couples Flashcards
(47 cards)
define household
1 or more people living together. can be family or friends
define domestic division of labour
domestic division of labour = the roles that w + m play in relation to housework, child care or paid work
define reconstituted
a family consisting of children from previous relationships (step family)
outline Parsons (Fu) view on the male and female roles
- husband has the instrumental role (breadwinner)
- wife has the expressive role (house worker, child carer)
what is Parsons explanation for his roles
- its based on biological differences, as women are naturally suited to the nurturing role and men to that of a provider
- the DoL is beneficial to both men and women and wider society
what are AO3 evaluations for Parsons view
- Young + Wilmott: men now take a greater share of domestic tasks + more women are in paid work
- Feminists: the DoL is not natural and only benefits men
outline Bott’s (Fu) view on the male and female roles
- segregated conjugal roles = the couple has separate roles. men are the breadwinners, women are the home makers. leisure time is separate
- joint conjugal roles = the couple shares tasks (housework, childcare). spends leisure time together
outline Young + Wilmott’s study of 1950 w/c families
- in their study of w/c families in 1950 East London, men were the breadwinners and played little part home life and spent leisure time with colleagues
- women were full time housewives and had limited leisure time with female kin
what is Young and Wilmott’s (Fu) view on the family
- they take a March of Progress view
- the family is more symmetrical (husbands + wives roles are now more similar)
- family life is improving for all parties, becoming more equal and democratic
what are Young + Willmott’s (Fu) explanations of the symmetrical family
- the roles are becoming more equal + there are more symmetrical families due to social changes like;
- changes in w’s positions; in paid work, although part time rather than full time
- geographical mobility; more couples living away from where they grew up, less etx failure to help, breaks trad influence
- new tech; (e.g. washing machine) allows for easier childcare/ housework in which m can take on
what is the feminist view of housework
- they reject the March of Progress view and say that little has changed
- m + w remain unequal with women still doing most housework
- this inequality stems from the patriarchal society
what does Oakley (Fem) say about men and women’s roles in the family
- criticises Young and Wilmott by saying that little has changed; family is still unequal
- women still do most of the housework and childcare
- men are still the primary breadwinners
what is Oakley’s (feminist) explanation + stats for the family roles
- the family and society are male dominated/ patriarchal
- 15% of men take an active role in housework
- 25% of men take an active role in childcare, but more so of the ‘fun’ parts
what does Boulton (feminist) say about families becoming more equal
- men are starting to contribute more, but not much; she found less than 20% of husbands had a major role in childcare
- Y + W exaggerate men’s contribution by looking at the tasks involved in childcare rather than the responsibilities
what does Warde + Hetherington say about household tasks
- sex typing of domestic tasks remains prevalent, e.g. w were 30x more likely to be the last person to have done the washing
- m only carry out ‘female’ tasks when their partners weren’t around to do them
- however, there was a slight change in attitude among younger men
state the 2 sides to the debate of the impact of women in paid work
1) March of Progress: w in paid work leads to a more equal share of domestic tasks/ childcare
2) Feminist: w now have to carry a dual burden of paid and domestic work
what is the MoP view on the impact of w in paid work
- it leads to a more equal division of labour - men become more involved in housework + childcare whilst w become more involved in paid work
what is the Feminist view on the impact of w in paid work
- w going into paid work hasnt led to a more equal division of labour, but a ‘dual burden’
- there is little evidence of the ‘new man’ who does an equal share of domestic tasks
- overall, women do 2x as much domestic tasks as men
- British Social Attitudes survey: 60% of women felt this division of labour as unjust
define dual burden
when women do both paid (employment) and unpaid work (housework, childcare)
are w/c or u/c women more likely to have a dual burden
- w/c women; as u/c women can afford dishwashers, childcare services, cleaners, which can alleviate the burden of childcare and housework
outline Feminist Hochschild’s concept of emotional work
- Hochschild: w are often required to perform the emotional work, where they’re responsible for managing the emotions of family members
what did Duncombe + Marsden (1995) say the triple shift was
- emotional work = caring for other family members emotionally (e.g. delegating sibling arguments)
- housework = unpaid work in the home
- paid work = paid employment
outline the responsibility of quality time
- Southerton: mothers are often held with the responsibility of organising the family’s quality time
what did Crompton + Lyonette (2008) say about the gender division of labour
there are 2 explanations for an unequal division of labour:
- cultural/ ideological explanation: unequal roles are caused by patriarchal norms, values and socialisation
- material/ economic explanation: women perform more domestic roles, as generally, men earn more money + are more busy due to paid work