CouplesWorking in small groups, explore and discuss the following:

  1. Who makes the major decisions in your household? These might include things like a house move, a major purchase, booking a holiday or choosing a new school.
  2. How does your answer fit with Pahl & Vogler’s argument on page 24?
  3. What factors do you think contribute to deciding who makes these decisions, or are decisions made jointly and equally?
  4. What do you understand by the term ‘New Man’ in the context of gender roles?
  5. Can you think how the invention and wide availability of the contraceptive pill and more liberal (easier) divorce reforms might have affected couples power relationships?