F&H: Gender Roles Flashcards
What are instrumental and expressive roles?
Instrumental - male, dominant, breadwinner
Expressive - female, caring, nurturing, domestic.
What are segregated conjugal roles?
husband + wife don’t share housework, childcare , decisions etc
what are joint conjugal roles?
husband + wife share housework, childcare, decisions etc
name the 3 studies / sociologists who researched which type of conjugal roles are most common in families.
- WILLMOTT & YOUNG
- ANN OAKLEY
- MARY BOULTON
which sociologist argues that joint conjugal roles are now most common / are becoming more common
Willmott & Young
summarise Willmott & Young’s findings
-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
which sociologist argues that segregated conjugal roles are still most common
Ann Oakley and Mary Boulton
summarise Ann Oakley’s findings
- 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
summarise Mary Boulton’s findings
- 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.
How does Oakley criticise Willmott & Young?
their questionnaire only had 1 vague question on housework
how can Oakley, and even Boulton’s work be criticised?
OUTDATED. Oakley - 1974 Boulton - 1983
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?)
-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.
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
-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.
Sociologists Crompton and Lyonette identify 2 explanations for the unequal division of labour - what are they CALLED?
1) cultural / ideological explanation of inequality
2) material / economic explanation of inequality
explain the basis of the cultural / ideological explanation of inequality
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.
explain the basis of the material / economic explanation of inequality
the fact that women generally earn less than men means it is economically rational for them to do housework + childcare.
name the 3 sociologists who give evidence for the cultural / ideological explanation of inequality
- Geshuny
- Man Yee Kan
- Dunne
name the 2 sociologists who give evidence for the material / economic explanation of inequality
-Man Yee Kan
- Arber & Ginn
what evidence does Geshuny give for the ideological explanation of unequal gender division of labour
parental role models are important - found that couples whose parents had a more equal relationship are more likely to share housework equally themselves
what evidence does Man Yee Kan give for the ideological explanation of unequal gender division of labour
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.
what evidence does Dunne give for the ideological explanation of unequal gender division of labour
found that lesbian couples had more symmetrical relationships due to the absence of traditional heterosexual ‘gender scripts’ .
what evidence do Arber & Ginn give for the economic explanation of unequal gender division of labour
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
what evidence does Man Yee Kan give for the economic explanation of unequal gender division of labour
found that for every £10,000 a year more a women earns, she does 2 hours less housework per week
what can we infer about a class divide regarding the dual burden?
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
Which sociologists looked at how finances are controlled in the family unit?
PAHL & VOGLER 1997
NAME the 2 main types of financial control that Pahl and Vogler identify
1) POOLING
2) ALLOWANCE SYSTEM
Explain pooling (Pahl & Vogler)
both partners work and have joint responsibility for spending
Explain allowance system (Pahl & Vogler)
man works, earns his wage, gives allowance to his wife. weekly / monthly
Pahl & Vogler found that which system of financial control was on the increase?
POOLING
who studied decision making in the family unit?
EDGELL 1980
explain the 3 types of decisions that are made in the family unit identified by Edgell
-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
what reason does Edgell suggest for why men dominate the decision making process
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
what is the % of domestic violence incidents committed by men against their female partners?
89% of assaults and the most physically violent incidents
Each year about ____ people are killed by a current / former partner, and ____% of them are women
150 people
80%
how often are there calls regarding domestic violence in the UK
1 every minute
