gender roles in the family

willmott and young

symmerical family -sudy from 1970s arguing that men and women are moving away fromtrad roles

parsons

men being instrumental roles e.g breadwinner and women being the expressive leaders e.g leading emotional work and nurturing. This was the situation in nuclear families following industrialisation and argued these were their natural roles.

oakley

agreed with parsons that the gender division of labour was a product of the industrial revolution but she belived women were biologically programmed to be housewives was the product of cultural values and patriarchal ideology.

-Dual burden of housework and paid work

duncscome and marsden

tripple shift

Dunne

looked at domestic division of labour in lesbain households found that symmetrical family and roles were shared and equal.

edgell

decision making in middle class families - women made ‘minor decisions’ whereas men made the major important ones.

Dobash and Dobash

study into domestic violence found that male violence against women occurred when men believed their wives were not performing their roles correctly. 1/3 of the women said it was right for men to beat women. 80% of men acted as if nothign happened after the attacks and blamed their wives.