P2 Families and Households - Theoretical Explanations Flashcards
What do functionalists believe?
That division of labour is biologically inevitable:
- Women are naturally seen as the expressive leader and males are naturally seen as the instrumental leader
What do liberal feminists believe?
Women have made progress in society and family roles have changed from the traditional roles.
Women now have more equality with men within the family - and also in education and the economy.
Men are adapting to the change and in the future there is likely to be in further movement towards domestic and economic equality
What do marxist feminists believe?
That we live in a capitalist society (exploitation).
The housewife role serves the needs of capitalism and benefits men:
1. Maintains present workforce
2. Reproduces future labour power
3. Women cannot compete on a level playing field for jobs / promotion if priority is childcare
4. Reinforces to children the gender roles of family through socialisation
What does Delphy (radical feminists) argue?
Women are exploited by men and the housewife role created a patriarchal society.
The patriarchal family is geared to the service of men and their interests.
What is the march of progress view?
Optimistic view - women working is leading to more equality in division of labour
What does Gershuny argue?
Full time work is leading to equal division of labour , full time working women did less domestic work than other women
What does Sullivan argue?
Data reviewed in 1975, 1987, 1997 saw a trend towards women doing smaller share of the domestic duties
What did the British Social Attitudes Survey discover?
There was a drop in the number of people who thinks its a mans job to be the breadwinner
What do personal life theorists believe?
They focus on the meaning couples give to the control of money:
- Cannot be taken for granted
What does Smart argue?
For same sex couple, Smart argues there is no importance attached to money.
What did Week discover?
Week found typical pattern, joint accounts and separate accounts - co independence (pooling money)
What is the cultural / ideological explanation?
Division of labour is determined by patriarchal norms and values that shape gender roles in our culture.
Women perform more domestic labour simply because that is what society expects them to do.
What is the material / economic explanation?
The fact that women generally earn less than men - economically rational for women to do more of the housework and childcare
What is Gershuny’s explanation of labour division?
Couples whose parents had more equal relationships are more likely to share housework equally - parental role models are important
Social values are gradually adapting to women not working full time - establishing a new norm that men should do more domestic work
How does Man Yee Kan explain labour division?
Younger men do more domestic work - most claimed to do more housework than their father.
Most women claim to do less housework than their mothers. A generational shift is occurring.
