domestic division of labour Flashcards
what is the domestic division of labour?
the different roles that men and women have in the household - housework, paid work and childcare. many sociologists debate whether this is equal
what is the functionalist view on the domestic division of labour?
Parsons argues that the nuclear family segregated the roles that men and women have into the expressive and instrumental roles.
Parsons (1955)
Parsons based the instrumental and expressive roles on the biological differences between men and women. women suit the ‘nurture’ role and men the ‘provider’ role. this decision benefits men and women and the wider society
What are two criticisms of the functionalist view on the domestic division of labour?
-young and wilmott- functionalists ignore the view that the domestic division of labour is becoming more equal as women are in paid work and ‘breadwinners’
-feminists argue the divide isn’t natural, it’s there to benefit men and the patriarchy
what do feminists believe about housework?
they reject the march of progress view as women still does majority of the housework
Ann Oakley (1974)
Ann criticised Young and Wilmott for over exaggerating the symmetrical family. their interviews finding husbands helping wives once a week could be making the childs breakfast once a week- not as equal as they claim. her own study found husbands are helping more (15% housework, 25% childcare) which still doesn’t show symmetry. says men cherry pick ‘fun’ tasks and women with extra housework.
oakley interviewed 40 london housewives,
80% of the women who answered ‘yes’ to the question about monotony also reported that they felt dissatisfied with housework.
-Many women felt lonely and experienced a lack of social interaction with others
-The phrase ‘being one’s own boss’ was a valued aspect of the housewife role, quoted by nearly half of the sample
-Housework is the least liked aspect of being a housewife
-The average working week in the sample was 77 hours
-Those who had high status jobs before being a housewife were dissatisfied
Ann Oakleys dual burden
housework and childcare were still primarily the woman’s job, which mean they had a dual burden of not only paid work but work at home.
What did Bott (1957) find
segregated and joint conjugal roles
segregated conjugal roles
Segregated conjugal roles are those in which the husband and wife have a clear differentiation of tasks and a considerable number of separate interests and activities. Marriages where couples also have separate social ties and obligations tend to be less connected
joint conjugal roles
They mean that domestic responsibilities are shared relatively equally between partners. There is no clear division between “male” and “female” tasks. they spend leisure time together
functionalist perspectives of conjugal roles
functionalist- agree with segregated roles, parsons argues gender roles are allocated to the roles of each parent. biologically suited to that role. children then learn their roles
marxist perspective of conjugal roles
critical of separate conjugal roles. the separation of conjugal roles in the home creates a hierarchy which resembles the hierarchy of capitalist society. adapt to capitalist ideas
how much is domestic labour worth?
• £21,840 per year • £407.39 per week
what should an instrumental role do?
To achieve success at
work.
• To provide financial
support for family.
• ‘Breadwinner’
what should an expressive role look like?
• Expressive role
• Primary socialisation of
the children.
• Meeting the family’s
emotional needs. • ‘Home-maker’
Young and Wilmott
the symmetrical family
what is the symmetrical family?
Young and Wilmott (1973) take a march of progress view of the history of the family.
• They see the family as gradually improving, becoming more equal and democratic.
• They argue that the majority of families now are focused on joint conjugal roles.
• They argue that the family is symmetrical (although roles are not identical they are much more similar now).
what evidence is there to support the symmetrical family?
Women now go to work o Men help out with the
housework and childcare o Couples now spend their
leisure time together instead of separately.
young and wilmott argue the symmetrical family is because of…?
Changes in women’s position
• Geographical mobility – more couples living away from the communities they grew up in.
• New technology – labour saving devices • Higher standards of living
what do feminists argue about the symmetrical family?
Reject the march of progress view.
They argue that women are still unequal in the family home and do the majority of household work
what did Boulton argue?
– argues that less than 20% of husbands have major role in childcare.
Warde and Hetherington (1993)
Warde and Hetherington (1993) – argue that the sex-typing of domestic chores is still strong in society. Women were 30x more likely to be the last person to have done the washing, whilst men were 4x more likely to be the last person to wash the car.
• Men only do ‘female’ tasks when women are not there. They do acknowledge there has been a slight attitude change in younger men as they no longer assume women should do housework
