Family and Households - Couples Flashcards
What is the domestic division of labour?
The roles that men and women play in relation to housework, childcare, and paid work.
What points can be made about the domestic division of labour?
Parsons: Instrumental and expressive roles
Joint and segregated roles
Symmetrical family
Feminist view
What roles did Parsons come up with?
Instrumental
Expressive
What were Parsons’ instrumental and expressive roles?
- Instrumental role: Husband is the breadwinner, provides for the family financially.
- Expressive role: Wife is homemaker, looks after the family’s emotional needs.
What does Parsons argue about the division of labour?
- Based on biological differences, women ‘naturally’ suit the nurturing role and men being the provider.
How is Parsons’ view on the division of labour criticized?
Young and Willmott: The family is changing as women go out to work and men take a bigger responsibility with childcare.
Feminist sociologists: Reject Parsons’ view that division of labour is natural. They argue that it only benefits men.
Who came up with Joint and Segregated roles?
Bott
What are the two types of conjugal roles?
- Segregated conjugal roles: Couples have separate roles where the woman is the homemaker and the man is the breadwinner. They have separate leisure activities
- Joint conjugal roles: The couple share tasks such as childcare and cleaning. They tend to spend leisure time together.
Who came up with the idea of the symmetrical family?
Willmott and Young
What is the symmetrical family?
The roles of husbands and wives, although not identical, are now much more similar.
Where is the symmetrical family most common?
Young middle-class families
