Feminism and the Household Are couples more equal? Feminist Theory and Studies

Learning objectives: Introduce feminist perspectives on the household Assess the impact of women working on the division of labour Evaluate the impact of the commercialisation of goods and services Introduce the terms ‘Dual Burden’ and ‘Triple Shift’

Genderquake Genderquake 2 Genderquake

Ann Oakley (1974) Rejects Parsons’ idea that women are biologically suited to the expressive role – housewife role only became dominant in the late 19 th century. The move away from extended family and towards industrialisation meant that someone had to take care of children who were not allowed to work. By 1911 only 1 in 10 women was in work compared with 1 in 4 in Housewife role is because of changes in society (legal, economic, social) i.e a sociological construct not biological.

Ann Oakley – feminist view She also rejects Young and Wilmott’s claim about the rise of the symmetrical nuclear family, saying their claims are exaggerated. Although they found that most of the husbands interviewed helped their wives at least once a week, this might mean taking the children for a walk or making breakfast on one occasion. This is not ‘symmetry’. Feminists strongly disagree that equal conjugal roles exist in a large number of marriages. Evidence from most sociological studies appears to support this.

March of Progress view Dryden (1999) Qualitative study of 17 married couples found that women still had a major responsibility for housework and childcare. Oriel Sullivan (2000) Analysis of national data found a trend towards women doing a smaller share of the domestic work and men doing more. British Social Attitudes survey (2013) found a fall in the number of people who think it’s a man’s job to earn money and the woman’s job to look after the home and family.

Women and Work Some sociologists argue that women working full time is leading to a more equal division of labour in the home. Gershuny (1994) found that wives who worked full time did less domestic work (73%) But wives who didn’t go to work did 83% and wives who worked part- time still did 82% ‘lagged-adaptation’ = couples are only gradually adapting to women working full time.

Rosemary Crompton (1997) accepts Gershuny’s evidence, but argues that change is due to economic factors, not values. Women’s increasing earning power means men have to do more in the home, but men still earn more, so the division of labour is unequal. Why might men’s higher earnings mean they are able to do less housework than women?

Commercialisation of Housework Hilary Silver (1987) and Juliet Shor (1993) stress the importance of two major economic developments in reducing the burden of housework on women: Housework has become ‘commercialised’ – goods and services now mass-produced, and labour saving devices have been developed. Women working means they can afford to buy these goods. Do you agree? What other differences play a part in influencing the domestic division of labour?

The Dual Burden Feminists argue that women have acquired a ‘dual burden’ of paid work and unpaid housework. In this view, the family remains patriarchal: men benefit from women’s earnings and from their domestic labour. Ferri and Smith (1996) found that women working has had little impact on the division of labour – under 4% of fathers were the main child-carer. Lydia Morris (1990) found that even where the wife was working and the husband was unemployed, she still did most of the housework. Having lost their role as main breadwinner, men resisted taking on a feminine domestic role.

Dex and Ward (2007) found that although fathers had a lot of involvement with their 3 year olds (78% played with their children), when it came to caring for a sick child only 1% of fathers took the main responsibility)

The triple shift Duncombe and Marsden (1995) found that women not only carried a dual burden, but carried out a triple shift: Emotion work Domestic labour Paid work Suggest four ways that women might carry out emotion work within their families…

Gender Scripts Gillian Dunne (1999) argues that the division of labour continues because of deeply engrained ‘gender scripts’. These are expectations or norms that set out the different gender roles men and women in heterosexual relationships are expected to play. She found that there was much more equality in the 37 lesbian couples that she studied. They described their relationship as equal and shared housework and childcare equally. They gave equal importance to both partners’ careers. They viewed childcare positively.

Feminism and the Household Resources and decision making in households

Recap/conclusions from yesterday There is some evidence that a woman being in paid work (especially full time) leads to more equality in the division of labour. Many feminists argue that this is limited: women still shouder a double or triple burden. Even if men are doing more in the home, these tasks are gendered. Feminists argue that the problem is patriarchy. Patriarchal nroms and values shape society’s expectations about domestic roles. Patriarchy also means that women earn less at work and thus have less bargaining power at home.

Objectives: To examine various studies on the distribution of resources and income in the family. To look at decision making in the household. To examine different perspectives on money in the household.

Resources and decision making Elaine Kempson (1994) found that women in low income families denied their own needs to make ends meet. Even in households with adequate incomes, resources are often shared unequally, leaving women in poverty. This is usually down to who controls the family’s income and makes the decisions about spending it. This is usually men – why? Why do you think ‘pooling’ of finances is more likely among younger couples than their parents?

Decision-making and paid work Men take a greater share of the resources and demand a bigger say in decisions because they earn more. Feminists Jan Pahl and Carolyn Vogler (1993) agree saying that there are two types of control over household income: 1. The allowance system 2. Pooling Pooling is now most common but Pahl and Vogler (2007) found that men still tended to make the major decisions (based on their greater earnings.)

Professional couples Stephen Edgell (1980) studied professional couples where both worked full time. He found that: Very important decisions (e.g. about finances or moving house) were taken either by the husband alone or with him having the final say. Important decisions were usually taken jointly. (Holidays, schools etc) Less important decisions e.g. food purchases were usually taken by the wife. Edgell puts this down to men having greater earning power, and women being economically dependent. Some feminists argue that gender role socialisation in patriarchal society instils the idea that men are the decision makers.

Personal Life Perspective Focuses on the meanings couples give to who controls the money. Carol Smart (2007) found that some same sex couples attached no importance to who controlled the money and did not see this as a sign of equality or inequality.

For discussion: Resources and sharing of decisions

Genderquake Women in Britain Emma Watson – what is feminism?