couples Flashcards
(24 cards)
household
a person living alone or a group of people living together may or maynot be related to each other
nuclear family
a monogamous marriage between man and a woman with a child or children sharing a residence
parsons’ instruments role
husband is geared towards succussing at work to provide for the family financially, the breadwinner
parsons’ expressive role
the wife has the role of the homemaker, focuses on the primary socialisation of the children and meeting the family’s emotional needs
parsons’ biological difference
women are ‘naturally suited’ to the nurturing role and men to that of the provider, the division is beneficial to women, men, children, wider society
what two criticisms have been made of parsons?
Michael Young and Peter Willmott argue men are now taking a greater share of domestic tasks and more wives are becoming wage owners
do feminist sociology reject parsons’ view?
yes, they do not believe divisions are natural and only benefit men
segregated conjugal roles
couples have separate roles, a male breadwinner and female homemaker, leisure activities are also separate
joint conjugal roles
couple share tasks such as homework and childcare and spend their leisure time together
stage one the pre-industrial family
unit of economic production, no separation between work and home, live with or close to other family members
stage two the early industrial family
work and home seperated, women domestic, men work, women rely on other female relations support, female relations bonded, men excluded
stage three the symmetrical family
unit of consumption, less gender segregated roles in employment and domestic chores, smaller, children are dependants not financial assets, joint conjugal roles, more time together
stage four the asymmetrical family
willmott and young predicted husband and wife would spend more time apart, especially rich business men, stratified diffusion - changes in family life among the higher class which others would adapt
why is stage three the most important?
we can see it becoming more common and see its evolution over time
Why are families engaging in joint conjugal roles more?
- changes in women’s positions, married women going to work
- geographical mobility, more couples moving away from where they grew up
- new technology and labour saving devices
- higher standards of living
ann oakley
criticises young and willmott’s view, believes the families not symmetrical and argues that their claims are exaggerated
what did oakley find in her own research?
only 15% of husbands had high participation in housework, 25% in childcare, more likely to spend time playing with their children to ‘take them of her hands’ leaving the mother with more time for house work and she loses the rewards of childcare
mary boulton (1983)
found less that 20% of husbands had a major role in childcare, argues Young and Wilmott exaggerate men’s contribution by looking at tasks rather than responsibilities in childcare, mother is always responsible for child’s security and well-being
Alex Warde and Kevin Hetherington (1993)
sex-tying of domestic tasks remained strong, women 30x more likely to last wash dishes, men 4x more likely to last fix car, men only carry out tasks when female partner is not there, found slight change men no longer assumed women should do housework
march of progress view (MoP)
optimistic view, argue women working is leading to a more equal division of labour at home, men are becoming more involved in housework and childcare
jonathan gershuny (1994) MoP
argues that woman working full time is leading to more equal division of labour in the home, using time studies he found these women did less domestic work that other women
oriel sullivan (2000) MoP
analysis of nationally representative data collected in 75’ 87’ and 97’ found a trend towards women doing a smaller share of domestic work and men doing more
british social attitudes survey (2013)
found a fall in the number of people who think its a mans job to earn money and a womens job to look after the family
