Topic 1: Couples Flashcards
What were couples like in the past?
In the 19” century, the Victorian family was very patriarchal
e.g. when a woman got married, anything that the woman owned became her husband’s.
The domestic division of labour:
What is the domestic division of labour?
the roles that men and women play in relation to housework, childcare and paid work.
The domestic division of labour:
What does instrumental role mean? (use sociologist)
Parsons’ (1955) The instrumental role’s purpose is to discipline and provide for family .
He makes the decisions and is the breadwinner.
The domestic division of labour:
What does expressive role mean? (use sociologist)
Parsons’ (1955) - The role of the female is to provide emotional support and child rearing. She is the home-maker.
The domestic division of labour:
Criticisms of Parson’s view of expressive and instrumental roles (use sociologist)
Young and Willmott (1962) argue that men are now taking a greater share of domestic tasks and more wives are becoming wage earners.
Feminist - Gender roles are a social construct that are used to reinforce the patriarchy - not biological.
The domestic division of labour:
What are separate conjugal roles? (use sociologist)
Bott (1957) - Segregated conjugal roles - couples have separate roles.
e.g. a male breadwinner and a female homemaker/carer.
The domestic division of labour:
What are joint conjugal roles? (use sociologist)
Bott (1957) - Joint conjugal roles - where the couple share roles e.g. both do housework and both do childcare
The domestic division of labour:
What is the definition of the symmetrical family?
A family where the roles of husbands and wives are more similar to each other.
e.g. men doing housework and looking after the kids.
The domestic division of labour:
How can the symmetrical family be seen? (use sociologist)
Young and Willmott (1973) - There has been a trend towards equal amount of domestic and manual labour between men and women.
Women now go out to work, although this may be part-time rather than full-time - Equal Pay Act 1970 has helped this.
The domestic division of labour:
How has the rise of the symmetrical nuclear family been the result of major social changes (use sociologist)
Young and Wilmott - the rise of the symmetrical nuclear family as the result of major social changes.
e.g. Changes in women’s position, including married women going out to work e.g. Equal Pay Act 1970 and Sex Discrimination Act 1975
e.g. New technology and labour saving devices - by having these labour saving devices it means that men are more likely to do housework.
The domestic division of labour:
What is the feminist view on housework? (use sociologist)
Oakley (1974) argues although men occasionally help. Men are more likely to engage in the more enjoyable aspects of childcare “cherry picking.”
Warde and Hetherington (1993) - Men only took on “female” tasks when their wives weren’t available, further reinforcing traditional gender roles. However, this is changing with young men - more equality.
Are couples becoming more equal?
What is the march of progress view of couples becoming more equal? (use sociologist)
Women working leads to more equality.
Sullivan’s (2000) more couples both working leads to an equal division of labour and that men were participating more in traditional ‘women’s’ tasks e.g. cleaning
The British Social Attitudes (2013) - found that in 1984, 45% of men and 41% of women believed that the man should be the provider whereas in 2012 only 13% of men and 12% of women agreed.
Are couples becoming more equal?
What is the feminist view that couples are becoming more equal? (use sociologist)
Feminist - Women carry a dual burden of work and childcare and housework (triple shift)
British Social Attitudes survey shows that in 2012 men on average did eight hours of housework a week, whereas women did 13 hours and men spent 10 hours on care for family members, whereas women spent 23 hours.
British Social attitudes also found that couples continue to divide household tasks along traditional gender lines e.g. , women were more likely to do the care for sick family members, do the cleaning and prepare the meals, while men were more likely to do repairs around the house.
Are couples becoming more equal?
How does who takes responsibility of the children show equality/inequality in the family (use sociologist)
Dex and Ward (2007) found that, 78% of fathers played with their 3 year olds children only 1% took the main responsibility when the child became ill.
Ball (2011) found that most fathers held a provider ideology’ that their role was as breadwinners. This was enforced by ideas in the media telling women how to be good mothers.
What is the definition of emotion work (use sociologist)
Hochschild (2013)- Emotion work is where someone is responsible for ensuring everyone is kept happy.
Feminists say that women are required to perform this role.
Are couples becoming more equal?
What is the definition of the triple shift (use sociologist)
Duncombe
(1995) argue that women have to perform a ‘triple shift’ of housework, paid work and emotion work
The triple shift refers to the situation where women are responsible for three roles: paid work, domestic chores, and emotional support to family members.
Taking responsibility for quality time:
Whose responsibility is it for taking quality time (use sociologist)
Southerton (2011) - scheduling and managing the family’s ‘quality time’ together fall on mothers.
Southerton - men are more likely to experience ‘blocks’ of uninterrupted leisure time, whereas women’s leisure time is often determined by childcare. This shows that women are carrying a dual burden of looking after the children but also themselves.
Explaining gender division of labour
Why is there an unequal division of labour - the cultural/ideological explanation of inequality (use sociologist)
Crompton and Lyonette (2008) - the reason that there is an unequal division of labour is because of culture and ideology. The division of labour is patriarchal as women’s are socialised to perform domestic tasks.
Dunne (1999) found that lesbian couples had more symmetrical relationships as there is the absence of gender roles.
Explaining gender division of labour
Why is there an unequal division of labour - the material/economic explanation of inequality (use sociologist)
Crompton and Lyonette (2008) - the reason that there is an unequal division of labour due to the economy. As women earn less than men there are more likely to do more housework. Balances it out.
Ramos (2003) found that where the woman is the full-time breadwinner and the man is unemployed, he does as much domestic labour as she does.
Conclusion on explaining the gender division in labour
Is there a gender division in labour?
Feminists argue that women still continue to carry a dual burden or triple burden - domestic tasks themselves remain gendered.
Feminists argue that patriarchal norms and values shape society’s view about domestic roles.
Resources and decision making in households
How does resources and decision making in families show inequality between men and women (use sociologist)
Barrett and Mcintosh (1991) - The financial support that husbands give to their wives is often unpredictable and comes with ‘strings’ attached.
Men usually make the decisions about spending on important items e.g. Kempson (1994) found that among w/c families, women denied their own needs and eating smaller portions of food or skipping meals in order to make ends meet.
Money management
How does money management in families show inequality between men and women (use sociologist)
Pahl and Vogler (1993) shows two main types of control over family income:
The allowance system - where men give their wives an allowance out to meet the family’s needs, with the man retaining any excess income for himself.
Pooling - where both partners have access to income art joint responsibility for spending , a join bank account. Pooling is on the increase and is now the most common money management system.
Decision making:
How can decision making show inequality between men and women (use sociologist)
When the pooled income is controlled by the husband, this tends to give men more power in major finance decisions Pahl and Vogler (2007) found that even where there was pooling, the men usually made the major financial decision making.
Geshuny (2000) found that by 1995, 70% of couples said they had an equal say in decisions however women who were high earning, well qualified professionals were more likely to have an equal say.
Decision making:
How do cultural/material explanations of decision making show inequality between men and women (use sociologist).
Feminists argue that inequalities in decision-making aren’t always the result of inequalities in earnings.
They argue that in patriarchal society, the cultural definition of men as decision-makers is deeply ingrained in both men and women and instilled through gender role socialisation.
Until this definition is challenged, decision-making is likely to
remain unequal.
Decision making:
How does the meaning of money show inequality between men and women (use sociologist)
Pooling money doesn’t always mean there is equality. We also need to know who controls the pooled money and whether each partner contributes equally e.g. if a man earns twice as much as his wife, but both put the same amount into the joint account does this show equality?
Vogler et al found that cohabiting couples were less likely to pool their money yet cohabiting couples are more likely than married couples to share domestic tasks equally.
The personal life perspective on money
What is the personal life perspective on money (use sociologist)
Smart (2007) found that some gay men and lesbians attached no importance to who controlled the money and were perfectly happy to leave this to their partners. They did not see the control of money as meaning either equality or inequality in the relationship. There are no gender norms
Weeks et al (2001) found that the typical pattern was pooling some money for household spending, together with separate accounts for personal spending. This money management system shows a value of
‘co-independence’ - where there is sharing, but where each partner retains control over some money and maintains a sense of independence.
Domestic violence:
What is the definition of domestic violence?
Home Office 2013 - Domestic violence/ abuse is. Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality.’
This can include psychological, physical, sexual, financial and emotional violence or abuse.
Domestic violence
How have sociologists challenged the view that domestic violence is rare and the cause of it is psychological issues (use sociologist)
Domestic violence does not occur randomly but follows particular social patterns such violence by men against women e.g. Coleman et al (2007) found that women were more likely to experience ‘intimate violence’ partner abuse and sexual assault and stalking.
While most victims are women the Crime Survey for England and Wales (2013) found that 7.3% of women compared with 5% of men reported having experienced
Domestic violence:
How do official statistics not show the true extent of domestic violence (use sociologist)
Victims may be unwilling to report it to the police e.g. Yearnshire (1997) found that on average a woman suffers 35 assaults before making a report. Shows how women fear of reprisals
Police and prosecutors may be investigate or prosecute those cases that are reported to them e.g. Cheal (1991), this reluctance is due to the fact that police and other state agencies are not prepared to become involved in the family that individuals are free free people so it is assumed that if a woman is experiencing abuse she is free to leave.
Domestic violence
What are explanations for domestic violence
The radical feminist explanation - this emphasises the role of patriarchal ideas cultural values and institutions.
The materialist explanation - this emphasises economic statistics
factors such as lack of resources.
Domestic violence:
What is the radical feminist explanation for domestic violence (use sociologist)
Milet (1970) and Firestone (1970) argue that all societies have been founded on patriarchy. They see the key division in society between men and women. Men are the enemy, they are the oppressors and exploiters of women.
Radical feminists see the family and marriage as the key institutions in patriarchal society and the main source of women’s oppression. Within the family, men dominate women through domestic violence or the threat of it.
For radical feminists, widespread domestic violence is an inevitable feature of patriarchal society and serves to preserve the power that all men have over all women. This helps to explain why most domestic violence is committed by men as it is a way to control women. Radical feminists give a sociological, rather than a psychological, explanation by inking patterns of domestic violence to dominant social norms about marriage.
Domestic violence:
Evaluation of the radical feminist explanation of domestic violence
Elliot (1996) rejects the radical feminist claim that all men benefit from violence against women. Not all men are aggressive and most are opposed to domestic violence. Radical feminists ignore this. Radical feminists also fail to explain female violence e.g. child abuse by women and violence against male e.g. the Crime Survey for England and Wales (2013) found that 18% of men (2.9 million) have experienced domestic violence since the age of 16.
Radical feminists use patriarchy to explain why most victims of domestic violence are women, but assume that all women are equally at risk of patriarchal violence. They fail to explain which women are most likely to be victims.
e.g. Office for National Statistics
(2014) suggests that women from some social groups face a greater risk of domestic violence e.g. young women
w/c women, poor women, long term illness or disability.
Men who suffer domestic violence are also likely to belong to these groups.
Domestic violence:
What is the materialist explanation of domestic violence (use sociologist)
Wilkinson and Pickett (2010) see domestic violence as the result of stress on family members caused by social inequality.
Inequality means that some families have fewer resources than others. Poorer families are more likely to experience higher levels of stress. This reduces their chances of maintaining stable, caring relationships and increases the risk of conflict and violence e.g. worries about money, jobs and housing may spill over into domestic conflict as tempers grow
Domestic violence:
Evaluation of the materialist explanation of domestic violence
Wilkinson and Pickett do not explain why women rather than men are the main victims.
Ansley (1972) describes wives
She argues that domestic violence is the product of capitalism, male workers are exploited at work and they take out their frustration on their wives.
This helps to explain why domestic violence is male violence against females. However it fails to explain why not all male workers commit acts of violence against women and doesn’t account for cases of female domestic violence.
