Doing Gender Through Housework and Sex: Short-Run Changes in Sexual Frequency and Housework

• In Event: 054 - Section on the Sociology of the Family Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 11. Fertility and Sexuality

Abstract

Recent research on married heterosexual couples has found greater sexual frequency when couples divide household labor in more gender-traditional ways, linking gendered displays of household labor to the activation of sexual scripts. Yet while symbolic interactionist perspectives on gender performance imply a dynamic relationship between displays of gender and others’ responses to gender performances, this research examines only a cross-sectional relationship. We propose a unique use of couple data that takes advantage of non-concurrent spousal responses to examine the effect of changes in household behavior on changes in sexual frequency over short periods of time. In this article, we test the gendered sexual scripts perspective by using data from spouses who report at different times. Results support the sexual scripts perspective and imply that changes in the performance of gender-typed behavior over short time periods impact dyadic marital processes.

Author

• Katrina Leupp, University of Washington