as it often comes with…
. ‘Strings attached’
. Financial dependence
In relation to the domestic division of labour.
As late as ____, ___ found that ….
2003
Kan
That even if a husband was unemployed and the wife wasn’t, it was still very common for men to only do as much domestic work as their wife.
Emotion work and triple shift is a theory by…
Hochschild
Dex and Ward
Only 1% of fathers were the partner than cared for their child when sick.
Over 70% of them however, were compared to the mother, very involved in playing with the child.
Oakley criticises what view by who?
March of progress view
By Wilmott and Young.
What does Oakley say about housework?
What’s her study?
The march of progress view is whitewashing the continued unequal domestic division of labour. Men are still not doing enough even if women are allowed to and do work.
Oakley researched housewives and found that only 15% of husbands had a high participation in housework.
In 1983,
Bouton found what
- 20% of fathers were involved in childcare.
- Mothers were still assumed to be the better most natural carers but fathers would play with their kids most, leaving the mother with household upkeep.
Ball (yes, Braun, Vincent and Ball) noted that men have a ‘_______ ________’
Provider ideology
A naturalist perspective on who does what tasks in and out of the house and when raising a child.
What did the 2018 British social attitudes survey find about what might be called provider mentality (Braun, Vincent, and Ball)
They found only 8% of those asked, agreed it was the man’s job instead of the woman, to earn money.
indicating either a chnage in attiutde or a Hawthorne effect (social desirability boas specifically)
What did Dex and Ward find about fathers they questioned?
79% reported to be the partner that frequently played with their child.
But…
1% only, we’re the partner that nursed them when sick.
