Family

• 75% of mothers have primary responsibility for childcare in the home
• 25% of women experience domestic violence at some point in their lifetime
• Childcare costs in the UK are the highest
• Which sociologists give reasons for the different + unfair roles in the family for women?

  • Delphy & Leonard (triple shift)
  • Oakley (segregated conjugal roles)
  • Edgell (investigated decision-making)
• Which sociologists give reasons for the dark side of the family (domestic abuse rates)?

  • Ansley (takers of shit)
  • Walby (6 patriarchal structures)
  • Firestone (biological fact key cause of patriarchal oppression)
• Oakley argues that women have segregated conjugal roles in the family where the roles are divided unfairly with the women having to do the majority of the work.
• Which sociologist investigated decision-making in the family?

  Edgell
• What did Egell find about decision-making within families?

  That Women made decisions about the day-to-day life of the family eg what to have for dinner, what to buy for birthdays etc.

  Men however were in charge of the “important” decisions eg financial decisions around which house and car to buy.

  He argued this was strongly linked to the man usually being the dominant breadwinner.
• Delphy & Leonard - found that women carry out the emotional work at home. Women carried out the role of giving love and sympathy, particularly to children, whereas men found this difficult and often did not.
• Delphy & Leonard - They argued that women operate a triple shift performing the emotional work as well as housework and having a paid job. This can prevent women from succeeding in their careers as they have to work part-time or can not take promotions due to their home commitments.
• Ansley (Marxist feminist) - states that women are the “takers of shit” meaning they soak up the frustrations of men when they come home from work so that they do not take their frustrations out on their boss which would be detrimental to capitalism.
• Walby - argues there are still 6 patriarchal structures where women are oppressed. As well as seeing the family as one due to the roles performed that go unpaid, she also argued that one was violence against women. The view sees violence as part of patriarchal power. It is a weapon by which men control women.
• Firestone - sees the biological fact that women are child bearers as a key cause of patriarchal oppression. By having children women are tied to their husbands and the home.