Undoing gender: how does it work for domestic chores?

Carmen Botia Morillas, Universidad Pablo de Olavide
Marta Dominguez Folgueras, OSC-Sciences Po
Teresa Jurado-Guerrero, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED)

The objective of this paper is to study undoing gender, a relatively uncommon aim in previous qualitative research. What enables some women to attain an equal sharing of housework, while others think it is unfair but do not manage to change it? What role do negotiation and conflict play in undoing gender? We perform a qualitative analysis on semi-structured interviews –both individual and couple- gathered in 2011, for 33 couples with a non-traditional division of domestic work. The paper shows three new results: first, there is no need to undertake an explicit negotiation about how to distribute domestic chores; second, in these couples resources (in a broad sense) are combined in a non-hegemonic way; third, the mix of attitudes and their interaction within the couple are crucial to understand why these couples differ from others with similar socio-economic resources.