Chapter 15: Families and Households
- It’s About Time! Gender, Parenthood, and Household Divisions of Labor Under Different Welfare Regimes - This article explores how a country's family policies and levels of support for gender equality impacts upon gendered patterns of work–family balance within households, highlighting the intersections between families, policy and gendered inequalities.
1. How does the presence of young children impact upon the division of labour within families?
2. How do gender norms shape 'doing gender' within families?
3. How do states effect the division of labour within families?
- Lived Experiences of Childfree Lesbians in the United Kingdom: A Qualitative Exploration This article examines the lives of five childfree lesbians, exploring families of choice and family outside of a heteronormative lens.
1. What area has research on 'families of choice' traditionally focuses on?
2. Why may lesbian women be less pressured into having children compared to heterosexual women?
3. How was family conceptualized by the women within the study?
- Women (Not) Troubling “the Family”: Exploring Women’s Narratives of Gendered Family Practices - This article examines the ways in which young women make choices about their family lives, demonstrating how this reproduces gender inequality within family practices.
1. How may the concept of 'choice' reinforce traditional forms of family?
2. Why may the discourses surrounding female sexuality encourage women into monogamous relationships?
3. How may traditionally ideas of 'family' legitimize gender inequality?