Couples Flashcards
What is the domestic division of labour?
The roles that men and women play in relation to housework, childcare and paid work.
What was Parsons theory?
Instrumental and expressive roles
What is an expressive role?
primary socialisation for children and caring (women)
What is instrumental role?
Success at providing finance (men)
Evaluation of Parsons theory
- Division of labour becoming blurred
- Feminists reject the idea (not natural/socially constructed )
What was Bott’s theory?
Segregated conjugal roles and Joint conjugal roles
What is Segregated conjugal roles and Joint conjugal roles ?
Segregated conjugal roles = separate roles and separate leisure time
Joint conjugal roles = couples share tasks and complete leisure together
What was Young and WIlmott’s theory?
Symmetrical family
What is a symmetrical family?
Where the roles of the partners are more similar
What are the four causes of the ‘symmetrical family’?
- changes in women’s position
- Geographical mobility
- New technology
- Higher standard of living
What was Oakley’s idea of the double burden?
as women go to work ( providing finance) but still do the domestic chores)
What was Dunscombe’s idea of the triple shift ?
Women carry out paid/unpaid and emotional work
What are the two reasonings for why women are still doing majority of the housework?
Cultural ( social expectations)
Materialist ( women earn less → so expected to contribute more within the domestic chores
What is Gurshuny’s view
Argues that with more women in work → causes this shift to more equality in sharing of domestic work within a household
Those whose parents have an equal split are likely to imitate
What is Sullivan’s study?
looked at data from 1975/87/97 and found a trend towards greater equality and less gendering of domestic roles
Barrett and Mcintosh - 3 points
1) men gain more fm women’s domestic work then what they give back in financial aid
2) financial support often comes with strings attached
3) men make the decisions about spending
Compton and Lyonett
1) cultural ideological explanation
2) materialist economic explanation
what does the cultural explanation of the domestic division of labour mean?
Domestic division of labour is determined by patriarchal norms and values shape the gender roles in our culture
Women perform more labour because society expects this