Gender Roles Flashcards
What are conjugal roles?
Roles divided within a marriage or a cohabiting couple
What are separated conjugal roles?
Separate/different/unequal roles divided within a marriage or cohabiting couple
What are joint conjugal roles?
Roles that are shared/equal/similar within a marriage or cohabiting couple
What is domestic division of labour?
How housework is divided in a couple
What is meant by the instrumental role?
A functionalist perspective
The role the male takes on in the family to be the breadwinner and the decision maker
What is meant by the expressive role?
The role the wife takes on in the family of primary socialisation, home maker and meeting families emotional needs
What does parsons believe about gender roles?
Gender roles have NOT changed
The nuclear family is a positive idea
- clear division of labour based on biological differences
- women naturally nurture (expressive)
- men naturally provide (instrumental)
- beneficial for family and wider society
What do young and wilmott believe about gender roles?
Gender roles HAVE changed
- march of progress view
- symmetrical family
Supported by Somerville and her belief in principled pragmatism
What is the march of progress view?
Young and wilmott believe that family life has become more equal
There has been an move from segregated to joint conjugal roles
What is a symmetrical family?
Young and willmott
Roles are not identical but much more similar
Couples spend leisure time together
Men are more involved in childcare
Why is the family more symmetrical according to young and willmott?
Changes in women’s positions
New technology/ labour saving devices
Couples live away from community so there is a closer bond with spouse
What do Pahl and vogler believe about gender roles?
Gender roles HAVE become more equal
This is because we have moved away from an allowance system to a pooling system with money management
Critique of young and willmott views on gender roles
Triple shift- duncombe and marsden
Dual burden- Oakley
Critique of Pahl and Voglers views on gender roles
men still make major financial decisions even with joint accounts
- pooling doesnt mean equality
Radical feminist
- there should be political lesbianism as there is no equality
What is a money pooling system?
When both partners have access to income
E.g. joint bank accounts
What does Oakley believe about gender roles?
Gender roles have NOT changed
Oakleys research (semi-structured interviews) found that only 15% of husbands had high level of participation in housework
Men were more likely to help with ‘fun’ childcare
Dual burden
What is meant by Dual Burden?
When women do paid work and domestic work and end up doing more
Critique of Oakleys view on gender roles
In the semi structured interviews women might lie to make their partner seem better or worse so the data might not be valid in this instance
Young and wilmott symmetrical families
What do duncombe and marsden believe about gender roles?
Gender roles have NOT improved
Women now complete the triple shift
What is meant by the triple shift?
Women complete domestic labour, paid labour and emotional labour
Critique of Duncombe and Marsdens views on gender roles
Young and willmott
Symmetrical family
What does miller believe about gender roles?
Gender roles have NOT improved
- once paternity leave was over men fell back into gender
- men try to help but because of cultural understanding of masculinity its difficult to be equal
What is Dobash and Dobashs explanation for Domestic violence and Abuse?
- studied police and court records and held interviews with women
- most domestic violence is a result of challenges to male power
- violent incidents set off by what husband sees as a challenge to authority
-marriage legitimates violence- power sits with man
Walklates explanation for Domestic Violence and Abuse
- cause of DV&A is found in patriarchal nature of society
- men having to live up to ‘stereotypes of masculinity’
- male violence is one way of ‘doing gender’- helps to maintain control
Radical Feminist explanations for Domestic violence and Abuse
- widespread DV&A is an inevitable feature of patriarchal society
- men dominate society through DV or threat of it
- family and marriage are key institutions of patriarchal oppression
- male domination of the state= reluctance of CJS to deal with it
- this is why perpetrators are more likely to be men
Cultural explanation for inequalities within the home
Crompton and Lyorette
Ideological- what society thinks of as the ‘norm’
- stereotypes of the male/female roles
- ideas around masculinity and femininity
Evidence of the cultural explanation for inequalities within the home
- couples whose parents had a more equal relationship are more likely to share housework
- Younger men do more housework suggesting generational march of progress
Material explanation for inequalities within the home
Economic- women earn less than men
- in capitalist society money- status and worth
Gilligian
- Much violence results form feelings of shame around poverty (material deprivation)
- in capitalist culture, money=selfworth
- amongst working class men and men of ethnic minorities- can lead to violence against partners
Evidence of the Material explanation for inequalities within the home
- for every £10,000 a year a woman earns she does 2x less housework per weeks
- women do less housework when full time in paid work
