3. couples(f&h) Flashcards
what are traditional gender roles?
-elizabeth bott (1971) identified two ways roles can be shared.
*joint conjugal roles- roles are shared and flexible, leisure time is shared and responsibility for decision making is shared and equal
*segregated conjugal roles- roles are segregated, with clear and distinct responsibilities in the family.
-rise of nuclear family led to joint conjugal roles.
what is Talcott Parsons view of gender roles in the family?
-wives & husbands complimented each other because their ‘natural’ gender differences were reflected in their different roles in in marriage
-womens role is expressive (provide care, love, affection)
-men have instrumental role (stressful challenge which can cause men to breakdown so womens functions is to relieve this burden
what is the march of progress view?
-since late 1950s, traditional view of gender roles has come under increasing criticism for 2 reasons:
*some sociologists argue that its factually incorrect, conjugal relationships are changing
*others argue the traditional description of the relationship is still factually accurate, but that it ought to be different
what is wilmott & youngs theory of the symmetrical family?
-march of progress view of family, a new man was arising
-family became more symmetrical, husband and wives had more joint conjugal roles
-symmetrical family was key idea believing family became more equal and democratic
-views apply to younger couples, more affluent & have become more privatised due to geographic mobility away from kinship networks
what was Gershuny’s views on changing gender roles in the family?
-trend towards equality in the family, he found that women working full time did less domestic work
-non-working wives did 83% of housework whilst working wives did 73% of housework
-longer the wife had been working, higher the chance the husband would contribute more in housework
what were Ann Oakley’s views on gender roles in the family changing?
-criticised wilmott & youngs march of progress view claiming their ideas were over exaggerated
-housewife role came from industrialisation of 19th century making the role dominant for years
-housewife role is socially constructed because women were excluded from workforce during most of industrial period
what were Wardes views on changing gender roles in the family?
-conducted studies in manchester and found that sex typing in domestic tasks still remains strong
-wives were 30x more likely to have been the last peron to do washing up
-husbands were 4x more likely to be the last person to wash car
what were ferri and Smiths view on changing gender roles in the family?
-focused on the dual burden and disregarding the new man
-women who did full time work also did housework
-on their studies of 1589 men and women aged 33 in families; 4% of fathers in families of research had main responsibility of childcare
what were Duncombe and Marsdens views on changing gender roles in the family?
-triple shift-emotional work was another job the wife had to do on top of paid work and housework, roles not becoming more equal
why are gender roles changing?
-economically active mothers
-decline in extended family networks
-weakening gender identities
-technology and living standards
-commercialisation of domestic labour
what is domestic abuse?
any incident or series of incidents of physical, psychological or sexual abuse by a current or previous partner
what are some statistics of domestic abuse?
- 1 incident of DA is reported to the police every minute
- 2 women a week are klled by a current or former partner
- for every 3 victims of DV, 2 will be women and 1 will be male
what are some issues with these DV statistics?
-not everyone reports
-not being taken seriously
-being threatened
what are some sociological explanations of DV?
-rad fems= emphasises role of patriarchal ideas, cultural values and institutions in explaining DV
-Kate Millet (1970) and Shulamith Firestone (1970)=argue all societies are founded on patriarchy. see key division in society as between men and women. men are enemy
-Dobash and Dobash=see family + marriage as key institutions in patriarchal society + main source of womens oppression
-male domination of institutions helps explain reluctance of police and courts to effectively deal with DV cases
what are some evaluations points for dv and inequality in the family?
-Faith Robertson Elliot (1996)= rejects rad fem claims that all men benefit from violence against women
-rad fems fail to explain female violence including child abuse by women & violence against male partners
-rad fems use concept of patriarchy to explain why most dv victims are women, wrongly assume all women are at risk