Young and Willmott (1973) - Symmetrical Family
Claimed that men and women's attitudes towards the distribution of labour in the home had undergone radical change in the modern UK so that in both middle-class and working-class households conjugal roles were more likely to be jointly shared.
By three changes:`
- better education and job opportunities makes more working class experience geographical mobility. Moving away from the original area and kinship meaning free from traditional working class value.
- Women going out to work bring more income in family so that family has greater purchasing power in time and labor ssaving devices, e.g. vacuum cleaner.
- Women are acquired more power in modern society. For example: contraception against fertility; Working against dependency to their husband.
Critisism toward Young & Willmott
Oakley: After interviewing 40 housewives in suburban london, few of them are found evidence of symmetrical and only 15 percent of husbands are having a high level of participation in housework.
Craig: Women do one third to one half more housework than men.
This inequality starts from couple move in together and befor they have children - 'Partnership penalty'
- When women get marry, the wife's unpaid domestic labour rises.
'Motherhood penalty' - when women give birth, their finance situation worsen than men and child - free women.
Two third of women argued their partner over housework - 2014 Britain.
In 1965, dads spent 16 minutes to caring for children => 55 mins today.
Decision - Making in Families
Edgell - Family decision can be made into three categories
Very important decisions
The dicisions generally involving finance, change of job or moving house. Edgell claimed that these decision are usually taken by husband or husband has the right to make the final call. Edgell concluded that husband's power is mainly derived from his earning power.
Important decisions
The decisions focused on quality of family life or children's live. These were normally taken jointly, but rarely wife alone.
Less important decisions
The decisions focused on daily details. Often made exclusively by wife.
This experiment is repeated 10 years later, the outcome has few signs of change. Discovery claimed that this is because husband is the major breadwinner. However, Leighton discover that power of decisioning in family changed when males are unemployed. In her study, working wives often took over the responsibility for bills when her husband is no longer the 'bread winner'.
Emotion work
Duncombe & Marsden - 'Triple shift'
Hochschild - Mothers rarely thanked for this work because what they do is gender bound. It is seen by other as a gendered duty. When a father provide childcare, it would be seen as a gift to his wife.
Bernard - men in her study is more satisfied with their marriage than wives.
Losococco & Walzer
- Women express their unhappiness in marrage more than men.
- Women are more likely to see problems than men.
- Women are more likely to initate divorce proceedings and are more than three times than man.
- Once - married men are more likely to willing to remarry than once - married women.
Something about Lesbian & Gender script - Dunne 1997
In her study of 37 lesbian couples with dependent child, many traditional domestic division of labour do not exsist in lesbain family. Symmetry is observed. Howerever, when there is one partner did much more paid work than the other, unequal domestic work is likely to be.
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