The concept of power is central to a sociological analysis of the family and power is the ability of a social actor to carry out their will despite resistance, it is the ability to get what you want even though others may not want it.
The family is a key place where power is exercised and and exerted and sociologist will see inequalities within the families the family differently based upon their theoretical perspective on how power is distributed.
The functionalist will take a very traditional approach to the family and they will suggest that there is a natural division of labour based upon biological differences. Talcott Parsons believed that women are suited better for caring because of their expressive roles as carers and they naturally care for children and also emotional support for the family.
Marxist feminist; They believe that men are the main cause of the inequalities and by reproducing the workforce and the inequalities within it within the family. The family then acts like a filter by which the anger of oppression felt by men in the workplace comes out within the family and this creates inequalities in the distribution.
Radical feminists; they believe that the family and the female role is created by men for the benefit of men to enable them to go to work without the burden of childcare or domestic work which is completed by their parents, ie the women.
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