Doing gender in Spanish same-sex couples. The distribution of housework and childcare

Abstract

Housework and childcare have been considered mechanisms for ‘doing gender’ through the allocation of different functions to women and to men. Women continue to devote more time and effort to this type of work, in spite of their progressive incorporation into the labour market. Same-sex couples escape this gender binarism, and so this study set out to learn the distribution criteria work, as well as the influence of gender socialization when it comes to establishing this distribution. A qualitative investigation was carried out with 21 Spanish same-sex families. The results indicate that the majority of couples position themselves in an egalitarian discourse based on the absence of differentiated gender roles and a low level of specialization. No differences were found between male and female couples. Nevertheless, the female couples show higher levels of discontent when the distribution was not egalitarian. In conclusion, it is proposed that the effects of gender socialization are perpetuated beyond heterosexual relationships and also affect same-sex couples.

Keywords:

• Same-sex couples
• housework
• childcare
• gender

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education’s Training of University Teachers Programme (FPU).

Notes on contributors

Gloria Álvarez Bernardo is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Granada. Her research focuses on kinship and gender studies. Her doctoral thesis was about same-sex families in Spain.

Nuria Romo Avilés is a lecturer at the University of Granada. She is member of the Institute of Women’s and Gender Studies. University of Granada. Her research focuses on social anthropology and gender studies, especially the relationship between gender and health.

Ana Belén García Berbén is a lecturer at the University of Granada. Her research focuses on bullying and learning approaches. Her current project examines homophobic bullying.