The Sociology of Housework

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The Sociology of Housework
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• Aim To explore an understand the breakdown of
  Conjugal Roles within the Family.
• Key Words
• Conjugal Roles
• Home-centered
• Class
• Social Networks

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(No Transcript)
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What are conjugal roles?

• Roles played by men and women within a
  marriage, with particular reference to the
  domestic division of labour. Roles can be joint
  or separated

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Focus On

• The distribution of Housework
• Decision Making
• Violence
• Emotional Work

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Why are Women housewives?

• Oakley due to industrial revolution, women were
  banned from factories
• Parsons expressive role
• Women were needed at home to look after children

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Characteristics

• Oakley, Housework is seen as being a
  predominantly female role
• non-work, unpaid, isolated and makes women
  economically dependent on men

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Oakley

• Housework is far more monotonous than the
  production line.
• Furthermore there is little chance of promotion,
  job satisfaction or personal development

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However.

• Martin suggests that housework is in fact
  liberating for women as it allows them to create
  their own sense of power

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Equality

• Wilmott and Young (1973)
• Move from segregated to joint
• Move towards greater equality as spouses share
  domestic and leisure activities
• Study in Bethnal Green found 72 of husbands did
  housework other than washing up

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Other Explanations

• More working wives
• ..................................................
  ...............
• 2. Changes in the status of women
• .
• 3. Move from extended to nuclear
• ..
• 4. Breakdown of kin based groups..

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Vs Inequality

• Oakley
• Criticises Wilmott and Youngs methodology
• Backed by British Social Attitudes Survey
• Showed 88 of women were solely responsible for
  washing and ironing compared to 1 of men!
• HOWEVER her methodology was also questionable

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Class Differences

• THE WORKING CLASSES
• Dennis et al segregated working class roles in
  mining community
• Men out at pub, female housewife at home
• Women seen as inferior as they couldnt work down
  the mines

• However not all sociologists agree with this
• Wilmott and Young w.c roles became more joint
  as the family became more privatized
• Gavron w.c were more home-centred and family
  orientated

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The Middle Classes

• Wilmott and Young m.c showed joint conjugal
  roles due to greater mobility
• Rapoport et al dual-career families more
  segregated

• However Wilmott and Youngs study of Managerial
  directors showed inequalities
• Edgells work on professional families supported
  this

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Paid Employment

• Rapoports found that dual-working families had
  shared conjugal roles
• However Devine (92) men were only involved in
  childcare and that was due to financial reasons

• Elstons study on female doctors husbands still
  did little housework
• Family Studies Centre 1987 study - women in paid
  employment still do the majority of housework.

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Unemployment

• McKee and Bell (86) unemployed men dont do
  housework as it threatens masculinity
• Morris (87) depends on class and homecentredness
• Leighton only if agreed with wife working

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Social Networks Elizabeth Bott

• Study of 20 families in London
• Found a link between conjugal roles and class
• However more importantly in terms of social
  relationships
• Those with close-knit networks (lots of friends)
  are more likely to have segregated roles and
  those with loose-knit are more likely to have
  joint roles

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Evaluation

• Many of the studies are dated
• Measuring housework is reliant on the researchers
  opinion
• Researchers dont usually include DIY and
  gardening in their research

• Are we seeing a new wave of New Men as the media
  would like use to believe
• Realistically women are still doing the majority
  of the housework

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Decision-Making
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Decision Making

• Who makes the decisions in the family?
• Who makes the key decisions?
• Who makes the day-to-day decisions
• If decision making equals power who holds power?

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Decision Making Men Vs Women

• Women
• Edgell 80 interviewed 38 MC couples
• Found women made the decisions in three areas
• decorating
• Childrens clothes
• Spending in terms of food
• Hardill et al 97 found women are making more and
  more important decisions

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Men Hunt

• Decisions made by women are day-to-day decisions
  but they are only minor
• Men make less frequent decisions but they are
  more important and therefore the major ones.
  These are
• Important financial decisions
• Maritial debates
• What is made for tea

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Non-Decision Making

• DM is criticised for failing to take into account
  NDM. This falls into three categories
• Washing, cleaning, ironing
• Childcare
• Emotional Work

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Mansfield and Collard

• Men seen as more important than women
• Study of newly weds found
• Around time of marriage 1/3 of men changed career
  for better
• 2/3 of women changed career for worse

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Control of Money Men Vs Women

• Women
• Inadequate money keepers
• Hunt Womens wages are seen to buy luxury items
• Pahl three types of money distribution
• Husband hands over wage packet wife gives him
  pocket money
• Husband keeps wage packet gives wife
  housekeeping
• Resources pooled spending decisions made
  jointly.

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Men

• Pahl only ¼ of her study had a fair system of
  managing money
• This financial power meant it was harder for
  women to leave men

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Evaluation

• Dated studies
• Varies by class
• How is it measured?
• Women do hold power but in subtle ways

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Domestic Violence

• Another aspect of power studied mainly by
  radical feminists
• Dobash and Dobash domestic violence is carried
  out by males as a way of extending their
  patriarchal power
• Creates a power relationship where men are in
  control

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Domestic Violence

• Pahl link between alcohol and wife beating
• Feminists rape in marriage wife beating are
  acts of violence and domination allowing men to
  exercise more control over women.
• The New Right violence in the home is a result a
  decline in moral standards and family values this
  century

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Evaluation

• Status for women has improved and we have seen a
  decrease in DV over the years
• Domestic violence appears to support Oakleys
  claim that Symmetry remains a myth.
• Assumes that all men are the perpetrators and all
  women are the victims, this is not necessarily
  the case