Are Conjugal Roles in Contempo essays

Are Conjugal Roles in Contempo essays Discuss the view that conjugal roles are equal in contemporary Britain There has been much debate over equality within family environments. Historically there have also been many issues relating to equal rights for men and women. Women have often been treated differently to men, in the early 1900s a group of women called the Suffragettes successfully campaigned to give women the right to vote. Recently there have been disputes over equal pay for men and women which has led to anti discriminatory laws being passed. There have also been movements such as feminism which has challenged the views of society towards men and women. There are many pieces of research which study equality within roles although comparing them can be difficult. This is because equality is not something that can be measured or represented in a clear way. The notion of equality in itself is multi faceted and hard to define. This has led to researchers studying equality in several different ways. These include looking at levels of involvement in domestic tasks and exploring the distribution of power in relationships. Willmott and Young (1973) devised a four stage model of family life. In the 1971 book, the symmetrical family they used historical data combined with their own empirical data to explore changes in family roles and structure. The four stage model covers pre industrial in stage one to present day in stage three. Stage four also explores how they feel the family may change in the future. Willmott and Young argue that in the modern family the roles of the husband and wife are largely symmetrical. This means the roles within the family are different whilst also being similar in terms of contribution and involvement. For example, whilst the wife will typically look after the children and do housework the husband contributes by working in paid employment to support the family. They also provided evidence for a degree of role sharing with the...