Changing Gender Relations, Changing Families: Tracing the Pace of Change Over Time

It’s common knowledge that responsibilities in the home are not divided equally between men and women. Most sociological studies of this phenomenon focus on why these gender differences are so persistent-persistent enough to have earned names like the dual burden and the second shift. Feminists bemoan how slowly this gender gap is changing. Sociologist Oriel Sullivan, however, focuses on the neglected topic of the processes of change, discussing changing domestic gender practices on many different levels-from changes in attitudes about gender equality in the home to the quantitative analysis of change in the domestic division of labor. Sullivan argues that it’s time to consider these issues from a longer historical perspective. Changing Genders, Changing Families argues for an acceptance that change is with us, presents multi-layered evidence for change, and offers a theoretical structure that is useful for developing an account of these processes of change. His newly developed theoretical approach connects the wider discussion of gender practices within the home to the interactions and negotiations that individuals engage in on a day-to-day basis. He includes empirical evidence for change, presenting findings based upon directly comparable cross-national data from the mid-1960s to the late 1990s. This book will appeal to readers interested in gender studies, sociology, and in the changing gender equity of the home.