No to unisex roles ? : a comparative study in gender roles in Hal Kirkop

Abstract

Jeremy Boissevain, in his book Hal Farrug: A Village in Malta (1969), a study carried out in the early 1960s, stated that gender roles in the family life were clearly segregated along sex lines. He defines the family as based on a sharp sexual division of labour, in which the man was expected to be the breadwinner and act as a head of the household. On the other hand, the woman was expected to stay at home and be responsible for the domestic care and upkeep of the home. This study intends to uncover social change, if any, in terms of gender roles in the contemporary family. The research examines the contrasting features of the traditional family vis-a-vis the contemporary family in fial Kirkop. The research findings demonstrate a complex context of the contemporary family. It is clear that the family unit departed from the traditional sex-ascribed unit. However, this does not necessarily mean that traditional elements are no longer there. The contemporary family, which I referred to the neo-traditional family, suggests that there is no evidence of a total disruption of the traditional model. One cannot draw a line and distinguish between traditional and contemporary families. The elements of a traditional family are being combined in the contemporary one, making it possible for the two family arrangements to co-exist and possibly be blended together. In this context, gender roles are blurred and not so clear cut, but still present.