'Men and Women are becoming more equal' Is this a fair description of family life in Britain at the start of the 21st Century.

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‘Men and Women are becoming more equal’ Is this a fair description of family life in Britain at the start of the 21st Century.

It is true to say that often through out time, in various circumstances and situations, individuals have been discriminated based on their gender. We would think that after numerous years of battle for equality, we would have reached the point where the role of men and women at home merged and the different responsibilities shared. Although there is no generally accepted way of measuring inequality between husbands and wives, different researchers have measured it in different ways. However, most find little evidence that inequality in marriage has been significantly reduced.

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Willmott and Young used the word ‘symmetry’ to describe the duties of husbands and wives as the idea of symmetry describes a ‘sense of balance’ between the tasks which are carried out. They believe that women took the major responsibilities of domestic labour and child care, men are spending an equal amount of time on home centred activities. Relationships of this type are known as joint conjugal roles whereby tasks are shared.

However Willmott and Young have been severely critisized on their assumptions being based on ‘typical, metropolitan white families’ over looking family diversity present in society. The term ‘symmetry’ ...

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