4.2.2.3 Gender roles, domestic labour and power in the family Quiz: AQA Sociology, Unit 2

The 20 questions

1. Which term, associated with Arlie Hochschild, describes the unpaid domestic work that women often do after a full day of paid employment?

   • The glass ceiling, in which women are prevented from reaching senior positions in organisations
   • The double standard, in which men and women are judged by different moral rules in public life
   • The second shift, in which employed women take on the bulk of housework and childcare at home
   • The reserve army of labour, in which unemployed workers are kept available for employers to hire

2. Which study by Ann Oakley is most associated with the analysis of housework as unpaid work that is often undervalued?

   • Family Life and Kinship (1959), which examined the extended family networks of working-class communities
   • Suicide (1897), which examined the social factors that influence suicide rates across different groups
   • The Affluent Worker (1968), which examined the attitudes of manual workers to their employment and their lives
   • Sociology of Housework (1974), which examined housework as work and identified its patterns and meanings for women

3. Which concept describes the emotional and caring work, such as remembering birthdays and managing family relationships, that is often done by women?

   • Wage labour in the family, which involves the payment of money in return for work carried out at home
   • Surplus value in the family, which involves the profit that employers gain from the work of family members
   • Manual labour in the family, which involves physically demanding tasks such as carrying heavy loads in the home
   • Emotional labour in the family, which involves the management of feelings, relationships and care for others

4. Which statement describes the way that financial management in couples has been studied by Jan Pahl?

   • Couples always manage money in exactly the same way, with the husband controlling all of the household finances
   • Couples manage money only through the state, so there are no private arrangements between partners
   • Couples manage money in different ways, such as through a shared pool, a whole wage system or independent allowances
   • Couples never discuss money at all, so financial management has no effect on relationships or power

5. Which argument is associated with the view that domestic labour is shaped by power relations between men and women?

   • Domestic labour is determined only by the number of hours worked in paid employment by each partner
   • Men may use their greater power to avoid housework, leaving women to carry out the bulk of domestic tasks
   • Domestic labour is determined entirely by biological differences between men and women in all societies
   • Men and women have always shared domestic labour equally, so power relations play no part in the household

6. Which statement describes the evidence on the division of domestic labour in the UK?

   • The division of domestic labour is exactly equal between men and women in every household in the UK
   • The division of domestic labour has no relationship to gender, because it depends only on the number of children
   • Men carry out more housework than women on average, because men have more free time than women do
   • Women continue to carry out more housework and childcare than men on average, even when both partners work

7. Which argument is associated with the view that gender roles in the family are learned through socialisation?

   • Children learn gender roles through the differential treatment, toys and expectations they receive from families and others
   • Children learn gender roles only in adulthood, when they start employment and form their own households
   • Children learn gender roles only from the media, with no influence from family or school in any form
   • Children are born with fixed gender roles, which they follow automatically without any social influence at all

8. Which concept describes a situation in which one partner exercises control over the other, including through violence or coercion, within the household?

   • Domestic violence, in which partners or family members use physical, emotional or financial abuse to control others
   • Symmetrical families, in which couples make decisions together and share all responsibilities for children
   • Conjugal roles, in which husbands and wives share the tasks of the household in a fair and equal way
   • Joint conjugal roles, in which couples socialise together with the same network of friends and relatives

9. Which evaluation of the view that family power is shared equally in modern couples is most consistent with sociological debate?

   • It is irrelevant, because power within the family does not affect the lives of its members in any way at all
   • It is entirely accurate, because modern couples have identical power, earnings and domestic responsibilities
   • It is entirely inaccurate, because modern couples have no contact with each other and make decisions separately
   • It may overstate equality, since research shows continuing gender inequalities in decision making and domestic labour

10. Which concept, associated with Ann Oakley and others, describes a set of expectations about what is appropriate for men and women to do in the family?

    • Ethnic roles, which are the socially defined expectations linked to a person's cultural background and origin
    • Age roles, which are the socially defined expectations linked to the particular stage of a person's life course
    • Class roles, which are the socially defined expectations linked to a person's occupational or economic position
    • Gender roles, which are the socially defined expectations of appropriate behaviour for men and women

11. Which argument best describes the relationship between employment and domestic labour for women?

    • Women's paid employment has removed all domestic responsibilities, so women now have no housework at all
    • Women's paid employment has ended the family, so domestic labour has become unnecessary in modern societies
    • Women's paid employment has made no difference to domestic life, because women have always worked in the home
    • Women's paid employment has increased, but this has not always led to an equal reduction in their domestic responsibilities

12. Which concept describes the way that the family has been used by the state to reinforce particular gender roles, such as through tax and benefit systems?

    • Ideological hegemony, in which dominant cultural values are accepted as natural by subordinate groups in society
    • Policy effects on gender roles, in which welfare and tax systems encourage particular divisions of labour
    • Secularisation, in which religious institutions lose their influence over the moral values of the population
    • Symbolic interaction, in which individuals create meanings through their everyday interactions with one another

13. Which statement best describes the concept of 'the male breadwinner' in relation to gender roles in the family?

    • It describes the model in which children are the main earners of the household through part-time work
    • It describes the model in which men are the main earners and women are primarily responsible for home and care
    • It describes the model in which both partners are equally responsible for earnings and for all domestic work
    • It describes the model in which women are the main earners and men are primarily responsible for home and care

14. A study finds that couples in which the woman has a higher income report more arguments about housework. Which explanation would a feminist sociologist most likely consider?

    • Higher income has no effect on relationships, so the arguments must be caused by the age of the children
    • Women with higher incomes always have more free time, so they are more likely to argue about the housework
    • Higher income is a biological factor that causes conflict within any couple, regardless of social context
    • Power relations and gendered expectations may lead to conflict when women's economic position challenges traditional roles

15. Which evaluation of research into domestic labour is most appropriate?

    • Survey data can fully capture every aspect of domestic life, including all feelings and meanings, without any limits
    • Survey data are irrelevant to domestic labour, because it cannot be measured by any method in any setting at all
    • Survey data are always more reliable than interviews, because numbers cannot be affected by the perceptions of respondents
    • Survey data can show patterns of time spent on tasks, but may not capture how couples experience and negotiate these tasks

16. Which concept describes the expectation that women should take primary responsibility for caring for children and the home?

    • Gender role expectation, in which caring and domestic work are socially assigned to women
    • Ethnic role expectation, in which care and work are assigned according to a person's cultural background
    • Class role expectation, in which work and care are assigned according to a person's occupational position
    • Age role expectation, in which care and work are assigned according to a person's stage in the life course

17. Which statement best describes the gendered division of domestic labour in many UK households?

    • Men are more likely than women to take responsibility for routine housework, childcare and organising the home
    • Women are more likely than men to take responsibility for routine housework, childcare and organising the home
    • Domestic labour is done only by paid cleaners and childminders, so family members rarely do any housework
    • Domestic labour is shared equally in all households, so gender has no effect on who does the housework

18. Which study method would be most suitable for exploring how couples negotiate housework and decisions in their own words?

    • A content analysis of television advertising, which records how housework is represented in commercials
    • A laboratory experiment in which couples are placed in artificial conditions and their housework is timed
    • In-depth interviews with couples, allowing participants to describe how they negotiate and experience domestic roles
    • An official census of households, which records only the number of people who live in each household

19. Which concept describes how a partner's control over money can affect power within a household?

    • Ideological hegemony, in which dominant values are accepted by subordinate groups as common sense
    • Symbolic violence, in which dominant cultural standards are imposed on others as if they were natural
    • Financial power, in which control over income and spending gives one partner greater influence over decisions
    • Cultural capital, in which knowledge and tastes give individuals advantage in education and the labour market

20. Which term describes the caring work of looking after children and dependants, which is often unpaid and undervalued?

    • Surplus labour, which is the output of workers beyond what is needed to cover their wages
    • Reserve labour, which is the pool of unemployed workers who can be drawn into work when needed
    • Manual labour, which is physically demanding work carried out in factories and on building sites
    • Care work, which is unpaid or low-paid labour in looking after children, older people and other dependants

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