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What Happens at Home: How We Share Chores and Gender Roles

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Khadijah Baz

2/3/2023

Sociology

Domestic Division of Labour

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Social Stratification

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Gender Roles and Stereotypes

What Happens at Home: How We Share Chores and Gender Roles

The domestic division of labour has significantly shaped gender roles over time, with varying perspectives on housework equality and changes in conjugal roles. This summary explores key sociological views on the topic, from Parsons' traditional model to feminist critiques and modern research findings.

  • Parsons' view established traditional gender roles in the family
  • Conjugal roles have evolved from segregated to more joint over time
  • Feminist perspectives challenge the idea of true equality in housework
  • Paid work has had mixed impacts on domestic labour division
  • Cultural and material factors influence gender division of labour
...

2/3/2023

968

DOMESTIC DIVISION OF LABOUR By Khadijah + + Parsons' View ● Husband has an instrumental role - success at work means he can financially supp

View

Parsons' View on Family Roles

Talcott Parsons' "The Social Structure of the Family" (1959) outlined distinct roles for husbands and wives in nuclear families:

  • Husbands have an instrumental role - focused on work outside the home to financially support the family as breadwinners
  • Wives have an expressive role - providing primary socialization for children and meeting the family's emotional needs as homemakers

Parsons argued these roles were based on biological differences between men and women. He claimed this division benefited men, women, children, and wider society by creating stability.

Definition: The instrumental function in sociology refers to task-oriented roles focused on achieving practical goals, while expressive roles focus on maintaining relationships and emotional wellbeing.

Highlight: Parsons' functionalist theory assumes an unequal domestic division of labor is natural and beneficial, a view heavily critiqued by feminist sociologists.

DOMESTIC DIVISION OF LABOUR By Khadijah + + Parsons' View ● Husband has an instrumental role - success at work means he can financially supp

View

Conjugal Roles in Marriage

Sociologists have examined how marital roles have changed over time:

Elizabeth Bott identified two types of conjugal roles:

  1. Segregated - separate roles for husbands and wives (similar to Parsons' model)
  2. Joint - shared tasks and leisure time

Young and Willmott took a "march of progress" view, arguing families were becoming more equal:

  • 1950s study found very separate roles in working-class families
  • By 1973, they claimed joint conjugal roles and "symmetrical families" were emerging

Example: In segregated roles, men might spend leisure time at the pub while women socialize with female relatives. Joint roles involve couples sharing housework and spending free time together.

Highlight: The concept of "symmetrical families" with more equal roles has been influential but also critiqued as overly optimistic.

DOMESTIC DIVISION OF LABOUR By Khadijah + + Parsons' View ● Husband has an instrumental role - success at work means he can financially supp

View

Feminist Critiques of Housework Equality

Feminist critiques of housework equality argue that despite some changes, significant inequalities in domestic labor persist:

  • Ann Oakley found Young and Willmott's claims of symmetrical families were exaggerated:

    • Only 15% of husbands had high participation in housework
    • Only 25% had high participation in childcare

  • Boulton's research showed less than 20% of fathers had a major role in childcare

    • Argued studies focus too much on specific tasks rather than overall responsibility

  • Warde and Hetherington found men would only do "female" tasks when partners were absent

    • However, noted changing attitudes in younger men

Quote: "There's no sign of a 'new man' who equals the share of housework" - Feminist perspective

Highlight: Feminist sociologists argue that women's entry into paid work has not led to an equal redistribution of domestic labor.

DOMESTIC DIVISION OF LABOUR By Khadijah + + Parsons' View ● Husband has an instrumental role - success at work means he can financially supp

View

Impact of Paid Work on Domestic Division of Labor

Research on how women's increased participation in paid work affects the domestic division of labor shows mixed results:

Arguments for increased equality:

  • Gershuny: Women working full-time leads to more equal division at home
  • Sullivan: Trend of women doing less housework and men doing more

Arguments against increased equality:

  • Concept of the "dual burden" - women doing paid work and most unpaid domestic tasks
  • Ferri and Smith: Less than 4% of fathers took primary responsibility for childcare
  • Braun et al: Most fathers still had a "provider ideology"

Vocabulary: "Dual burden" refers to women's responsibility for both paid employment and unpaid domestic work.

Example: Hochschild's concept of "emotion work" highlights how women often manage family members' emotions in addition to practical tasks.

Highlight: The impact of women's paid work on household roles remains debated, with evidence of both change and continuity.

DOMESTIC DIVISION OF LABOUR By Khadijah + + Parsons' View ● Husband has an instrumental role - success at work means he can financially supp

View

Gender Division of Labor: Explanations

Crompton and Lyonette identify two main explanations for the persistent unequal division of domestic labor:

  1. Cultural explanations:

    • Patriarchal norms socialize women into domestic roles
    • Gershuny: Parents' more equal relationships influence children's later division of labor
    • Kan: Younger men do more housework

  2. Material explanations:

    • Women's lower pay used to justify doing more housework
    • Kan: For every £10,000 more a woman earns, she does 2 hours less housework per week

Example: Dunne found lesbian couples often had more symmetrical relationships due to the absence of heterosexual "gender scripts."

Highlight: Both cultural norms and economic factors contribute to the persistent gender division of domestic labor.

DOMESTIC DIVISION OF LABOUR By Khadijah + + Parsons' View ● Husband has an instrumental role - success at work means he can financially supp

View

Value of Unpaid Work and Economic Impact

While not directly addressed in the transcript, it's important to consider:

  • Women's unpaid work statistics show they perform a disproportionate share of household and care work
  • The value of women's unpaid work is substantial but often overlooked in economic measures
  • Unpaid care and domestic work has significant impacts on women's labor force participation and earnings

Highlight: Recognizing and valuing unpaid domestic and care work is crucial for understanding gender inequality and economic contributions.

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Subjects

Sociology

Social Stratification

Gender

Gender Roles and Stereotypes

 

Sociology

•

968

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Feb 3, 2023

•

7 pages

What Happens at Home: How We Share Chores and Gender Roles

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Khadijah Baz

@khadijah_baz

The domestic division of labour has significantly shaped gender rolesover time, with varying perspectives on housework equality and changes in conjugal roles. This summary explores key sociological views on the topic, from Parsons' traditional model to feminist critiques and

... Show more
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Parsons' View on Family Roles

Talcott Parsons' "The Social Structure of the Family" (1959) outlined distinct roles for husbands and wives in nuclear families:

  • Husbands have an instrumental role - focused on work outside the home to financially support the family as breadwinners
  • Wives have an expressive role - providing primary socialization for children and meeting the family's emotional needs as homemakers

Parsons argued these roles were based on biological differences between men and women. He claimed this division benefited men, women, children, and wider society by creating stability.

Definition: The instrumental function in sociology refers to task-oriented roles focused on achieving practical goals, while expressive roles focus on maintaining relationships and emotional wellbeing.

Highlight: Parsons' functionalist theory assumes an unequal domestic division of labor is natural and beneficial, a view heavily critiqued by feminist sociologists.

DOMESTIC DIVISION OF LABOUR By Khadijah + + Parsons' View ● Husband has an instrumental role - success at work means he can financially supp

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Conjugal Roles in Marriage

Sociologists have examined how marital roles have changed over time:

Elizabeth Bott identified two types of conjugal roles:

  1. Segregated - separate roles for husbands and wives (similar to Parsons' model)
  2. Joint - shared tasks and leisure time

Young and Willmott took a "march of progress" view, arguing families were becoming more equal:

  • 1950s study found very separate roles in working-class families
  • By 1973, they claimed joint conjugal roles and "symmetrical families" were emerging

Example: In segregated roles, men might spend leisure time at the pub while women socialize with female relatives. Joint roles involve couples sharing housework and spending free time together.

Highlight: The concept of "symmetrical families" with more equal roles has been influential but also critiqued as overly optimistic.

DOMESTIC DIVISION OF LABOUR By Khadijah + + Parsons' View ● Husband has an instrumental role - success at work means he can financially supp

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Feminist Critiques of Housework Equality

Feminist critiques of housework equality argue that despite some changes, significant inequalities in domestic labor persist:

  • Ann Oakley found Young and Willmott's claims of symmetrical families were exaggerated:

    • Only 15% of husbands had high participation in housework
    • Only 25% had high participation in childcare

  • Boulton's research showed less than 20% of fathers had a major role in childcare

    • Argued studies focus too much on specific tasks rather than overall responsibility

  • Warde and Hetherington found men would only do "female" tasks when partners were absent

    • However, noted changing attitudes in younger men

Quote: "There's no sign of a 'new man' who equals the share of housework" - Feminist perspective

Highlight: Feminist sociologists argue that women's entry into paid work has not led to an equal redistribution of domestic labor.

DOMESTIC DIVISION OF LABOUR By Khadijah + + Parsons' View ● Husband has an instrumental role - success at work means he can financially supp

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Impact of Paid Work on Domestic Division of Labor

Research on how women's increased participation in paid work affects the domestic division of labor shows mixed results:

Arguments for increased equality:

  • Gershuny: Women working full-time leads to more equal division at home
  • Sullivan: Trend of women doing less housework and men doing more

Arguments against increased equality:

  • Concept of the "dual burden" - women doing paid work and most unpaid domestic tasks
  • Ferri and Smith: Less than 4% of fathers took primary responsibility for childcare
  • Braun et al: Most fathers still had a "provider ideology"

Vocabulary: "Dual burden" refers to women's responsibility for both paid employment and unpaid domestic work.

Example: Hochschild's concept of "emotion work" highlights how women often manage family members' emotions in addition to practical tasks.

Highlight: The impact of women's paid work on household roles remains debated, with evidence of both change and continuity.

DOMESTIC DIVISION OF LABOUR By Khadijah + + Parsons' View ● Husband has an instrumental role - success at work means he can financially supp

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Gender Division of Labor: Explanations

Crompton and Lyonette identify two main explanations for the persistent unequal division of domestic labor:

  1. Cultural explanations:

    • Patriarchal norms socialize women into domestic roles
    • Gershuny: Parents' more equal relationships influence children's later division of labor
    • Kan: Younger men do more housework

  2. Material explanations:

    • Women's lower pay used to justify doing more housework
    • Kan: For every £10,000 more a woman earns, she does 2 hours less housework per week

Example: Dunne found lesbian couples often had more symmetrical relationships due to the absence of heterosexual "gender scripts."

Highlight: Both cultural norms and economic factors contribute to the persistent gender division of domestic labor.

DOMESTIC DIVISION OF LABOUR By Khadijah + + Parsons' View ● Husband has an instrumental role - success at work means he can financially supp

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Value of Unpaid Work and Economic Impact

While not directly addressed in the transcript, it's important to consider:

  • Women's unpaid work statistics show they perform a disproportionate share of household and care work
  • The value of women's unpaid work is substantial but often overlooked in economic measures
  • Unpaid care and domestic work has significant impacts on women's labor force participation and earnings

Highlight: Recognizing and valuing unpaid domestic and care work is crucial for understanding gender inequality and economic contributions.

DOMESTIC DIVISION OF LABOUR By Khadijah + + Parsons' View ● Husband has an instrumental role - success at work means he can financially supp

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Join milions of students

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Domestic Division of Labor

The domestic division of labor refers to how household tasks and childcare responsibilities are shared between partners. Talcott Parsons' family theory from 1959 proposed distinct roles for husbands and wives based on biological differences, but this view has been heavily critiqued by feminist sociologists.

Key points:

  • Parsons argued husbands have an instrumental role as breadwinners while wives have an expressive role focused on emotional needs and childcare
  • This traditional model assumes an unequal division of domestic labor
  • More recent sociological research examines if family roles have become more equal over time
  • Feminist critiques highlight persistent inequalities in housework and childcare responsibilities
  • The impact of women's increased participation in paid work on domestic roles remains debated

Highlight: Understanding changing family roles and the division of household labor provides insight into gender inequality in society.

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Stefan S

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This app is really great. There are so many study notes and help [...]. My problem subject is French, for example, and the app has so many options for help. Thanks to this app, I have improved my French. I would recommend it to anyone.

Samantha Klich

Android user

Wow, I am really amazed. I just tried the app because I've seen it advertised many times and was absolutely stunned. This app is THE HELP you want for school and above all, it offers so many things, such as workouts and fact sheets, which have been VERY helpful to me personally.

Anna

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I think it’s very much worth it and you’ll end up using it a lot once you get the hang of it and even after looking at others notes you can still ask your Artificial intelligence buddy the question and ask to simplify it if you still don’t get it!!! In the end I think it’s worth it 😊👍 ⚠️Also DID I MENTION ITS FREEE YOU DON’T HAVE TO PAY FOR ANYTHING AND STILL GET YOUR GRADES IN PERFECTLY❗️❗️⚠️

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Brad T

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Not only did it help me find the answer but it also showed me alternative ways to solve it. I was horrible in math and science but now I have an a in both subjects. Thanks for the help🤍🤍

David K

iOS user

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Sudenaz Ocak

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Elisha

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