couples

Question 1

domestic division of labour

Answer 1

the roles men and women play (housework,paid work and childcare)

Question 2

intrumental/ expressive roles

Answer 2

Parsons:
“biologically” different roles
new right and functionalist
husband has instrumental role (providers)
wife has expressive role (nurturing)

criticisms:
young and wilmott- men are helper more with domestic tasks and there are more women in the workforce
feminists- its not a natural labour division and only benefits men

Question 3

joint/segregated roles

Answer 3

Bott –>
two types of conjugal roles:
segregated = couples have separate roles (husband is the breadwinner and wife is the homemaker)
joint = couples share housework and childcare

young and wilmott –> found patterns of segregated conjugal roles in traditional working class extended families

Question 4

symmetrical family

Answer 4

young and wilmot:
march of progress view
symmetrical family= roles of husbands and wives are becoming more similar
this is more common in younger couples
it is a result of
- improved womens rights
- geographical mobility
- new technology
- higher standards of living

criticsms:
feminists reject this view as little has changed and women do most of the housework
Oakley- did her own research and found no symmetry and husbands often helped only with the positive tasks to do with childcare and not the house as a whole

Question 5

housework

Answer 5

Oakley:
- housewife is the dominant role for women
- industrial and factory work separated the workplace from the home –> lead to the separate roles, enforcing subordination and dependence on men
- the house wife role is socially constructed (against Parsons)
- she argues that improvements of paid work actually are just extensions of the housewife role (nursing, childcare, secretarial work)

Question 6

impact of paid work

Answer 6

today, 75% of married/cohabitating women are wage earners

Question 7

dual burden

Answer 7

(feminist view) women have dual burden, contribute both houswork and their wages to the family (patriarchal).

Ferri and Smith - increased employment had little impact on the housework done.

Morris - unemployed men felt a loss of masculinity and so didn’t want to take on the “female” tasks

Braun, Vincent and Ball - most fathers were “background” fathers, caring for children was mainly about pleasing their partner

Question 8

triple shift

Answer 8

Duncombe and Marsden:
women are expected to do housework, paid employment and emotion work
emotion work = (Hochschild) managing own and other people’s emotions

Question 9

commercialisation of housework

Answer 9

Silver and Schor:
the burden has been reduced through economic developments such as
- housework is commercialised (new tech and mass produced goods)
- more women work and so can afford these services
–> death of the housewife role

criticisms:
poor women cant afford these services
even if housework is reduced, it’s not necessarily shared equally

Question 10

class differences

Answer 10

arber and Ginn:
m/c women can afford childcare but the w/c cant
–> the dual burden affects the w/c only

Question 11

domestic violence

Answer 11

types:
psychological
physical
sexual
financial
emotional
- 2 women a week are murdered by their (ex)partner

Mirrlees-Black:
99% of incidents against women are committed by men

Dar:
difficult count separate domestic violence incidents as they be continous/ very frequent

cheal:
police make assumptions:
- the family is private and shouldnt be interfered with
- the family is good –> dark side is forgetten
- individuals are free agents –> forget that husbands may have economic power over women

radical feminist:
- domestic violence is inevitable feature in a patriarchal society
- agencies are reluctant as theres male domination in such institutions
- Firestone –> its the result of the patriarchy
[evaluation]:
Elliot –> rejects the idea that all men benefit from violence against women
Mirrlees-Black –> 1/7 men had been assulted

Wilkinson and Pickett:
- domestic violence is the result of stress due to sial inequality
- fewer resources, low incomes, overcrowded living leads to more stress
- reduces care and stability and increases conflict and violence
- lack of money and time limits social support availabe as their social circle is limited
[evalution]:
- useful to understand domestic violence in the context of social inequality
- doesnt explain why women are targetted more than men