Family - Gender Roles, Domestic Labour And Power Relationships

Question 1

What does the domestic division of labour refer to

Answer 1

The roles that men and women play in relation to housework,childcare and paid work

Question 2

What do functionalists generally think about domestic division of labour

Answer 2

We are moving towards egalitarian marriage (everyone is equal)

Question 3

Which sociologist distinguished between two types of domestic set up within marriage

Answer 3

Elizabeth Bott (1957)

Question 4

What did Elizabeth Bott do

Answer 4

Distinguished between two types of domestic set up with marriage

Question 5

What are the two domestic set ups within marriage

Answer 5

Segregated conjugal roles

Joint conjugal roles

Question 6

Explain Segregated conjugal roles

Answer 6

Separate and distinct roles
Women- housewife/mother majority of the domestic tasks
Men- breadwinner limited to masculine tasks such as DIY
Leisure activities are separate
Working class couples

Question 7

Explain Joint conjugal roles

Answer 7

Share tasks
Leisure time together
Middle class

Question 8

What did Talcott parsons say about domestic divisions of labour

Answer 8

There is a clear domestic division between spouses based on biological differences
Men are instrumental leaders who provide economically and are the breadwinner
Women are expressive leaders responsible for the nurturing and primary socialisation of their children

Question 9

What did young and wilmott (1973) say about domestic divisions

Answer 9

They have evolved and so have families who are mainly nuclear and not extended
Their domestic setups are symmetrical - they are not identical but are much more similar
They say that joint conjugal roles are now the norm

Question 10

Why do young and wilmott say that joint conjugal roles are now the norm

Answer 10

Women go out to work
Men help more with housework and childcare
Couples spend more leisure time together in the home

Question 11

What did young and wilmott claim about the symmetrical family

Answer 11

Home centred or privatised

Question 12

Young and wilmott did a study of families in London what did they find

Answer 12

The relationship between the spouses had evolved from segregated to joint

Question 13

After young and wilmott’s results, they said that families had evolved from segregated to joint why

Answer 13

Relocation to council estates after the demolition of inner city areas so couples were less reliant on relatives and more on each other

They became geographically mobile so couples were therefore depended on each other because they were isolated form relatives

Feminisation of the economy and the workplace has led to more working women

New technology attracted men e.g, tv and labour-saving devices which have encouraged men to do more around the home and there are higher standards of living

Question 14

What is geographically mobile mean

Answer 14

Educational success meant that couples were less likely to live in there areas they grew up in as they moved away to go to uni for example or get better paid jobs

Question 15

Who is Anne Oakley

Answer 15

Liberal feminist sociologist

Question 16

What did Oakley including statistics

Answer 16

Some evidence of husbands helping in the home but little evidence of symmetry or equality.
15% of husbands has a high level of participation in housework
25% had a high participation in childcare -only the more pleasurable aspects such as playing with children

Question 17

What is one criticism of Anne Oakley housewife study

Answer 17

It is dated but recent research suggests that these inequalities continue to exist

Question 18

Another feminist study is warde and hetherington (1993)what did they find

Answer 18

That sex-typing of domestic tasks remains strong

Question 19

What did drydens do

Answer 19

Qualitative study of 17 married professional couples found that women still had major responsibility for housework and childcare

Question 20

What did elstons do

Answer 20

Studies of parents who were both doctors clearly showed that the mother took primary responsibility for their children when they were sick

Question 21

What studies show that fathers are now doing more domestic tasks than previously

Answer 21

Lader et al (2006)
Gershuny (1994) + Sullivan (2000)
Crompton (1997)

Question 22

What did lader do

Answer 22

The time use survey of 2005 which found that 92% of women do some housework per day compared to 77% of men
They also found that the tradition sexual division was not dramatically changing the DIY and gardening were still male dominating and all the other household tasks were women dominated

Question 23

What did Gershuny and Sullivan suggest

Answer 23

A trend towards equality in the share of domestic house tasks because of the increasing number of women working full time.
Gedshunys data suggests that the longer the wife had been in paid work the more housework the husband was likely to do.

Question 24

What does Crompton(1997) argue

Answer 24

Women are earning power increasing relative to men so men do more in the home .
Earning still remain unequal at about three quarters of those of men so therefore she concluded that as King as earnings remain unequal so too will the division of labour in the home

Question 25

Explain what a dual burden is

Answer 25

The combination of women found paid work outside the home and being responsible for most of the housework and childcare In the home

Question 26

What are two studies relating to double shift/dual burden

Answer 26

British household panel survey in 2001

Ferri and smith in 1996

Question 27

What did the British household panel survey in 2001 suggest

Answer 27

That whatever the work domestic set up the women do more in the home than men so for example when both spouses work full time and even when the man is unemployed and his wife works she will do more hours in domestic labour than men

Question 28

What did ferri and smith find in 1996

Answer 28

Increased employment of women outside the home has had yet little impact on the domestic division of labour
They surveyed 1589 33 year old fathers and mothers and found that fathers took the main responsibility for childcare in fewer than 4% of all families

Question 29

What is the main assumption about unemployment and the domestic division of labour

Answer 29

Unemployed men actually resist increased involvement in housework because they interpret it as unmasculine and further threatening their role as the breadwinner

Question 30

Who looked at unemployment and the domestic division of labour and when

Answer 30

McKee and bell 1986

Ramos 2003

Question 31

What did McKee and bell find

Answer 31

That unemployed men found it degrading to do housework and to be kept to their employed wives

Question 32

What did Ramos find

Answer 32

In families where the man is not in paid work and his partner works full time, male domestic labour only just matches that of his partner

Question 33

So what do the studies by McKee and bell 1986 and Ramos 2003 indicate

Answer 33

That women are still likely to experience the double burden in that they are expected to be mainly responsible for the bulk of domestic tasks

Question 34

What did bittman and pixley suggest in 1997

Answer 34

The major cause of divorce is the inequality of the distribution of childcare are housework

Question 35

What is the major cause of divorce said by bittman and pixley

Answer 35

The major cause of divorce is the inequality of the distribution of childcare are housework

Question 36

Explain the triple shift and who argued for it

Answer 36

Duncombe and Marsden

Emotion work must be taken into account as he women take the major responsibility for this.

Question 37

Give examples of emotion work

Answer 37

Complementing other people 
Smiling at baby 
Smoothing over arguments 
Buying presents and cards 
Planning activities that others will enjoy

Question 38

What did duncombe and Marsden do to test the triple shift and what did they find

Answer 38

In depth interview with 40 couples and found that males were lacking in emotional participation which therefore increased the burden on women because they feel they need to compensate and please all parties so therefore women spent a great deal of time soothing the emotions of everyone

Question 39

What does this triple shift lead to

Answer 39

Women not having the same amount of leisure time than men as well as the neglect of women’s psychological well being which can have negative impacts physically and health wise

Question 40

Who looked at the negative impacts of the triple shift and what did he do/find

Answer 40

Bernard’s study of marriage (1982) found that the men were more satisfied with their marriage than the women many of whom expressed emotional loneliness and moreover men didn’t know how unhappy they were

Question 41

What are the four major theoretical perspectives of distribution of power and control in the family

Answer 41

Functionalists
Liberal feminists
Marxist feminists
Radical feminists

Question 42

What is a functionalist perspective on the distribution of power and control

Answer 42

That the division is biologically inevitable as women are seen as naturally caring ‘expressive’ so it is unnatural to change this divisor

Question 43

What do liberal feminists believe according to the distribution of power

Answer 43

Women have made real progress in equality in the family and particularly in education and economy
Men are adapting to this change and the future is more than likely going to bring more movements towards domestic and economic equality

Question 44

What would feminists Marxist say about domestic division of labour

Answer 44

The mother-housewife role serves the needs of capitalism in that it maintains the present workforce and reproduces future labour power
If there are inequalities in earring power persist so will inequalities in power and distribution of household tasks

Question 45

What would radical feminists say about the inequalities in power and control in families

Answer 45

They believe that the first oppression of women by men - women are an exploited class (Delphy-1984)
The mother-housewife role is therefore a role created by patriarchy and geared to the service of men and their interests

Question 46

What are four criticisms of the feminist theories on inequalities of power and control in families

Answer 46

1. They fail to explain why women’s roles vary across different cultures such as mother/housewife role is not in all cultures
2. They devalue the mother/housewife roles as a second class role which is not the case for many women as they see it as positive and meaningful as it is work for love and shows their commitment
3. Underestimate the degree of power the women enjoy,instead of housework men do women maybe more concerned about whether they show enough gratitude and as women can divorce their husbands shows they have power
4. Catherine Hakim (1996)

Question 47

How did Catherine Hakim (1996)criticise the feminist perspective on inequalities in power and control

Answer 47

That feminists underestimate women’s ability to make rational choices . It is not patriarchy for the position of women in the family. She argues that women choose to be more committed to their family and less committed to work than men are

Question 48

Decision making - explain what happens when women have children

Answer 48

Bernardes(1997) notes that children interrupts their careers and only a small minority go back to work

This therefore means that as the male continues to work and provides for the family which effects decision making patterns

True equality in terms of domestic division of labour can only occur If decision making is sheared equally

Question 49

What did Edgell’s find and when and what does this mean in decision making

Answer 49

1980
Very important : finance,change of job,moving house is taken by the husband alone or the husband having the last say
Important decisions : children’s education or where to go on holiday are taken jointly and seldom by the wife alone
Less important : home decor,food, children’s clothes are usually made by the wife

So as men earn more they are more likely to make the more important decisions

Question 50

What did Hardill et al find and when

Answer 50

1997

Middle class wives even in dual-careers consulted to their husbands in major decisions and he concluded that the men were able to demand that the interests of their wives and families should be subordinated as he is the main breadwinner

Question 51

Decision making - what did Gillian Leighton find and when

Answer 51

1992

The power to influence and make decisions changed if the man was unemployed and the working wives took over the decisions

Question 52

Decision making - what did Pahl ,Laurie and Gershuny find and when

Answer 52

1989/2000

As women earning power rises so they are likely to experience equality in decision-making

Question 53

Why may employers discriminate against women

Answer 53

Because some employers may believe that women are unreliable because of their family commitments and consequently discriminate against them
So women don’t seem to have the same access to promotion and training opportunities than men

Question 54

What does southerton say?

Answer 54

It’s the women’s role to arrange quality time together

Question 55

Why is what southerton said difficult

Answer 55

Peoples likes are becoming fragmented and de-routinised

Women have less leisure time and have to factor it with housework and childcare

24/7 culture

Increased and more flexible working hours

Men and women experience leisure differently ; men experience blocks of leisure time whey women are often punctuated by children

Question 56

Explain patriarchal ideology in in the domestic division of labour

Answer 56

Feminists highlight this and surveys indicate that many women accept primary responsibility for housework and childcare and believe their carer would be secondary to their husband and it expects some to take on jobs which are compatible with family commitments and surveys show women feel guilty for working and give it up all together as they think absence sometimes damages their children

Question 57

What does burghes find and when

Answer 57

1997

Found that the fathers were taking increasing active role in emotional development of their children

Question 58

What did beck argue and when

Answer 58

1992

In the postmodern age fathers can no longer rely on jobs to provide a sense of identity and fulfilment and increasingly look for their children to give them this

Question 59

What does warin et al say and when

Answer 59

1999

95 families in Rochdale study found that fathers, mothers and teenage children overwhelmingly subscribed to the view that the male should be the main breadwinner and mothers were expected in parenting. Increasingly children expect their fathers to support them emotionally and also provide material comforts

Question 60

What did Gray do and when

Answer 60

2006

Supports Warins view and her research shows that fair hers emphasised the need to spend quality time together with their children and they wanted more time with them and fathers found time spent as an expression of fatherhood and not domestic work

Question 61

What did Dex find

Answer 61

2003
A survey found that 30% of fathers worked more then 48 hours a week on a regular basis and found that many would like to spend more time with their children but are prevented by these working hours

Question 62

What did Gillian Dunne find and when

Answer 62

1999

Argues that traditional division of labour continues in lesbian couples because of gender scripts in her study of 37 cohabiting lesbian couples with dependent children she found that gender scripts do not operate to the same extent and there is equal importance in careers and childcare but one partner did do more paid work and so housework was unequal

Question 63

What are gender scripts

Answer 63

The social expectations or norms that set out different gender roles that hetrosexual men and women are expected to play

Question 64

What did Weeks find

Answer 64

Same-sex couples pooled and kept some for independent spending ‘co-independence’.

Question 65

What is the main point about lesbian couples and the domestic division of labour

Answer 65

The family roles were negotiated and agreed on depending on skills not patriarchy or expected gender roles