Parsons conjugal roles

What are conjugal roles?

Used to describe the roles of husband and a wife in a household- modern society, the term would extent to other forms of partnership too

What have a number of sociologists suggests about the roles of men and women in the family?

They have different roles within the family

Who said that men and women would have different roles?

Parsons, men-instrumental, women-expressive

What is the instrumental role?

The breadwinner, head of household, in charge of discipline

What is the expressive role?

Taking the lead in emotional support, nurturing, caring, domestic duties (childcare and housework)

What did Parsons argue about the roles in nuclear families?

That the instrumental and expressive roles were the way of life for men and women bc they are naturally suited to these roles

What idea from Parsons did Ann Oakley agree with?

The gender division of labour was a product of the Industrial Revolution (men going to work in factories and women being barred from industrial work)

What opinion did Oakley have that differered from Parsons?

Believed that the idea that women were biologically programmed to be housewives was deeply embedded cultural values, or patriarchal ideology, built up through social construction of the housewife role