Sociology - Families and households
Domestic division of labour
Parsons: instrumental and expressive roles
Men and women have biologically suited roles that are functional for society:
Expressive role - women = homemaker (cooking, cleaning, looking after children)
Instrumental role - men = breadwinner (paid work, earning money for the family)
Bott: segregated conjugal roles
Segregated conjugal roles - division of labour between men and women, couples spend
leisure time separately
Joint conjugal roles - couples share domestic tasks and leisure time
Willmot and young:
There are symmetrical families as a result of increased joint conjugal roles
Are couples more equal?
March of progress - the ‘new man’ means couple have an equal share of housework
and childcare
Dual burden - women now do paid work and domestic work (feri and smith)
Triple shift - women not only carry the dual burden of paid and domestic work, but also
do the emotional work (duncombe and marsden)
Decision making
Material explanation - men have more power in decision making because they earn
the/more money
Cultural explanation - gender role socialisation instils the view that men are the primary
decision makers
Domestic abuse
Dobash and dobash:
Marriage and the nuclear family is the key institutuion
Domestic division of labour
Parsons: instrumental and expressive roles
Men and women have biologically suited roles that are functional for society:
Expressive role - women = homemaker (cooking, cleaning, looking after children)
Instrumental role - men = breadwinner (paid work, earning money for the family)
Bott: segregated conjugal roles
Segregated conjugal roles - division of labour between men and women, couples spend
leisure time separately
Joint conjugal roles - couples share domestic tasks and leisure time
Willmot and young:
There are symmetrical families as a result of increased joint conjugal roles
Are couples more equal?
March of progress - the ‘new man’ means couple have an equal share of housework
and childcare
Dual burden - women now do paid work and domestic work (feri and smith)
Triple shift - women not only carry the dual burden of paid and domestic work, but also
do the emotional work (duncombe and marsden)
Decision making
Material explanation - men have more power in decision making because they earn
the/more money
Cultural explanation - gender role socialisation instils the view that men are the primary
decision makers
Domestic abuse
Dobash and dobash:
Marriage and the nuclear family is the key institutuion
