This document discusses gender roles and relationships within families from a sociological perspective. It addresses the domestic division of labor between men and women, how these roles have changed over time, and different sociological views on couples and power relationships within families. The document also examines topics like commercialization of housework, the dual and triple burdens faced by women, and domestic violence.

2.  Know about gender roles and the domestic
division of labour
 Know about power relationships between
couples including decision making, control of
resources and domestic violence
 Be able to analyse how far these roles and
relationships have changed over time
 Be able to evaluate different Sociological
views on couples, roles and relationships.

3.  Define the meaning of ‘domestic division of
labour’
 Identify the different roles men and women
take on within the household
 Outline how these roles have changed since
industrialisation
 Apply your knowledge of sociological
perspectives to the understanding of roles
and relationships between couples

4.  Refers to the roles that men and women play
in relation to housework.

5.  In2 minutes list as many roles and jobs as
you can that are fulfilled by couples within a
family
 tammy wynette stand by your man - YouTube

6. Agriculture (pre
Men Women
industrialisation)
Industrialisation and the
development of the
nuclear family
Postmodern urban
society
Activity 2: Using the diagram record
your ideas of how the roles you
identified have changed over time

7.  Functionalist Sociologist Parsons (1955) that in
the traditional Nuclear family roles are
segregated.
 Activity 3 – What are the separate roles that
each spouse will play?
Husband Wife
Instrumental Role Expressive Role
Working Primary Socialisation
Being the breadwinner Meeting emotional needs
Achieving success Housewife
Providing money for the
family

8.  Women are naturally more caring and
nurturing and are therefore suited to these
roles
 Why are women more suited to these
roles?
 Record examples in your booklet.

9.  In your activities so far, you have described
the functionalist view of gender roles (AO1)
 Activity 4
 Now using your own knowledge come up with
3 examples of the reasons why other
sociologists may disagree (AO2)

10.  Bott (1957) distinguishes between 2 types of
conjugal roles within a marriage:
1. Segregated Conjugal Roles or an
Asymmetrical Family – The couple have
separate roles as in Parson’s view
2. Joint Conjugal Roles – The couple share
tasks such as childcare and spend their
leisure time together

11.  MOP Sociologists Wilmott and Young claim
the family has been through several stages
Pre Industrial
Early Industrial
Symmetrical Nuclear Family

12.  Theroles of husbands and wives are not
identical but now similar
 Activity 5
 Can you think of some examples?
 Why
do you think this type of family is more
common amongst the young and better off?

13.  Found that wives who worked full time did less domestic
tasks.
 Wives who did not go to work did 83% of the housework
and wives who worked part time did 82%
 Wives who worked full time did 73% of the housework, the
longer the wife had been in paid work the more likely the
husband was to help out.
 Gershuny explains this trend towards greater equality in
terms of a gradual change in social values.
 How do you think social values have changed overtime?

14.  Reject the MOP view
 They argue little has changed and that
women still most of the work!
 Ann Oakley (1974) found that only 15% of
husbands had a high participation in
housework
 And later Boulton (1983) found that fewer
than 20% of husbands had a major role in
childcare

15.  Explain what is meant by ‘expressive role’(2)
 Explain what is meant by ‘instrumental role’
(2)
 Suggest 3 reasons why the symmetrical
family may have become common over the
last century (6)
 Now peer assess…

17.  Define the Sociological concepts,
‘commercialisation of housework’ ‘dual
burden’ ‘triple burden’
 Outline the ways in which housework has
changed due to it’s commercialisation
 Assess different sociological perspectives
views on changes in housework and it’s
impact on women

18.  Silverand Schor (1993) argue that roles have
become more symmetrical because of 2
factors:
1. Housework has become more
‘commercialised’ – In a society of
consumers, there are may products which
make housework easier, the things that
housewives previously had to produce are
now readily available
2. Women are working

19.  Makea list of all the products you can think
of which make housework easier

21.  Duethe products you identified Sliver and
Schor argue that housework is no longer such
a burden

22.  How does these products make housework
easier?
 What might be the negative consequences of
these products?

23.  Feminists argue that despite women working
there is little evidence of a ‘new man’
 They argue women have simply acquired a
‘dual burden’ of paid work and housework

24.  Thisterm describes work whose main feature
is the management of one’s own and other’s
emotions. Hochschild argued that women
tend to work in jobs which involve
‘emotional’ labour.
 Activity 3
List all the jobs that you associate with
women

25.  Some feminist sociologists argue that women
are actually ‘tripled burdened.’

26.  Dunne (1999) argues that the division of
labour continues because of ‘gender scripts’
these are expectations and norms that set
out the different expectations of men and
women in heterosexual couples

27.  Edgell (1980)
 Very Important decisions – Changing job or
moving house, made by husband or husband
has final say
 Important decisions – Holidays, education
taken jointly
 Less
Important decisions – Clothing, food
made by wife.

28.  British Crime Survey (2007) Accounts for almost a 6th of all violent
crime.
 Follows striking social patterns, mainly conducted by men against
women.
 Coleman et al (2007) Women more likely to have experienced ‘initiate
violence’ across all 4 types of abuse. Partner abuse, family abuse, sexual
assault and stalking.
 Mirrlees-lack
 99% of all incidents against women are conducted by men
 Dobash and Dobash (1979) Violent incidents could be set off by what men
saw as a challenge to their authority such the wife asking why the
husband why he is late.