Topic 1 - Couples Flashcards
Who argues that there is a clear division of labour between couples?
Parsons
Husband performs an instrumental role geared towards success at work and providing financially for the family, he is the breadwinner
Wife performs an expressive role geared towards primary socialisation of the children & meeting the family’s emotional needs, she is a a stay at home wife and homemaker
Who argues the division of labour is becoming more equal?
Willmott & Young
March of progress’ view and see the family as gradually improving for all its members, becoming more equal.
Symmetrical family, the roles of the husband and wife have become more similar. Women now go out to work and contribute income towards the family
men now help with housework and childcare, couples spend their leisure time together
Who found 2 types of roles in marriage?
Bott
Separated conjugal roles – where the couple has separate roles, a male breadwinner and female homemaker. Leisure activities are separate
Joint conjugal roles – Where the couple share tasks such as housework and childcare & spend their leisure time together
Who argues that claims of symmetry are exaggerated?
Oakley
Claims are exaggerated, study of housewives found that 25% of husbands had a high participation in childcare and 15% in housework, not enough evidence to suggest symmetry
Stat that shows women & men doing their fair share of housework
British Social Attitudes survey 2023 – 63% of women report doing more than their fair share of domestic labour compared to 22% of men who reported doing more than their fair share of household tasks
Who says women are required to perform emotional work?
Hochschild
Women are often required to perform emotional work, where they are responsible for managing the emotions of family members such as handling disagreements between siblings, caring for children when they are sick, while at the same time having to exercise control over their emotions
Who says women perform a triple shift?
Duncombe & Marsden
Women perform a triple shift of house work, paid work & emotion work
Who says women carry a dual burden?
Southerton – The responsibility of scheduling and managing the family’s quality time together, usually falls on mothers. Also notes that men and women have different experiences of leisure time.
Men have blocks of uninterrupted leisure time whereas women’s leisure time is likely to be punctuated by childcare.
Women are more likely to muli-task then men. Shows that women are carrying a dual burden
Who says men gain from women’s domestic work?
Barrett & McIntosh - Men gain far more from women’s domestic work than they give back in financial support. The financial support given by husbands is often unpredictable and comes with ‘strings’ attached. Men usually make decisions about spending on important items
Who says family members do not share resources equally?
Kempson - Family members do not share resources such as money and food equally. Found that among low-income families, women denied their own needs, seldom going out and ate smaller portions of food or skipped meals altogether to make ends meet
Who found 2 types of control over family income?
Pahl & Volger - Two types of control over family income.
Allowance system: Where men give their wives and allowance to budget for the family’s needs, with the men retaining any surplus income for themselves
Pooling: Where both partners have access to income and joint responsibility for expenditure - on the increase, most common type of money management
Who studied professional couples and found what?
Edgell - Study of professional couples found that:
Very important decisions - such as those involving finance, a job change or moving house were made by the husband alone or jointly with the husband having the final say
Important decisions - Such as about children’s education or where to go on holiday were usually made jointly or by the wife alone
Less important decisions - such as choice of home décor, food purchases or children’s clothes were usually made by the wife
Who explains that all societies have been founded on patriarchy?
Millett & Firestone - Interpret findings such as those of Dobash and Dobash as evidence of patriarchy.
All societies have been founded on patriarchy, the key divisions in society are between men and women.
Men are the enemy; they are the oppressors and exploiters of women.
Family & marriage are key institutions that uphold patriarchal ideology.
Within the family, men dominate women through domestic violence or fear of it. Widespread domestic violence is an inevitable feature of patriarchal society
Stats for domestic violence
Crime Survey for England & Wales — Estimates that 1.4 million women experienced domestic violence in 2023
