F&H: Gender Roles

Question 1

What are instrumental and expressive roles?

Answer 1

Instrumental - male, dominant, breadwinner
Expressive - female, caring, nurturing, domestic.

Question 2

What are segregated conjugal roles?

Answer 2

husband + wife don’t share housework, childcare , decisions etc

Question 3

what are joint conjugal roles?

Answer 3

husband + wife share housework, childcare, decisions etc

Question 4

name the 3 studies / sociologists who researched which type of conjugal roles are most common in families.

Answer 4

• WILLMOTT & YOUNG
• ANN OAKLEY
• MARY BOULTON

Question 5

which sociologist argues that joint conjugal roles are now most common / are becoming more common

Answer 5

Willmott & Young

Question 6

summarise Willmott & Young’s findings

Answer 6

-most fathers/husbands do help their wives AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK with childcare or housework etc
-march of progress view - believes its becoming more symmetrical

Question 7

which sociologist argues that segregated conjugal roles are still most common

Answer 7

Ann Oakley and Mary Boulton

Question 8

summarise Ann Oakley’s findings

Answer 8

• still segregated conjugal roles with females doing majority of the domestic work
• only 15% of husbands had a high level of participation in housework
• only 25% of husbands had a high level of participation in childcare

Question 9

summarise Mary Boulton’s findings

Answer 9

• still segregated conjugal roles with females doing majority of the domestic work
• less than 20% of husbands had a major role in childcare.
• almost always the mother responsible for the child’s security + wellbeing.

Question 10

How does Oakley criticise Willmott & Young?

Answer 10

their questionnaire only had 1 vague question on housework

Question 11

how can Oakley, and even Boulton’s work be criticised?

Answer 11

OUTDATED. Oakley - 1974 Boulton - 1983

Question 12

give 1 piece of evidence for the positive impact of paid work for women (has the increase in paid work made conjugal roles more symmetrical?)

Answer 12

-Gershuny: couples whose parents had a more equal relationship are more likely to share housework equally themselves.
-Sullivan: shows that working full time rather than part time makes difference in how much domestic work each partner does
-British Social Attitudes survey: less than 10% of under 35s agreed with a traditional division of labour against 30% of 65+s.

Question 13

give 1 piece of evidence for the negative impact of paid work for women (has the increase in paid work kept conjugal roles unequal?) feminist view

Answer 13

-Dex & Ward: fathers are more likely to take part in more pleasurable childcare.1% of fathers care for their sick child
-Braun, Vincent & Ball: 3/70 families had the father as the main carer. Background fathers
-British Social Attitudes survey: its usually women doing all domestic work.

Question 14

Sociologists Crompton and Lyonette identify 2 explanations for the unequal division of labour - what are they CALLED?

Answer 14

1) cultural / ideological explanation of inequality
2) material / economic explanation of inequality

Question 15

explain the basis of the cultural / ideological explanation of inequality

Answer 15

the division of labour is determined by patriarchal norms that shape gender roles in our culture. Women perform more domestic labour because society expects them to, and they were socialised into it.

Question 16

explain the basis of the material / economic explanation of inequality

Answer 16

the fact that women generally earn less than men means it is economically rational for them to do housework + childcare.

Question 17

name the 3 sociologists who give evidence for the cultural / ideological explanation of inequality

Answer 17

• Geshuny
• Man Yee Kan
• Dunne

Question 18

name the 2 sociologists who give evidence for the material / economic explanation of inequality

Answer 18

-Man Yee Kan
- Arber & Ginn

Question 19

what evidence does Geshuny give for the ideological explanation of unequal gender division of labour

Answer 19

parental role models are important - found that couples whose parents had a more equal relationship are more likely to share housework equally themselves

Question 20

what evidence does Man Yee Kan give for the ideological explanation of unequal gender division of labour

Answer 20

generational shift in behaviour - younger men do more domestic work. most men claim to do more housework than their father, and women less than their mother.

Question 21

what evidence does Dunne give for the ideological explanation of unequal gender division of labour

Answer 21

found that lesbian couples had more symmetrical relationships due to the absence of traditional heterosexual ‘gender scripts’ .

Question 22

what evidence do Arber & Ginn give for the economic explanation of unequal gender division of labour

Answer 22

found that better paid, middle class women were more able to buy commercially produced services / products such as ready-meals, dishwashers, childcare etc to do tasks for them

Question 23

what evidence does Man Yee Kan give for the economic explanation of unequal gender division of labour

Answer 23

found that for every £10,000 a year more a women earns, she does 2 hours less housework per week

Question 24

what can we infer about a class divide regarding the dual burden?

Answer 24

the dual burden is more intensive on a working class woman rather than a middle class women that earns more. wealth can allow you to buy products like dishwashers to make domestic work easier, or childcare. BETTER EDUCATION + HIGHER EARNINGS = LESS DUAL BURDEN

Question 25

Which sociologists looked at how finances are controlled in the family unit?

Answer 25

PAHL & VOGLER 1997

Question 26

NAME the 2 main types of financial control that Pahl and Vogler identify

Answer 26

1) POOLING
2) ALLOWANCE SYSTEM

Question 27

Explain pooling (Pahl & Vogler)

Answer 27

both partners work and have joint responsibility for spending

Question 28

Explain allowance system (Pahl & Vogler)

Answer 28

man works, earns his wage, gives allowance to his wife. weekly / monthly

Question 29

Pahl & Vogler found that which system of financial control was on the increase?

Answer 29

POOLING

Question 30

who studied decision making in the family unit?

Answer 30

EDGELL 1980

Question 31

explain the 3 types of decisions that are made in the family unit identified by Edgell

Answer 31

-very important decision - such as moving house - made by the man alone or involved joint discussion with the man having the final say’
-important decision - such as which school a child should go to - usually taken jointly but never by the women alone
-less important decision - such as clothes/food purchases - usually made by the women alone

Question 32

what reason does Edgell suggest for why men dominate the decision making process

Answer 32

because men earn more - women tend to earn less + be more financially dependent on the man and so she has less say in important decisions

Question 33

what is the % of domestic violence incidents committed by men against their female partners?

Answer 33

89% of assaults and the most physically violent incidents

Question 34

Each year about ____ people are killed by a current / former partner, and ____% of them are women

Answer 34

150 people
80%

Question 35

how often are there calls regarding domestic violence in the UK

Answer 35

1 every minute