Domestic Roles

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  • Created on: 23-02-23 10:34
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  • The Explanations for Inequalities in Domestic Labour and Power
    • Biology - Functionalists see the sexual division of labour in home as brought about primarily by biological differences between the sexes. Parsons, for example, argued that women are 'naturally' suited to the caring of the young because of the fact that they physically bear children, while Murdock cited the greater physical strength of the male as the reason why male were able to dominate economic life.
    • Familial and Patriarchal Ideology
      • Familial ideology is the dominant idea that there is an ideal way to organize family's life.
      • Leonard (2000) argues that patriarchal ideology underpins dominants ideas about both paid work and domestic labour, and suggests that men resist change because he persistence of an unequal division of labour.
        • Oakley also agrees, and states that most of the change in men's behaviour has come about because the women they are involved  with have put pressure on them to change.
      • Bell (1986) argued that unemployed men felt emasculated because paid work was central to their sense of self-esteem and masculine power. They therefore actively resisted increasing involvement in housework because they interpreted it as 'women's work' and viewed it as degrading.
    • The Ideology of Motherhood and Fatherhood
      • Chambers says that the mother is perceived as the core of the family and as the emotional stabilizer.
      • 26% of the British Population believed that most women  should prioritize  their caring role over having a job.
        • This results in a large number of women feeling guilty about working full time.
      • Miller points out that the responsibilities and practices associated with fatherhood are not as clear-cut or as morally regulated than in motherhood. Fatherhood is generally associated with: 'breadwinner.'
    • Gender Socialization of Children
      • Some studies suggest that the socialization of children is also shaped by familial ideology, so that when they grow up to be adults they are more likely to subscribe to traditional ideas about gender roles.
    • Social Policy
      • Williams (2004) argues that state policy encourages female economic dependence on men. The lack of universal free childcare is regarded as an obstacle to gender equality, as is the expense of childcare in the UK.
    • Relative Resources Theory
      • This theory argues that the main cause of gender inequality in the home is economic. It is argued that men have an economic advantage over women.
      • Men generally enjoy access to a greater range of jobs, have greater job security, do not get their careers interrupted by children and earn higher pay.
      • Breene and Cook (2014) argue that the mass movement of women in the economy in the 1970's and the resulting increase in dual-earner couples led to women acquiring more economic power.
      • They began to obtain relative economic resources to their husbands and were in a better position to bargain with their partners about the allocation of domestic labour.
      • However, this is a weakened theory due to the fact that it is women who take time off to take care of sick children, women put in twice as much work when children are present and women take on more domestic roles when the man loses his job.
      • Double income couples demonstrate more equal distribution of tasks.
        • However, this is a weakened theory due to the fact that it is women who take time off to take care of sick children, women put in twice as much work when children are present and women take on more domestic roles when the man loses his job.
    • Feminism
      • Marxist Feminism
        • They argue that domestic labour performed by women serves the needs of capitalism because it maintains workforce.
          • Cox and Federici (2010) argue that, under capitalism, women have the assumed role of breeders, housewives and consumers.
      • Radical Feminism
        • The housewife role is created by patriarchy rather than capitalism.
        • Domestic violence is often used by men to threaten, control and punish women. Therefore, there will never be equality in marriage because men have the capacity to commit this violence.
      • Fails to mention why women's roles vary across cultures.
        • They underestimate women's ability to make rational choices.
      • Devalues the role of mother/housewife as 'second-class'.
      • Underestimates the degree of power that women enjoy; the fact that many women divorce their husbands means they feel they have the power to do so.

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