COUPLES

BY THE END OF THE TOPIC YOU SHOULD:- Know about gender roles and the

domestic division of labour Know about power relationships

between couples including decision making, control of resources and domestic violence

Be able to analyse how far these roles and relationships have changed over time

Be able to evaluate different Sociological views on couples, roles and relationships.

BY THE END OF THIS SESSION YOU WILL BE ABLE TO:- Define the meaning of ‘domestic

division of labour’ Identify the different roles men and

women take on within the household Outline how these roles have changed

since industrialisation Apply your knowledge of sociological

perspectives to the understanding of roles and relationships between couples

DOMESTIC DIVISION OF LABOUR Refers to the roles that men and women

play in relation to housework.

ACTIVITY 1 In 2 minutes list as many roles and jobs

as you can that are fulfilled by couples within a family

tammy wynette stand by your man - YouTube

HOW HAS THE DOMESTIC DIVISION OF LABOUR CHANGED OVER TIME?

Agriculture (pre industrialisation)

Industrialisation and the development of the

nuclear family

Postmodern urban society

Men Women

Activity 2: Using the diagram record your ideas of how the roles you identified have changed over time

SO… WHAT DO THE PERSPECTIVES ARGUE ABOUT GENDER ROLES? Functionalist Sociologist Parsons (1955)

that in the traditional Nuclear family roles are segregated.

Activity 3 – What are the separate roles that each spouse will play? Husband

Instrumental Role

Wife

Expressive Role

WorkingBeing the breadwinnerAchieving successProviding money for the family

Primary SocialisationMeeting emotional needsHousewife

FUNCTIONALISTS ARGUE… Women are naturally more caring and

nurturing and are therefore suited to these roles

Why are women more suited to these roles?

Record examples in your booklet.

HOWEVER…. OTHER SOCIOLOGISTS DISAGREE In your activities so far, you have

described the functionalist view of gender roles (AO1)

Activity 4 Now using your own knowledge come

up with 3 examples of the reasons why other sociologists may disagree (AO2)

JOINT AND SEGREGATED CONJUGAL ROLES Bott (1957) distinguishes between 2

types of conjugal roles within a marriage:

1. Segregated Conjugal Roles or an Asymmetrical Family – The couple have separate roles as in Parson’s view

2. Joint Conjugal Roles – The couple share tasks such as childcare and spend their leisure time together

SYMMETRICAL FAMILIES MOP Sociologists Wilmott and Young

claim the family has been through several stages

Pre Industrial

Early Industrial

Symmetrical Nuclear Family

SYMMETRICAL FAMILIES The roles of husbands and wives are not

identical but now similar

Activity 5

Can you think of some examples?

Why do you think this type of family is more common amongst the young and better off?

GERSHUNY (1994) Found that wives who worked full time did less domestic

tasks.

Wives who did not go to work did 83% of the housework and wives who worked part time did 82%

Wives who worked full time did 73% of the housework, the longer the wife had been in paid work the more likely the husband was to help out.

Gershuny explains this trend towards greater equality in terms of a gradual change in social values.

How do you think social values have changed overtime?

 

SO WHAT’S THE FEMINIST TAKE ON ALL THIS?! Reject the MOP view They argue little has changed and that

women still most of the work! Ann Oakley (1974) found that only 15%

of husbands had a high participation in housework

And later Boulton (1983) found that fewer than 20% of husbands had a major role in childcare

STOP!!!!! Explain what is meant by ‘expressive

role’(2) Explain what is meant by ‘instrumental

role’ (2) Suggest 3 reasons why the symmetrical

family may have become common over the last century (6)

Now peer assess…

TO FINISH…

BY THE END OF THE SESSION YOU WILL BE ABLE TO:- Define the Sociological concepts,

‘commercialisation of housework’ ‘dual burden’ ‘triple burden’

Outline the ways in which housework has changed due to it’s commercialisation

Assess different sociological perspectives views on changes in housework and it’s impact on women

COMMERCIALISATION OF HOUSEWORK Silver and Schor (1993) argue that roles

have become more symmetrical because of 2 factors:

1. Housework has become more ‘commercialised’ – In a society of consumers, there are may products which make housework easier, the things that housewives previously had to produce are now readily available

2. Women are working

ACTIVITY 1 Make a list of all the products you can

think of which make housework easier

Due the products you identified Sliver and Schor argue that housework is no longer such a burden

ACTIVITY 2 How does these products make

housework easier?

What might be the negative consequences of these products?

THE ARGUMENT AGAINST… Feminists argue that despite women

working there is little evidence of a ‘new man’

They argue women have simply acquired a ‘dual burden’ of paid work and housework

EMOTION WORK This term describes work whose main

feature is the management of one’s own and other’s emotions. Hochschild argued that women tend to work in jobs which involve ‘emotional’ labour.

Activity 3 List all the jobs that you associate with women

THEREFORE Some feminist sociologists argue that

women are actually ‘tripled burdened.’

LESBIAN COUPLES AND GENDER SCRIPTS Dunne (1999) argues that the division of

labour continues because of ‘gender scripts’ these are expectations and norms that set out the different expectations of men and women in heterosexual couples

RESOURCES AND DECISION MAKING Edgell (1980)

Very Important decisions – Changing job or moving house, made by husband or husband has final say

Important decisions – Holidays, education taken jointly

Less Important decisions – Clothing, food made by wife.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE  British Crime Survey (2007) Accounts for almost a 6th of all violent

crime.

Follows striking social patterns, mainly conducted by men against women.

Coleman et al (2007) Women more likely to have experienced ‘initiate violence’ across all 4 types of abuse. Partner abuse, family abuse, sexual assault and stalking.

Mirrlees-lack

99% of all incidents against women are conducted by men

Dobash and Dobash (1979) Violent incidents could be set off by what men saw as a challenge to their authority such the wife asking why the husband why he is late.