Wilmott and Young - Key Facts Flashcards
What was Wilmott and Young’s Study?
‘The Symmetrical Family.’
When did Wilmott and Young conduct their studies primarily?
The 50’s and early 70s.
What was an important concept for Wilmott and Young?
Stratified diffusion.
They argued that changes in norms and values tend to start among the wealthier in society and then others start to behave in the same way (the behaviour is “diffused” from one strata - class - to another).
How many stages did Wilmott and Young predict the family would move through in society?
Four stages.
Stage one.
Pre-industrial family.
This type of family was based in rural areas and worked agriculturally on farms. The family worked together as a unit of production and produced their own goods.
Stage two.
Early industrial family.
This family type had moved into urbanised cities and found paid employment in industries such as manufacturing. Family became a unit of consumption.
Stage three.
Symmetrical family.
This family type is the self-sufficient nuclear family which has now replaced larger kinship networks.
Joint conjugal roles have emerged here and there is a division of tasks but they are still gender based. Mums mum era.
Stage four.
Asymmetrical family.
Wilmott and Young predicted the asymmetrical family would replace the symmetrical family eventually and there would be more segregated conjugal roles for upper class families.
There has been no evidence of this found.
What do feminists think of the symmetrical family concept?
Ann Oakley claimed that Willmott and Young’s data was mistaken; therefore, the whole idea of a symmetrical family was flawed. She did her own qualitative research on how housework is shared between partners and found that women still did the majority of the housework. When men claimed that they did domestic duties, it often meant ironing their own clothes. It did not extend to other household duties.
Oakley’s argument was that instead of a symmetrical division of labour, women suffered from a ‘dual burden’ of paid jobs and domestic labour, including childcare.
What argument contradicts against the symmetrical family concept?
Ann Oakley’s dual burden concept.
