Gender Roles, Domestic Roles, and Power Relationships

what was the family a unit of before the 19th century

production

how did industrialisation affect the family as a unit of production

industrialisation led to the separation of paid work from the home, and thus the division of labour became less equal

what was equality like within the family prior to the 19th century

there was greater equality between the genders because the family was a unit of production

women were initially part of the labour force during industrialisation, but what changed this

they were gradually excluded from the workplace because of the Factory Acts, and were eventually confined to the home

what else did the Factory Acts achieve

removed children from the workforce, leading to emergence of childhood

what did men become as women became excluded from the workforce

breadwinners

what functionalist roles became established for the genders during industrialisation

the expressive and the instrumental roles

what did the confinement of women to the home ensure

female subordination and economic dependence on men

Parsons on women’s role being inside the home

women’s expressive role is their natural/ biological role based on physical traits and abilities

how do sociologists counter Parson’s idea of the housewife role

by arguing that it is socially constructed

what has the 20th century seen in terms of women working

it has seen an increase, however, the housewife role is still seen as women’s primary role - she must fulfil it alongside paid work

gender roles

patterns of behaviour that are expected of individuals of either sex

domestic labour

unpaid housework, including cooking, cleaning, and childcare

domestic division of labour

the way roles, responsibilities, and tasks within the home are divided up

which sociologist is associated with conjugal roles

Elizabeth Bott

what are segregated conjugal roles

when men and women have clearly differentiated roles in the family and lead separate social lives

what are joint conjugal roles

when roles are less clearly differentiated and responsibilities, decision making, and leisure activities are shared more

according to UCL how much more housework do women do than men

60% more housework - women do around 16 hours a week, while men do closer to 6

according to UCL in how many families studied did women do the bulk of the housework

93%

how can UCL’s study on housework be criticised

they only looked at heterosexual couples, and ignored the domestic division of labour in lgbtq+ couples, where this is more negotiated (Dunne)

what did UCL’s study on housework find about families were both partners are in full-time employment

women are 5x more likely to spend at least 20 hours a week doing household chores

what theory does UCL’s study validate

Oakley’s idea of dual burden, and Duncombe and Marsden’s idea of the triple shift because women in couples where both partners work still do more housework

according to UCL, what percentage of families studied had men doing longer hours of housework than their female partners

1%

what research method was used by the Household Panel Survey

longitudinal research (research that is completed over a long period of time)

according to Netmums, how many women believe domestic labour is divided equally

20%

according to Netmums, how many men believe domestic labour is divided equally

40%

why might research that asks men how much housework they do lack validity

because of social desirability, they may not answer honestly

why may the sample collected by Netmums not be representative

• it is relatively small (2000)

• predominantly women use the site

Parsons on gender roles within the family

• domestic division of labour is organised in such a way as to best suit the needs of society

• within this men take on the instrumental role and women the expressive role

• Parsons uses biology to justify this

what theory would agree with Parson’s functionalist view that female biology suits them to the expressive role

the new right

how would a feminist counter the idea that the women’s housewife role is socially constructed

the housewife role is socially constructed

Wilmott and Young on gender roles in the family

• joint conjugal roles have replaced segregated conjugal roles

• the family has become more symmetrical

• men are doing more housework

how did Wilmott and Young carry out their research on gender roles in the family

by carrying out structured, telephone interviews with working class, nulcear families living in Bethnal Green

how could Wilmott and Young’s sample be described

unrepresentative

what part of functionalist ideology does Wilmott and Young’s argument support

the idea of functional fit

according to Wilmott and Young, what were gender roles within the family like during the 1950s

most families had traditional segregated conjugal roles, with men as the breadwinners and women as housewives

according to Wilmott and Young, what were gender roles within the family like in the 1970s

there was a march of progress, and family life became much more egalitarian; the roles of men and women were not identical but were much more equal

according to Wilmott and Young, what are the three main characteristics of the symmetrical family

• nuclear instead of classically extended

• home-centred or privatised; leisure time is spent within the family and less time is spent socialising with people outside of the immediate nuclear family

• it is based on joint conjugal roles

what is the emergence of the ‘New Man’ (Wilmott and Young)

greater equality within the family has led to changes for men too, with men taking on more traditionally female roles, and helping with domestic labour; the new man is also in touch with his own emotional needs

what are criticisms of the idea of the new man

• men doing housework and showing emotion has still not been normalised; even if they do do it, it is still considered ‘feminine’

• this study does not account for how much housework men are doing - they may still do considerably less than women

what is Wilmott and Young’s idea of the symmetrical family as privatised similar to

the new right idea of the self-sufficient, privatised family

a study by which sociologist directly criticises Wilmott and Young’s idea of the ‘New Man’

Oakley

how does Oakley criticise Wilmott and Young

72% of men claiming to participate in domestic labour is not evidence of equality or symmetry in marriage, because it does not quantify how much housework they are doing; women still do most of the work, and have in fact acquired a dual burden

what is the dual burden

where women are burdened by both paid work and unpaid domestic labour

what was Oakley’s sample in studying housework

• 40 women

• all between the ages of 20-30

• half were working class and half were middle class

• all lived in London

• all had one child or more under the age of 5

how could Oakley’s survey be seen as unrepresentative

she only used women (however, using men too may decrease validity as they are more likely to fall under social desirability as they may feel like the survey is somewhat criticising masculinity

do Dunscombe and Marsden see conjugal roles as joint or segregated

segregated

why do Dunscombe and Marsden see conjugal roles as segregated

women are exploited by the triple shift - paid labour, housework, and emotion work

what did Dunscombe and Marsden argue women that they interviewed felt

emotionally deserted by their husbands

why might functionalists criticise Dunscombe and Marsden

they would see emotion work as a biologically inevitable part of the woman’s role (Parsons)

Gershuny on conjugal roles

conjugal roles are not yet joint but will become so in the future

why did Gershuny argue that conjugal roles are becoming joint

wives who moved from part-time work into full-time work did less domestic work and their partners began to do a bit more

what sociologists would likely agree with Gershuny

Wilmott and Young

why did Gershuny argue that conjugal roles are not yet joint

men will adapt to changes more slowly than women

what is lagged adaptation (Gershuny)

the time delay between women beginning to work full time and men contributing more to housework

how might radical feminists see lagged adaptation

it may be seen simply as patriarchal unwillingness to change

Silver and Schor on conjugal roles

conjugal roles are becoming joint/ men are doing more because of the commercialisation of the housewife role

what is the commercialisation of the housework role

the increase in domestic appliances takes away the drudgery and time-consuming parts of housework and may make it more appealing for men

what did the Future Foundations Study find about housework

60% of men claimed to do more housework than their father and 75% of women claimed to do less housework than their mother

Dunne on conjugal roles in 1997

lesbian families have joint conjugal roles unlike heterosexual families

why did Dunne find that lesbian families have joint conjugal roles

there is symmetry because household tasks are not linked to particular gender scripts

what was Dunne’s sample in studying lesbian couples

37 cohabiting lesbian couples with dependent children

what is the average split in the division of domestic labour for lesbian couples

40:60

what radical feminist ‘solution’ can Dunne’s research justify

political lesbianism

Dunne on conjugal roles in 2000

because of a lack of gender scripts, lesbian couples are able to create new ways of parenting that are linked to being economically independentw

what was Dunne’s sample in 2000

97 mothers and 23 fathers (via unstructured interviews)

Smart and Neale on marriage

marriage has become more focussed on being in a relationship in which parenting is shared

postmodernist view on conjugal roles

couples can now negotiate and ‘pick and mix’ roles

what percentage of men today claim to do at least 7 and 12 hours of housework a week

30%

what policy was introduced in 2015 that may have sought to improve conjugal roles

shared paternity and maternity leave

what was the take-up of shared maternity/ paternity leave by 2018

2%

why was the take-up of shared maternity/ paternity leave so low

• because the expressive and instrumental roles are imbedded into people’s psychology through socialisation

• paternity leave is paid less than maternity leave

• most men are primary earners due to the gender pay gap and so paternity leave cannot be afforded

how has globalisation affected the division of domestic labour

• Caribbean families are more likely to be lone parent/ matrifocal, which results in women taking on more responsibilities in domestic labour

• South Asian families are more likely to have traditional gender roles/ scripts

• globalisation/ immigration has led to an increase in families hiring personal care (such as nannies), often from poorer countries

  • these are typically women

according to the Telegraph, how many more people employ a cleaner than a decade ago

\`1 million

Brannen on housework

housework performed by children is often a neglected subject and by the age of 16 young people do contribute to the running of a household

what is the difference between genders in terms of young people’s contribution to housework

young women do more than young men

according to Brannen, what ethnic differences are there in terms of children’s contribution to housework

young Asian girls are more likely to do housework

why might middle class children be less likely to help with housework

their families can afford cleaners

in 2017, how many grandparents were taking on childcare responsibilities

5 million

what are the benefits of children spending time with grandparents

generational conflict/ age patriarchy is reduced

Edgell on power relationships

men still make the majority of decisions in relationships about things deemed more important - money, moving house etc - while decisions deemed less important are made by women

according to Edgell, why do men make the majority of decisions in relationships

they have economic power because they typically earn more than women

Pahl and Vogler on power relationships

they could be seen to be becoming more equal, because in the place of an allowance system, pooling systems are being used so that family income is shared

in 2011, what percentage of married couples claimed to consult each other on family decisions

59%

in 2011, what percentage of married women had sole control over financial decisions within their relationship

44%

Smart on family income in lesbian and gay couples

some gay and lesbian couples attach no importance to who controls the money within their relationship

Weeks on family income

Weeks notices the growth of co-independence, by which each partner manages their own finances for personal spending, but contributes to a joint pool

Dobash and Dobash on power relationships

marriage legitimises violence against women

according to Dobash and Dobash, what happens as the family becomes more geographically mobile

it is cut off from the extended family and so women experiencing domestic violence feel isolated

on average, how many times is a woman assaulted before her first call to the police

35

Donovan on power relationships

domestic violence exists in homosexual as well as heterosexual couples and is often the result of material factors in the home

which sociologist is Donovan criticising

Dunne