Changing the Gender Structure of Family Organization

Gender is the basis on which families have historically been built and transformed. And the social organization of the family is the main means of constructing gender as a social and historical experience. What happens then when a couple tries to build a relationship and a family without relying on gender as an organizational principle? First of all such an effort makes more visible the multiple dimensions of the gender structure of the family, in so far it must touch upon the division of labor and of responsibilities, but also deep rooted expectations and perceptions. It must touch upon not only the organi­zation of everyday life, but also the overall pattern of an individual's, a couple's, a family's life course. As a matter of fact, the use of time seems. to be a crucial underlying dimension not only of gender relation­ ships, but also of gender egalitarian ones: time is allocated and evaluated both on the basis of what is performed and of whose time it is. It is a scarce resource, but it is also the dimension in which relationships develop and change, responsibilities come about, needs arise or decline, the different career lines and time schedules of an individual and of a couple are developed, cross each other and/or diverge.