Conjugal Roles

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Conjugal Roles
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Key Terms

• Division of labour How the work in the home is
  split between members of the household
• Conjugal Roles Expected behaviour of men and
  women in the home
• Integrated Roles Where a man and woman have
  similar roles in the home

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• Segregated Roles Where men and women have
  different roles within the home
• Symmetrical Family Where both men and women
  contribute equally to the housework, but not
  necessarily in the same way

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• New Man Shares the housework with his partner
  this is different to a house husband as the man
  may still work in paid employment.
• Dual Burden Women taking responsibility for
  housework and paid work

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• Triple Shift Woman takes responsibility for paid
  work, house work and emotional work

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Wilmott Young

• Did a study in the 1970s which found men and
  womens roles in the home were becoming more
  symmetrical
• They suggested that men and women were becoming
  more equal in their contributions to the household

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Criticisms of Wilmott Young

• Women are still held more responsible for running
  of household
• Men tend to choose which jobs they do and they
  select the more interesting ones!
• Women are on call longer than men e.g. getting
  up for the children

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• Mens jobs often expect them to do longer hours
  meaning they cannot contribute to the housework,
  or take time off for domestic reasons
• New machinery has replaced many of the jobs men
  used to do e.g. washing up

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Task

• Complete the table on conjugal roles, explaining
  how they have changed since the traditional
  1950s household and how they have stayed the
  same. You should also give reasons to support the
  trends you identify