The Role of Women in the Family

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The Role of Women in the Family

INTRODUCTION

I have taken some extracts from the following authors and their books,

to bring you my version of the roles of women in the last fifty years

and how it's changed.

A Oakley Sex, gender and sexuality.

N Dennis and co Coal is our life

P Wilmott and M Young Family and class in London suburbs

Also The Symmetrical family

C Turbull The forest people

And last but not least an article from the guardian paper based on

inequality at home.

THE MAIN LAYOUT

We look at women and their roles in the last fifty years and realise

that depending

On our culture or how we were moulded as children, women can have many

different roles. The most common for women is attending to men, the

house and bearing their children, this role is called the housewife.

We have always been expected to be weaker and maternal, some women

have shown that they can be stronger than men by taking on their roles

as well as their own but sometimes not by choice for example: single

parenting, poverty (where no work for men and women work the streets

etc), illness and even maybe religion.

Since equal rights and opportunities came into force, more couples are

both working, more mums have help to go back to work, men are doing

their fair share of the house work and also couples are making equal

decisions. Women by now were also able to use contraception to prevent

having a high quantity of children, which gave them a bit more

freedom.

Since 1970 families have become more equal and privatised, it wasn't a

big change for men as from 1950 families started to slowly progress

towards being symmetrical.

There are many benefits when families become more equal, it can take

pressure off one another due to sharing roles and even if the wife

takes up a part time or full time work this can help them financially

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