During the war, women had to go out and work to help the war efforts while the men were out fighting. Women took over many of the jobs, primarily attended by males, on farms and in factories to keep the economy running. Women showed how capable they were in doing these jobs and so, after the wars continued to do these jobs.
The ‘Suffragette movement’ and the ‘Women’s movement’ were ways women deprived and battled out equality in the sexes. The ‘Suffragette movement was aimed to achieve equal rights in voting for men and women in parliamentary debates and elections. The ‘Women’s movement’ was to fight for equality of the sexes in a wide range of areas and issues in the sociological world. The women wanted to abolish patriarchy, which is the dominance of men in society. Throughout the battle for equality, there were many climates of expectation, where women expect to be treated equally and not just as lovers, housewives and mothers.
A decline in the size of families meant women didn’t have to spend as much time with there children which created more time for independence and for women to do what they wanted to do, much of the time, they wanted to start working, and many of the did.
The compulsory education for children meant women had more time while their children went to school. Another aspect of education in this issue is that women are getting far more, better grades then men in the world today, and so there are more jobs, available for women.
Lastly, technology in the home is an important issue, which has made family life for men and women, much easier. Today, there are machines, which will wash and dry clothes, cook food, clean dishes and even create entertainment to make family life of the cohabiting couple easier. Because of this new ease of housework, men are more willing to pull in and help bung clothes into the machine. But if there was no such facility they would be prone to ‘run away’ from the thought of having to wash, dry, and iron clothes.
A relevant issue talked about in the sociological world is the rates of pay and the number of job opportunities open for women compared with the jobs on offer forty, sixty and even one hundred years ago. People believe the women get paid for this role in society, which they do, but an even bigger job at home awaits them. This job is not paid, when they return from a hard, long day – Housework or ‘domestic labour’ This domestic chore is hardly seen as a real job because, housework involves women cleaning up their own families. Data published by the Office for National Statistics shows women with a child under five spend about sixty-five hours a week on housework, childcare and other related tasks. Because some men are frequently refusing to carry out domestic tasks other than repair work on the house, women seem to find themselves better off as a lone parent if they have to work and do all the domestic labour in the home.
The most important issue to take into account when observing sociological changes is the role models of parents to their children. Everyday, parents lead their children to lead a good life and teach them respect and discipline. But the child will also see throughout his or her life all the types of things done and carried out by their parents. As these roles become more frequently demonstrated on a regular basis as the child grows older, he or she will respect that the certain role either played by her mother or father, is a norm. The child therefore, usually takes this role into account, as he or she grows into adult hood and follow in the footsteps of their kinship. The first signs of this reaction taking place are when young girls help their mothers to cook, help clean and do domestic jobs. As for the boys, they follow the dad to clean the car, do repairs and make things.
In the second half of the twentieth century, relations between male and female partners have become more equal. The assumption is that there have been changes from segregated to integrated conjugal roles revealing the ‘symmetrical family’. These days, both partners expect to be in paid employment. Household chores are interchangeable and flexible. More males are taking on female traditions in housework. Many men prefer this and stay at home to become ‘house husbands’. Partners then share friends and decision making. There are many reasons why this has happened. Many were mentioned earlier on in the essay. The status and rights for women has forced men to accept that women are more independent and are not just the typical housewife or mother. The increase in women’s jobs has forced men to look after children. With the declining rates of classic extended families means there is less pressure brought on by kin on newly married or cohabiting couples. There are many other reasons, as well as the technology in the home, the ‘Women’s movement’, and the decline in family sizes. All of which are mentioned earlier in the essay.
In terms of ‘who does what?’ Data from the British Social Attitudes Survey, 1992 shows that 79% of washing and ironing is done by women, compared to the 2% of men and 18% share equally. 70% of women cook, prepare and decide what to have for the evening meal, compared to the 8% of men. All these figure are relatively the same in household cleaning, organisation and looking after children. Men tend to carry out the household repairs by 82% but is this really enough?
So, overall, as I have said, roles in the family are slowly but surely becoming more equal and fair. I think this is because of the change in women. This change is likely to continue as new generations of children will see their parents sharing tasks and carry this type of role model into adulthood.
