The doing gender theory suggests that daily behaviours and actions contribute to creating, reinforcing, or changing gender roles. However, previous studies have often used this theory to describe behaviours that conform to gendered stereotypes and norms based on essentialist beliefs about natural differences between women and men, which perpetuates unequal gender roles. To address this, scholars have emphasized the importance of distinguishing between doing and undoing gender. Undoing gender refers to behaviours and actions that lead to more equal and interchangeable economic and familial roles, ultimately resulting in more egalitarian gender relations.
It is widely recognised that socio-demographic variables and life events, such as the transition to parenthood, have a significant impact on couples' work-family arrangements, beyond the national context. However, the effect of gender role attitudes has not been fully established, especially in the Swiss context, which is rather conservative regarding gender roles. To address this gap, we aim to better understand the extent to which couples in Switzerland can undo gender in their paid and unpaid work arrangements over the life course.
To achieve this goal, we adopt a longitudinal approach by following heterosexual couples of working age between 2002 and 2020. We use data from 13 waves of the Swiss Household Panel and estimate pooled logistic and fixed-effects models. By taking a couple perspective, we specifically examine how both partners' attitudes towards working mothers influence the couple's concrete allocation of paid and unpaid work. We acknowledge that individual attitudes may have different effects on work-family arrangements at different stages of family life. Through our analyses, we seek to investigate the extent to which normative work-family arrangements can be challenged and the role attitudes play in doing or undoing gender more generally. By considering these complexities, we aim to provide a more nuanced understanding of how gender role attitudes and work-family practices interact and influence each other over time.