Gender roles + tthe domestic division of labour

Question 1

What do Parsons and Bales (1955) say

Answer 1

A division of roles between men and women is a functional necessity that ensures each partner specialises in the role they’re suited to

Question 2

Who performs which role according to functionalists

Answer 2

Women=expressive

Men=instrumental

Question 3

How does Parsons suggest his roles are related to biology

Answer 3

Women bear children and breastfeed

Question 4

What does Parsons believe socialisation does

Answer 4

Trains each sex to fulfil their natural role

Question 5

What was a trend noted by sociologists from the 1960s onwards

Answer 5

The breakdown of segregated conjugal roles and a shift to more joint ones

Question 6

What did Young and Wilmott arfgue came to existence in 1973

Answer 6

The symmetrical family

Question 7

What are the three main characteristics of the symmetrical family

Answer 7

1. Conjugal roles are joint - Paid and unpaid tasks are shared between parents
2. The family is nuclear - The focus is on the husband, wife and children and ties to extended family has weakened
3. The family is privatised - More activities are done alone at home rather than with other families

Question 8

What did Giddens (1992) argue

Answer 8

Due too a transformation of intimate relationships, women have more choice which has led to a democratisation of family life

Question 9

What has the democratisation of family life led to men doing

Answer 9

Men have become more willing to reveal their emotions and engage with women and children in an intimate way

Question 10

What did Oakley ( 1974) argue

Answer 10

The housewife role remained the primary role for married women
Her study showed a minority of men could be classified as having a high involvement in housework

Question 11

How have feminists attacked Giddens theory

Answer 11

They argue women still carry the responsibility for maintaining family relationships and caring for members’ emotional needs

Question 12

What do radical feminists argue

Answer 12

The way gender roles arre organised in families reflects their patriarchal nature

Question 13

What do Marxist feminists argue

Answer 13

By undertaking unpaid work in the family, women serve capitalism

Question 14

What do feminists argue in terms of domestic abuse and the dark side of the family

Answer 14

• It is ignored by functionalists and the symmetrical family
• Domestic abuse is most commonly committed by men
• Families are also patriarchal in more mundane ways

Question 15

What do Marxists argue

Answer 15

• Gender roles and relationships are shaped by the needs of capitalism
• Fulfilling personal relationships are impossible due to materialism, consumption
• The unpaid labour in the family benefits the capitalist class as much as the family, for example, by ensuring workers are fit to return to work each day

Question 16

What do postmodernists argue

Answer 16

• All theories make sweeping generalisations about the nature of roles and relationships
• Families and relationships are much more diverse in the 21st century
• Families can’t be labelled as symmetrical or patriarchal
• Family members now create their own family practices
• Relationships vary over time and place

Question 17

What have feminists suggested about work

Answer 17

• Work includes paid and unpaid work
• Work is gendered, due to gender roles and the pay gap
• Men undertake occasional tasks whereas women do more regular tasks
• Women are faced with a dual burden due to doing paid and unpaid work

Question 18

What is the most effective way to measure unpaid tasks and why

Answer 18

Time budget research as men tennd to overestimate what they do and women tend to underestimate

Question 19

What is Hakim’s (2010) theory

Answer 19

• She criticises feminists for complaining about men not doing their fair share of domestic work
• Men do more paid work than women
• When you add productive hours together they are roughly equal