...of the attitudes and work satisfaction of British housewives towards housework at that time. It was the first leading study to consider housework as ‘domestic labour' as an employment. In her book Oakley refers ‘housewife’ to women’s unpaid work role in the home. She found that housework were not recognised sociologically and at that time all the issues were only focused on power, stratification, deviance and grand theory. Being a housewife and mum of two young children, Oakley asked herself the question as to why housework is not being sociologically recognised nor as a paid work. Hence the research being done and the book Housewife were published. A sociological classic, the objective of this book is to open a whole new study and change the thought of sociologist about housework and to make a major landmark in the new emerging feminist sociology. She endeavoured to reveal statistically the appalling nature of women’s working conditions in the home and their unpaid work and to challenge the set of conservative values which brand work as a man’s activity and assign women to the home in the role of wife, and also to dispute the biological determinist statement that women are reproducers and nurturers for whom housework is a natural extension of their maternal role. To amend these imbalances, Oakley wanted to expose men as oppressive employers and provide the gross biases against women in the realm of housework, a sociological meaning. Oakley states the term ‘housewife’ in her...
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...more symmetrical (24 marks) AO1 Skill Knowledge and understanding = 8 marks AO2 Skill Identification, analysis, interpretation & evaluation = 16 marks According the recent media hype, the 1990’s have given birth to the phenomenon of the ‘new man’. This suggests that men are now doing more housework and childcare, while women are increasingly selling their labour in the labour market, and consequently contributing economically to family life. Willmott and Young predicted that the family, are becoming symmetrical. They claimed that the family has evolved from an institution based on patriarchy, to one characterised by equality and democracy. This essay will claim that, although relations in the family may have change the ‘new man’ and symmetrical family are nothing but an exaggerated myth. Willmot and Young argue that the family has changed from that of an industrial form, traditional Nuclear family to that of a modern form, symmetrical family. The Nuclear family is defined by specialised division of labour whereby the adult male sold his labour in the labour market in exchange for a wage, while his wife became primarily responsible for childcare and housework. In comparison the symmetrical family is an institution where partners play equal roles. This suggests that the family has evolved from having gender-segregated roles to joint-conjugal roles. Willmott and Young’s suggestions can be supported by the changes in the occupational structure. Over recent years...
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...that the man of the household is meant to be working and the wife if meant to be doing housework. Oakley argues that housework is a low status job and is different from ‘real work’ that the males carry out. However it may be argued that functionalists are against this view that it doesn’t make sense as the nuclear family isn’t male dominated however different members of the family just have different roles. Although the separate roles indicate more emotional attatchment from the female and financial control from the male, Edgell doesn’t support this view and his theory found that the family is patriarchal as women made less important decisions more frequently and the men dealt with less frequent big decisions which suggests that men have more power over women. Feminists argue with this view, they believe the patriarchal family exists and power is unequally distributed within the family. Delphy and Leonard believe that women make the main contributions to the family, most of which is unpaid work such as childcare and housework and men benefit most from their contributions. However this perspective ignores that men also help out with housework and childcare or that women enjoy doing housework and do it out of choice. Young and Willmot found a rise in the symmetrical family which meant that conjugal roles were becoming increasingly similar, he claimed that 72% of husbands help with housework therefore might not make sense to talk about the patriarchal family. Marxists feminists...
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...Journal 8 I am a Generation X individual which I believe has a lot to do with my opinions on this matter of balancing work and family. I grew up in a home where both of my parents worked full time. I witnessed my mother do basically all of the housework when she came home. She cleaned, cooked, and did all the duties of helping the children get their homework done and ready for bed. My dad, on the other hand would come in from his full time teaching job, change clothes, and make his way to the chicken house or the strawberry fields to do yet another full time job. My parents seemed very balanced and happy with their roles in raising our family. This type of situation is also much of what I witnessed in the homes of my aunts and uncles as well. So of course this seemed very normal to me. I married very young and my husband and I have worked together using role compartmentalization (although we never called it that at the time) all of our married lives. We were both in school when we first married and both held part time jobs. As a newlywed I did not mind preforming all the housework duties, as time went by I began to realize that I had been doing the bulk of the work while he was coming home and laying back. We had to have a discussion and sort out our different responsibilities. This very important conversation, I believe, probably saved our marriage. I here friends say over and over again that their husbands just don’t help them out and they resent their...
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...Assess sociological explanations for inequalities between husband and wives Domestic division of labour is referred to the roles that both men and women play in comparison to housework. There are 2 types of roles called conjugal roles and joint roles. Conjugal roles are where partners have different tasks within the family so there is a clear division of male and female roles. However joint roles is where partners share their roles so there is few divisions in the family making the household more symmetrical. Domestic division of labour has changed over time as it started with agriculture (pre industrialisation) then industrialisation which was the development of nuclear families and finally post-modern society. Functionalist sociologist parsons argues that the nuclear family roles are segregated. He believed that division of labour is based of biological differences so women naturally suiting to the caring role. He also believed the nuclear family was important for teaching children cultural values and discipline as well as structuring a Childs personality. Parson says a nuclear family is made of prove, warmth, security and support. Many feminists disagreed with his theory as they argued it took away women equalities. The women plays 3 main roles which are expressive: paid work, childcare and domestic labour and emotional work. These roles are usually referred to triple shift. The man plays an instrumental role meaning working...
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...of housework, childcare and paid work that is being done in the family to keep the family supported. Parsons suggested that the husband and wife have different roles within the family; man’s role being instrumental and the woman’s role being expressive. He is expected to aim and achieve high so he can support the family financially and the wife will be expected to cook, clean, look after the children and be emotionally stable to do so. He said that men and women where biologically suited to these roles, as it was only natural for the men to be successful breadwinners and the women o be stay at home housewives. However a criticism from the march of the progress says that the only reason that things are getting better is because they feel that the men and women are becoming more equal and sharing the roles in the family. Anne Oakley argues that we still live in a patriarchal (male dominated) society, and therefore women occupy a subordinate and dependant role within the family. Young and Willmot (1973) said that the symmetrical family is becoming increasingly popular as this is a type of family in which the domestic chores, childcare and paid work roles are split equally between the man and woman. This family type is becoming so popular because women’s position in society has changed significantly over the recent years and it’s now normal for women to have a career instead of being a housewife. Also the burden of housework has decreased due to the modernization of housework, the...
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...In my experience, my parents taught me a lot of gender rules. I live with my elder brother who works in technology company. Our parents live in China, and they kept after me to do housework every week. Wonderingly, my parents never kept after my brother to do housework. I cleaned dust, wiped kitchen and cleaned up the house every week, but my brother never did housework. When I told my parents that he did nothing at home, my parents said it was ok because he is male, and I should do more housework because I am a girl. My parents’ attitude toward this taught me housework are girl’s responsibilities. Even though I felt unfair, felt angry, their reason “ because you are a girl” seems to make it sounds “persuasive” and “reasonable”. Like it said, parents can and do reinforce sexual...
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...Domestic labour is housework, childcare and paid work. In 1955, Parsons suggested that the husband and wife have different roles within the family; the mans role was named instrumental. He is expected to achieve success at work and financially support the family whereas the wife was expected to look after the house, raise the children emotionally and cook. This was named the expressive role. Parsons said that these roles made things ‘nice and functional’. He also said that men and women were biologically suited to these roles so it was only natural for men to be the breadwinners and women are the stay at home wives. This is a very traditional view. However, the march of progress can easily criticise this view; the idea that everything is getting better and that roles between men and women are becoming more equal. The future foundation (2002) supports the march of progress and found that 75% of women do less domestic chores than their mothers and 60% or men claim they do more domestic chores than their fathers. Young and Willmot (1973) said that the symmetrical family is becoming increasingly popular. This is a type of family in which the domestic chores, childcare and paid work roles are split equally between the man and woman. This family type is becoming so popular because women’s position in society has changed significantly over the recent years, it’s now normal for women to have a career instead of being a housewife. Also the burden of housework has decreased due to commercialisation...
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...Using material from item 2B and elsewhere, assess the view that gender roles and relationships have become more equal in modern family life (24 marks) The domestic division of labour refers to the roles that men and women take in relation to housework. These roles are often referred to as conjugal roles; roles which display roles within marriage itself. Segregated conjugal roles described the situation of man and wife having separate roles within the house where the man would more often be the breadwinner and the woman would be the homemaker. This notion supported Parsons idea of expressive roles, but is the centre of debate for feminist sociologists. There are also joint conjugal roles which represents the idea that couples share tasks such as housework, child rearing and decision making etc. Joint conjugal roles also describe the couple as sharing leisure time together, rather than independently. Within these marriages relationships also vary. One of the most deviant and misunderstood issue within the married couple is the idea that coercive power is used to control the other; usually the male using physical power (according to statistics). Domestic violence can be defined as any kind of physical, psychological, sexual or financial violence that takes place within the family toward an intimate partner. Domestic violence is seen as a method of control amongst partners, to display dominance and/or authority. It is often under-reported so national statistics are not always...
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...Conflict theorists focus on inequality in marriages , views the issue of gender and housework as a set tradition . Anyone who has been married knows at some point in there marriage conflict will arise.Conflict among married people is so common it can arises between couples who live intimately and who share most everything in life, because men may feel robbed of their masculinity. Since house work is seen as the woman's job, he will participate less and avoid house work to salvage his masculinity so he can stick to the common norm that women belong in the home. (Henslin, James M. (2013). Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. New Jersey: Pearson). At some point, their desires and approaches to life clash, most the time mildly, and...
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...The average woman gets married at 26, and only 50% of women ages 25-29 have a child. Many modern mothers want to be in the workplace, but don’t work financially due to rising childcare costs. A third of stay at home mothers have a family income of less that $100,000, and 6% of stay at home mothers say they’re at home just because they can’t find a job. A stay at home mothers spends an average of 18 hours per week caring for their children, which is 7 more hours that working mothers. They also have 9 more hours a week on housework, leisure time, and five more hours to sleep. Recently, the numbers dropped, and only one in every ten women stays at home. Now, 2 million mothers stay at home, while more than 14 million...
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...Power Inequalities Different people have different views on power inequalities between man and woman, and there are many different theories on the topic, like Parsons Theory, which states that men and womans roles are biologically determined. Other theories, like Wilmott and Youngs theory states that families now are more symmetrical, meaning they're more egalitarian. However, feminists believe that although women do have more power than before, they are still exploited for the benefit of men. This essay will be describing the many different theories on power inequalities and the results of some studies that were conducted on the topic. Functionalist Talcott Parsons (1956) believes that the family works best when there is a clear-cut sexual division of labour where the woman, who in Parsons view is naturally expressive, should provide care for the children and offer them emotional support. Whereas the man, who in Parsons view is naturally instrumental, is the breadwinner in the family. This can result to stress for the man, so Parson believes the woman should also use their expressive and nurturing tendencies to stabilize and comfort men. This sexual division of labour will then provide the family with stability. Another functionalist view on child-rearing was advanced by John Bowlby (1953) who argued that the mother is crucial for the future socialization of the child. If there is maternal deprivation, then the child will suffer serious social and psychological...
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...Young and Willmott developed a theory in the 1970s called the symmetrical family. The symmetrical family described a family life which was improving for all of its members, becoming more equal and becoming more democratic. Young and Willmott argue that there has been long-term trend away from segregated conjugal roles and towards joint conjugal roles and the symmetrical family. Segregated and joint conjugal roles are distinguished between by sociologist Elizabeth Bott. Segregated conjugal roles resemble Talcott Parsons’ instrumental and expressive role theory, in which a couple have separate allocated roles such as the male being a breadwinner and the female a homemaker. Joint conjugal roles are where the couple share tasks such as housework and childcare and spend their leisure time together. Thus, Young and Willmott’s symmetrical family would support the argument that the division of labour in couples is now growing increasingly equal, and the argument that the hold of power is now equal in modern life due to the democratic element of the symmetrical family. They argue that roles in this type of family although are not identical, are now much more similar. The reasons...
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...JOSEPHINE A. BEOKU-BETTS in her article mentions how kitchen related tasks, such a as food preparations and cooking are considered women central activities and are seen a a woman’s “natural role”. In her article she mainly talks about the people of the Gullah community belonging to Sea Islands and neighbouring mainland regions in Georgia and South Carolina. She mentions how each task in the preparation of food in this community is gender specified. While all women and men are aquatinted with hunting, fishing and gardening, the men are responsible for hunting and procuring the products for the food while the women of the community are responsible for all the cooking and tasks relating in the kitchen along with taking care of the kids. The men of this community rarely cook. While in Gullah community some of the activities overlap, women and men had different ways of doing it, while the men fish with nets the women use rods and reels, in farming while the men are responsible for all the work that requires strength and heavy lifting the women are responsibly for tasks such as weeding. Similarly in India, women are portrayed as housewives who belong in the kitchen and whose role is to take care of the children and have the food ready for the husbands. One of the most important things mother in laws and men look for while searching for a wife in an arranged marriage in India is that she should be able to cook While Deutsch is his article talks about how of women are men ...
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...Unpaid women’s labor in the home helps maintain systems of oppression by minimizing the work that women do, having them complete work without paying them, and stereotyping the type of work which women should do. Women’s housework is seen as something that just has to be done, and mothers often in list their daughters help in completing the work, because they see it as future experience for their daughters. Women also complete this housework without getting paid, because it is socially expected of them, and in some cases women may face abuse if this work is not completed, and quite frankly, I don’t think most individuals want to live in a dirty home. Many individuals have mentioned in this thread that if women do not want to complete housework...
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