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Social Inequality: Evidence and Patterns

Gender inequality beyond the workplace

  • 3 things to know
  • Component 3 Section A

Overview

Difference between private and public patriarchy, domestic division of labour and emotion work.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What is patriarchy?

Key term

What is the difference between private and public patriarchy?

Key term

How is gender inequality visible in political representation?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What is patriarchy?

    Model answer

    Patriarchy is a system of social relations in which men hold power and women are subordinated. Radical feminists treat it as the fundamental division in society, operating through the family, sexuality, culture and violence as well as through work.

  2. 2

    What did Sylvia Walby argue about patriarchy?

    Model answer

    Walby argued in 1990 that patriarchy operates through six structures — paid work, housework, culture, sexuality, violence and the state — and that its form in Britain had shifted from private patriarchy in the household to public patriarchy in employment and the state.

  3. 3

    What is the difference between private and public patriarchy?

    Model answer

    Private patriarchy subordinates women by excluding them within the household. Public patriarchy admits them to work and public life but segregates and subordinates them there. Walby argued the second had largely replaced the first in Britain.

  4. 4

    How is gender inequality visible in political representation?

    Model answer

    Women remain a minority of members of the House of Commons, of local councillors and of cabinet positions, although the proportion has risen substantially since the 1990s. All-women shortlists, used by some parties, are the most contested response.

  5. 5

    What is the domestic division of labour?

    Model answer

    The domestic division of labour is the way household tasks and childcare are shared between partners. Time-use research has consistently found women doing the larger share of routine domestic work, though the gap has narrowed.

  6. 6

    What did Young and Willmott argue about the family, and how was it criticised?

    Model answer

    Young and Willmott argued in 1973 that the family was becoming symmetrical, with roles increasingly shared between partners. Oakley criticised the claim, arguing that their evidence set a very low bar for male participation. Oakley's own research found housework still overwhelmingly done by women.

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ASecularisation has weakened religious pressure to marry.
BCohabitation is now widely accepted.
CThe cost of a wedding deters many couples.

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