Gender roles + tthe domestic division of labour Flashcards
What do Parsons and Bales (1955) say
A division of roles between men and women is a functional necessity that ensures each partner specialises in the role they’re suited to
Who performs which role according to functionalists
Women=expressive
Men=instrumental
How does Parsons suggest his roles are related to biology
Women bear children and breastfeed
What does Parsons believe socialisation does
Trains each sex to fulfil their natural role
What was a trend noted by sociologists from the 1960s onwards
The breakdown of segregated conjugal roles and a shift to more joint ones
What did Young and Wilmott arfgue came to existence in 1973
The symmetrical family
What are the three main characteristics of the symmetrical family
- Conjugal roles are joint - Paid and unpaid tasks are shared between parents
- The family is nuclear - The focus is on the husband, wife and children and ties to extended family has weakened
- The family is privatised - More activities are done alone at home rather than with other families
What did Giddens (1992) argue
Due too a transformation of intimate relationships, women have more choice which has led to a democratisation of family life
What has the democratisation of family life led to men doing
Men have become more willing to reveal their emotions and engage with women and children in an intimate way
What did Oakley ( 1974) argue
The housewife role remained the primary role for married women
Her study showed a minority of men could be classified as having a high involvement in housework
How have feminists attacked Giddens theory
They argue women still carry the responsibility for maintaining family relationships and caring for members’ emotional needs
What do radical feminists argue
The way gender roles arre organised in families reflects their patriarchal nature
What do Marxist feminists argue
By undertaking unpaid work in the family, women serve capitalism
What do feminists argue in terms of domestic abuse and the dark side of the family
- It is ignored by functionalists and the symmetrical family
- Domestic abuse is most commonly committed by men
- Families are also patriarchal in more mundane ways
What do Marxists argue
- Gender roles and relationships are shaped by the needs of capitalism
- Fulfilling personal relationships are impossible due to materialism, consumption
- The unpaid labour in the family benefits the capitalist class as much as the family, for example, by ensuring workers are fit to return to work each day
What do postmodernists argue
- All theories make sweeping generalisations about the nature of roles and relationships
- Families and relationships are much more diverse in the 21st century
- Families can’t be labelled as symmetrical or patriarchal
- Family members now create their own family practices
- Relationships vary over time and place
What have feminists suggested about work
- Work includes paid and unpaid work
- Work is gendered, due to gender roles and the pay gap
- Men undertake occasional tasks whereas women do more regular tasks
- Women are faced with a dual burden due to doing paid and unpaid work
What is the most effective way to measure unpaid tasks and why
Time budget research as men tennd to overestimate what they do and women tend to underestimate
What is Hakim’s (2010) theory
- She criticises feminists for complaining about men not doing their fair share of domestic work
- Men do more paid work than women
- When you add productive hours together they are roughly equal
