Discuss the View That Roles of Men and Women in the Family are Becoming More Equal

The aim of this move is to attempt to tot to a conclusion as to whether the sexual practice roles inwardly the modern-day family ar commensurate, whether they atomic number 18 becoming to a greater extent equal, and whether they sh entirely ever be equal. In doing this, we shall harbour to study the cycloramas and opinions of many schools of sight, the results of diverse studies, and bring in and fully appreciate the argu workforcets of different people and groups.The title dubiousness itself raises many debateable points, as it makes assumptions that ignore the diversity of the family. Firstly, and most obviously, the question assumes we shall tho deal with heterosexually based families, not same-sex relationships. eon same-sex families most definitely exist, they argon a minority and do not really come into the thin of gender, therefore I shall ignore them for the course of this look for. Secondly, no two families are exactly the same. Families in different countr ies allow for no doubt impart different attitudes on the subject of comparison, and there will be broad differences across race, class and culture divisions, as well as betwixt two different families with (superficially at least) a lot in common. This font of diversity would require its own set of studies and essays, and so for the sake of this essay I shall limit my studies to families from this country, and to statistical conclusion rather than individual families. on that point are many different views concerning the equality surrounded by men and women in the family. The traditional nuclear family as we consider it today would be a married man and woman with children, with the man going out to paid employment and the woman staying at home to do housework and expression after the childrenWillmott and boylikes views are comparable to those of Postmodernists, a sociological school of thought that developed in the 1980s. Postmodernists intrust that we live in a postmod ern world, where differences in gender, race, class etc are now obsolete. As a result, they secure gender roles in the family to be equal and egalitarian, and phone call that any disparity or dissimilarity between gender roles in individual families is out-of-pocket to the choice of the members indoors the family.Many people have fervored Willmott and Youngs study, claiming insignificant evidence and inaccurate methodology to back up their conclusions. Edgells Middle Class Couples (1980) claims that piece of music the division of housework is much equal than in the past, the vast legal age of families are far from being egalitarian. Edgell excessively puts emphasis on the position that the division power within the family also still seems unequal, with men reservation the majority of decisions for the family. Many feminists also claimed that the statistics show that men still do a disproportionately small amount of work at home.While some to a greater extent(prenomina l)(prenominal) liberal feminists believe we are on a steady path to gender equality within the family, many more hard-line and radical feminists argue that gender roles are far from equal. Ann Oakleys The Sociology of housework (1974) and housewife (1976) argue that modern women work a double-shift, juggling regular employment and housework. Oakley claims that One occupation in particular, that of housewife, is exclusively feminine. In Britain, 76% of all employed women are housewives and so are 93% of non-employed women Housewife (1976).She argues that enchantment feminism has forced change in waged employment, kind attitudes in the home re principal(prenominal) the same. According to Oakley, men do very micro in the home, with dishwashing being the only housework men do more than women. She also argues that men see doing housework as a favour to their wives, rather than a duty and that childcare for most men is merely a spasmodic activity of recreation.Many other sociologist s attack Oakleys views, accusing her of hypocrisy as she attacked Willmott and Youngs methodology, while her own studies into housework wholly ignore the more traditional manful jobs, such as DIY, in operation(p) machinery, gardening, simple household repairs and so on.A. Wardes Domestic Divisions of Labour (1990) offers a more well rounded view *Male allyFemale PartnerSharedPlastering3242Tidying Up26723Cooking47717Checking railcar Oil7992Bathing Children224433It may also be important that the female-dominated jobs (Tidying up, Cooking, Bathing children) are much more often divided up than the male-dominated ones (Checking Car Oil, Plastering)Burghes (1997) argues against Oakleys dismissal of male childcare, stating that more fathers are taking an active role in the emotional emergence and support of their children.Marxists argue that the traditional nuclear family was merely a substance for the capitalist class to control and exploit the proletariat by dint of ideology. The refore, Marxist-Feminists believe in a patriarchal ideology, in which girls are socialised into a male-led world to accept their role as housewives, and make marriage and family their main goal. In turn, this will benefit the capitalist society by belongings the status quo, and creating a new generation of similarly socialised male workers and female housewives. Marxist-Feminists believe this patriarchy occurs at all levels of society, from making girls don skirts to advertising dolls on television, and that to truly achieve gender equality we must(prenominal) dispense with socialising our children into gender roles.People often dismiss this view, claiming that gaining equality should not mean compromising identity, and many other feminists believe that retaining their muliebrity is as important a part of the struggle for equality as gaining equal rights.The sassy responsibility believe that the nuclear family is the ideal family structure, and that Britain went through a Gold en Age during the 1950s. Since then, they claim that feminism and equal rights have caused women to carry jobs, and thus be take out from home. As a result, the New Right argue that this puts stress on the nuclear family, often tearing it apart, and that absent parents cause deviance and social problems amongst their children. They claim that this has caused a decline in the family, and an increase in what they consider social problems (egg divorce, single-parent families). They believe that the current equal rights movement is wrong, and that people should return to the traditional nuclear family, which gives everyone an equal except separate, individual role.These views are similar to those of functionalists. Functionalists also believe that the nuclear family is the complete(a) and desired family type, as each member is supported within the family unit, and each person agrees on their role within the family to keep it on the job(p). Robin pull someones leg (1969) argued tha t roles in the family were based on biological rules, while Talcott Parsons (1955) took a similar view, claiming that naturally women are best at expressive roles, such as caring, empathising and socialising, while men are best at instrumental roles, such as working for money. Therefore, functionalists believe that biological factors determine gender roles within the family, and the traditional roles within the nuclear family are the perfect representation of these roles. What is more, functionalist claim there is a consensus within the family, whereby all members of the family agree to these roles.These functionalist and new right views are brutally attacked by Marxists, feminists and postmodernists, all of whom agree that gender roles are culturally, not biologically, determined. Marxist-feminists claim that the consensus is an illusion, as women only accept their roles in the traditional family as they have been socialised to do so by patriarchal ideologies. All feminists also d isagree with the New Right idea of the perfect nuclear family and the Golden Age, claiming that all these things did were control and manipulate women, and that roles within such families were never equal.As this essay has shown us, views on gender roles in the family are fiercely contested, and opinions differ drastically. Functionalists and the New Right insist that gender roles in the family are biologically think to be different, and were most equal in the traditional, nuclear family. Postmodernists and followers of Willmott and Young claim we have moved into an era of egalitarianism, where gender roles are shared and equal. Feminists argue that while there has been a small amount of progress, gender roles are far from equal, and females still have a much worse deal than males.I have attempted to fully understand all these points of view, and come to a fair conclusion. In truth, it seems to me that the real nature of gender roles within the family is somewhere between all thes e points of view. I believe that as we soon stand, gender roles are equal, but not egalitarian. More males share more of the housework and childcare than ever, while more females are pursuing careers and education what were traditionally male skills (eg DIY, repair, vehicle maintenance etc).People tend to still do jobs that were traditionally considered right for their sex, and there are most definitely still differences between the genders, but these boundaries are being pushed every day, and more and more families are sharing more jobs and decisions. I think we must remember that social attitudes take more time to change than social actions, and we must recognise that change is occurring. Since the 1970s, when Ann Oakley wrote her books on housework, we have seen the rise of the new man and house-husbands. Meanwhile, more and more women are proving Foxs and Parsons theories of biologically determined roles to be wrong.Not all families will follow the statistics there will perpe tually be a a fewer(prenominal) male-dominated households, just as there are now role-reversal families. And families will always differ slightly from each other. But within a few generations, I believe that Willmott and Youngs vision of an egalitarian family will become our view of the majority of families, as were halfway there already.