Gender Roles, Domestic Roles, and Power Relationships

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1
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what was the family a unit of before the 19th century
production
2
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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
3
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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
4
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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
5
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what else did the Factory Acts achieve
removed children from the workforce, leading to emergence of childhood
6
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what did men become as women became excluded from the workforce
breadwinners
7
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what functionalist roles became established for the genders during industrialisation
the expressive and the instrumental roles
8
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what did the confinement of women to the home ensure
female subordination and economic dependence on men
9
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Parsons on women’s role being inside the home
women’s expressive role is their natural/ biological role based on physical traits and abilities
10
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how do sociologists counter Parson’s idea of the housewife role
by arguing that it is socially constructed
11
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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
12
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gender roles
patterns of behaviour that are expected of individuals of either sex
13
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domestic labour
unpaid housework, including cooking, cleaning, and childcare
14
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domestic division of labour
the way roles, responsibilities, and tasks within the home are divided up
15
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which sociologist is associated with conjugal roles
Elizabeth Bott
16
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what are segregated conjugal roles
when men and women have clearly differentiated roles in the family and lead separate social lives
17
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what are joint conjugal roles
when roles are less clearly differentiated and responsibilities, decision making, and leisure activities are shared more
18
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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
19
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according to UCL in how many families studied did women do the bulk of the housework
93%
20
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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)
21
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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
22
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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
23
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according to UCL, what percentage of families studied had men doing longer hours of housework than their female partners
1%
24
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what research method was used by the Household Panel Survey
longitudinal research (research that is completed over a long period of time)
25
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according to Netmums, how many women believe domestic labour is divided equally
20%
26
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according to Netmums, how many men believe domestic labour is divided equally
40%
27
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why might research that asks men how much housework they do lack validity
because of social desirability, they may not answer honestly
28
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why may the sample collected by Netmums not be representative
* it is relatively small (2000)
* predominantly women use the site
29
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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
30
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what theory would agree with Parson’s functionalist view that female biology suits them to the expressive role
the new right
31
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how would a feminist counter the idea that the women’s housewife role is socially constructed
the housewife role is socially constructed
32
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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
33
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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
34
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how could Wilmott and Young’s sample be described
unrepresentative
35
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what part of functionalist ideology does Wilmott and Young’s argument support
the idea of functional fit
36
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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
37
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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
38
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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
39
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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
40
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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
41
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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
42
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a study by which sociologist directly criticises Wilmott and Young’s idea of the ‘New Man’
Oakley
43
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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
44
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what is the dual burden
where women are burdened by both paid work and unpaid domestic labour
45
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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
46
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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
47
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do Dunscombe and Marsden see conjugal roles as joint or segregated
segregated
48
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why do Dunscombe and Marsden see conjugal roles as segregated
women are exploited by the triple shift - paid labour, housework, and emotion work
49
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what did Dunscombe and Marsden argue women that they interviewed felt
emotionally deserted by their husbands
50
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why might functionalists criticise Dunscombe and Marsden
they would see emotion work as a biologically inevitable part of the woman’s role (Parsons)
51
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Gershuny on conjugal roles
conjugal roles are not yet joint but will become so in the future
52
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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
53
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what sociologists would likely agree with Gershuny
Wilmott and Young
54
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why did Gershuny argue that conjugal roles are not yet joint
men will adapt to changes more slowly than women
55
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what is lagged adaptation (Gershuny)
the time delay between women beginning to work full time and men contributing more to housework
56
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how might radical feminists see lagged adaptation
it may be seen simply as patriarchal unwillingness to change
57
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Silver and Schor on conjugal roles
conjugal roles are becoming joint/ men are doing more because of the commercialisation of the housewife role
58
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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
59
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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
60
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Dunne on conjugal roles in 1997
lesbian families have joint conjugal roles unlike heterosexual families
61
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why did Dunne find that lesbian families have joint conjugal roles
there is symmetry because household tasks are not linked to particular gender scripts
62
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what was Dunne’s sample in studying lesbian couples
37 cohabiting lesbian couples with dependent children
63
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what is the average split in the division of domestic labour for lesbian couples
40:60
64
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what radical feminist ‘solution’ can Dunne’s research justify
political lesbianism
65
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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
66
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what was Dunne’s sample in 2000
97 mothers and 23 fathers (via unstructured interviews)
67
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Smart and Neale on marriage
marriage has become more focussed on being in a relationship in which parenting is shared
68
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postmodernist view on conjugal roles
couples can now negotiate and ‘pick and mix’ roles
69
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what percentage of men today claim to do at least 7 and 12 hours of housework a week
30%
70
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what policy was introduced in 2015 that may have sought to improve conjugal roles
shared paternity and maternity leave
71
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what was the take-up of shared maternity/ paternity leave by 2018
2%
72
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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
73
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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
74
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according to the Telegraph, how many more people employ a cleaner than a decade ago
\`1 million
75
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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
76
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what is the difference between genders in terms of young people’s contribution to housework
young women do more than young men
77
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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
78
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why might middle class children be less likely to help with housework
their families can afford cleaners
79
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in 2017, how many grandparents were taking on childcare responsibilities
5 million
80
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what are the benefits of children spending time with grandparents
generational conflict/ age patriarchy is reduced
81
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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
82
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according to Edgell, why do men make the majority of decisions in relationships
they have economic power because they typically earn more than women
83
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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
84
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in 2011, what percentage of married couples claimed to consult each other on family decisions
59%
85
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in 2011, what percentage of married women had sole control over financial decisions within their relationship
44%
86
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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
87
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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
88
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Dobash and Dobash on power relationships
marriage legitimises violence against women
89
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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
90
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on average, how many times is a woman assaulted before her first call to the police
35
91
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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
92
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which sociologist is Donovan criticising
Dunne