Assess the view that inequality in conjugal relationships continues in British families (20 marks)
Conjugal roles are the roles a man and woman play in a household or relationship. Elizabeth Bott determined two polar conjugal roles: Segregated roles where the husband and wife do not share housework, childcare, decisions and leisure time, and Joint roles, where the husband and wife do share housework, childcare, decisions and leisure time.
Willmott and Young argued that husbands and wives increasingly shared both leisure and decision-making and that their relationships were becoming more symmetrical. A survey they completed in 1973 showed that 72% of men did housework other than washing the dishes at least once a week. However, their theory is inadequately methologised and critiqued by many other sociologists.
Stephen Edgell (1980) sees decision-making as unequal, with men making all of the important decisions. A survey he completed showed that men made decisions such as the car, moving home and finances, while women made less important decisions concerning childcare, housework and interior decorating. This contrasts with Willmott and Young’s theory, which states that husbands and wives shared decision making.
Anne Oakley highlighted the fact that the survey questions were very vague, and pointed out that “A man who helps with the children once a week would be included in this %, so would (presumably) a man who ironed his own trousers on a Saturday afternoon”. Oakley argues that ‘to help in the house’ is not really evidence of male domestication, and that Willmott and Young’s claims were exaggerated.
Oakley did her own research in 1974, and the conclusions she drew from it were that women still saw housework and childcare as their responsibility. This is supported by Devine, who said that even women in employment did the majority of housework and childcare, though the husbands helped a little.
According to the Functionalist, Talcott Parsons, there are segregated conjugal roles in the family because they are natural. He argues that women naturally
Willmott and Young argued that husbands and wives increasingly shared both leisure and decision-making and that their relationships were becoming more symmetrical. A survey they completed in 1973 showed that 72% of men did housework other than washing the dishes at least once a week. However, their theory is inadequately methologised and critiqued by many other sociologists.
Stephen Edgell (1980) sees decision-making as unequal, with men making all of the important decisions. A survey he completed showed that men made decisions such as the car, moving home and finances, while women made less important decisions concerning childcare, housework and interior decorating. This contrasts with Willmott and Young’s theory, which states that husbands and wives shared decision making.
Anne Oakley highlighted the fact that the survey questions were very vague, and pointed out that “A man who helps with the children once a week would be included in this %, so would (presumably) a man who ironed his own trousers on a Saturday afternoon”. Oakley argues that ‘to help in the house’ is not really evidence of male domestication, and that Willmott and Young’s claims were exaggerated.
Oakley did her own research in 1974, and the conclusions she drew from it were that women still saw housework and childcare as their responsibility. This is supported by Devine, who said that even women in employment did the majority of housework and childcare, though the husbands helped a little.
According to the Functionalist, Talcott Parsons, there are segregated conjugal roles in the family because they are natural. He argues that women naturally