When looking at equality within relationships there are three main areas to observe; housework, decision making and Domestic violence. A study done by Young and Willmott greatly supports the idea that husbands and wives now have a relationship based on equality. They argue that there has been a long term trend away from segregated conjugal roles and towards joint conjugal roles and the symmetrical family. By this they mean the roles of husbands and wives are much similar; as women now go out to work, although this is may be part time not full time. Men also no help with housework and childcare, also couple now spend their leisure time together instead of separately with workmates or female relatives.
They believe the number of symmetrical families is rising, with women going out to work and men helping with housework and childcare with the couple having joint conjugal roles. Also, Gershuny found that the more work women do, the less time they spend on housework, which suggests that tasks are being spread equally. Feminist sociologists believe there has been no improvement. They believe the division of labour is unnatural and is only to benefit men, with women carrying a ‘dual-burden’ of having to work full or part-time as well as take on the duties that are commonly
They believe the family has also become more home centred as they have stopped being as work centred. Willmott and Young discovered that the majority of symmetrical families were more common among younger couples who were geographically and socially isolated. They also believe that the symmetrical nuclear family has become more common due to the changes in women’s position as more women were going out to work, new technology which made the home a more pleasant place and the higher standards of living. To support their theory of the symmetrical family, Willmott and Young found that 72% of husbands did housework other than washing up during a week. However, Ann Oakley challenged this as she believed that any man who did only one thing other than washing up in a
Parsons (1955) maintains that the family still has a vital role in preparing its members to meet the requirements of the social system. Thus, the family is arguably not patriarchal but just well adjusted to the needs of society. The Marxist feminist perspective view on the family is that it’s still is patriarchal and that this is not helped by the capitalist system. The man is oppressed by his job as his bargaining power is weakened by his obligation to his family, thus
Families with two working parents are more common today than in years past. The percentage of stay at home parents has been dwindling since WWII when women started entering the job force at a rapid rate. While there are plenty of working families, many families still have a stay at home parent, especially with very young children in the home. The differences between two career and single career families can be noticed in their economic situation, in their involvement with their children and in their recreational activities The financial situations of families with two working parents and families with one working parent vary. Two career households typically bring in more revenue.
Or is he just too busy to be bothered with such women's work? That is the reason I am constantly disturbed by this ad, for it is part of capitalist ideology, of a patriarchal agenda to socially construct certain roles for different groups. It expresses the unrealistic, common view of men and women and their function in society. Women are often depicted as being the ones responsible for the well maintenance of the house, while men are the ones who guide and direct women as they (men) watch them perform their duty. As years are passing by, there are a few changes occurring such as men becoming a little more preoccupied with the house activities; however, this ad shows that we still live in a patriarchal society and Mr. Clean is the implication of how our culture will always believe in the all powerful man, being the "Head" of our society, even while women are becoming more powerful.
They believe this as women now go out to work, despite the fact it may only be part-time, its far more than it used to be. Additionally, men now help with housework and childcare. From their studies in London, they found that the symmetrical family was more common among younger couples who were geographically and socially isolated e.g. the young couples who moved away to Bethnal Green and were living at a distance from the extended family were more likely to have a symmetrical relationship. They see the rise in the symmetrical family as a result of major social changes in the past century; changes in women position, including married women going out to work, geographical mobility, more couples living away from the communities in which they grew up.
The older couple that was observed showed the common construction of a relationship in which the women was the household caretaker and the men took care of the “manly” things. Although there is a division of labor in human affairs between the sexes, there are changing social expectations, which are reflected in somewhat different gender roles at different time (Neuman, M.D, 2013). Through the observation I realized that both men and women no longer have specific “roles” it is now a whoever can get it done should get it done type of attitude. With this new attitude women can now by financially responsible for the family such as the case with the younger couple I observed. Many of the things that the older couple exhibited was frowned upon by the younger couple.
According to Parsons, husbands are the breadwinners and the wife has the nurtring and caring role and that this is based on biological differences between the sexes, a view shared by the New Right. However, this can be criticised using Willmott and Young’s findings, which show that men are now doing the housework and women are going out to work. This shows that family roles are socially constructed and hence not fixed as our society is always changing. Feminists such as Anne Oakley have criticised Willmott and Young’s finding’s stating that they are methodically flawed. She found that only a small minority of men did a significant amount of housework and childcare.
Using material from item 2B and elsewhere, assess the view that gender roles and relationships have become more equal in modern life (24 marks) There are a variety of sociologists that have different views about whether they think gender roles and relationships have become more equal in modern family life. A few are mentioned in item 2B, for example Gershuny. Jonathan Gershuny discovered that even women in part time work performed more housework over all, and couples whose parents had a more equal relationship were more likely to share housework more equally between themselves. He acknowledges the fact that women are now working full-time and argues that social values are gradually adapting to this. He also mentions that even though men are now performing more housework, they still tend to take responsibility for different tasks, for example pet care, gardening and DIY work.