Domestic Division of Labour Flashcards
What is the domestic division of labour?
The role that men and women play in relation to housework, childcare and paid work- gender differences
What are domestic roles?
Who does the housework and looks after the children
What is power within relationships?
Who controls the money, who makes the decisions and who commits domestic violence
What is the instrumental role?
The mans role, the provider by going out to work and bringing in the money
What is the expressive role?
The woman’s caregiving role by looking after the children and doing the housework
What are segregated conjugal roles?
When men and women perform separate roles where the man will work and woman will stay at home and perform the housewife role
What are joint conjugal roles?
The partners will share their roles by sharing their responsibilities and performing household tasks equally
What does Both say about roles?
Traditional segregated conjugal roles and joint conjugal roles explained
What does Parsons believe about the domestic roles?
The roles are determined by biology and benefit both partners
Instrumental- achieve success to provide
Expressive- Primary socialisation and meeting the needs of the family
What is a criticism of roles?
Willmott and Young- Men taking on more domestic tasks and women in paid work
What are the 4 views of the family being more symmetrical?
Willmott and Young
Sullivan
British social attitudes
Future foundation
What are the 5 views of the family not becoming more symmetrical?
Oakley
Dex and Ward
Hohschild
Southerton
Parsons
What did Willmott and Young find in their study about the symmetrical family?
Men were breadwinners and spent leisure time with their workmates in the pub
Women were caregivers and had sole responsibility for housework and childcare and spent leisure time with female relatives
What do Willmott and Young say the symmetrical family involves?
The husband and the wife mirror each other
-Both partners in paid work
-Both have a role in domestic work and childcare
-Leisure time spent together rather than with workmates
What is a criticism of Willmott and Youngs study?
Oakley- rejects march of progress view
Who are more likely to have more symmetrical families?
Younger couples
What 4 reasons are there for young couples being more likely to have symmetrical families?
Changes in positions of women
Geographical mobility
New technology
Higher living standards
What did Sullivan find about the symmetrical family?
There was an increase in the number of couples with an equal division of labour and more men were performing traditional ‘women tasks’
What did the British Social Attitudes survey find about the symmetrical family?
There was a fall in the number of people who think its a mans job to earn money and the woman job to look after the home and family
Eg. ‘Who does laundry’ 1994=1% man, 2012=6%
What is a criticism of the British Social Attitudes Survey?
Feminists- views may have changed but there was little sign of the ‘new man’ as couples continue to divide household tasks along traditional gender lines
What did Future Foundations find about the symmetrical family?
Generational shift
60% of men claimed to do more housework than their father
75% of women claimed to do less than her mother
What does Oakley say about the symmetrical family?
The father role was seen as ‘taking an interest’ and engaged in the more pleasurable aspects if caring for children (‘taking them off their hands’)
Women lost pleasurable time with children and spent spare time on housework
What do Dex and Ward say about the symmetrical family?
Almost always the mother who was responsible for a Childs security and well being and fathers had high levels of involvement with their 3 year olds but not when it care for caring for their sick children
What does Hochschild say about the symmetrical family?
Women were required to perform emotion work meaning they manage the feelings of others and themselves Eg. arguments
What do Duncombe and Marsden say about the symmetrical family?
Men are performing a triple shift of paid work, housework and emotion work
What does Southerton say about the symmetrical family?
Flexible working patterns means that time is de-routinised meaning that quality time is difficult for women to achieve leisure time and have to have a dual burden and multitask
What is the cultural explanation for for the gender division of labour?
Ideological view of inequality that the division of labour is determined by patriarchal norms and values that shapes gender roles and socialises women into these roles