Sexual division of labour

Sexual division of labour can be defined as a separation of labour along the lines of gender. It can be considered to be a cultural behaviour, rather than a genetic one, One of the outcomes of a sexual division of labour can be argued to have been the idea of women as a separate category in human society, or the idea of men and women, and so the origin of gender (http://www.arts.uwa.edu.au/archaeology/Sandra2.htm) It can be seen in the workforce and within the domestic setting, as well as other areas of social activity, such as politics. The division of labour in public and private settings along gender lines will be considered, as will as the possible benefits to women from having this kind of labour division.

The division of labour by gender within both paid and unpaid work and between them exists in almost all societies and from earliest times, even though the nature of the specialised work done by women and men differs significantly by place, time, and in some cases, over the life cycle.

Suffragettes - Labor Day '13 (LOC)

English: Cover of the French edition of the Divisi...

Pocock handwriting

This division of labour has been accepted historically and culturally as a natural order. Yoshie Furuhashi (http://csf.colorado.edu/forums/m-fem/98/0271.html) notes that, according to Engel's, "there was a 'natural' division of labour, with men specializing in producing the means of subsistence while women worked in the household." Thus the concept of the sexual division of labour has always been a historical reality. John MacInnes (http://www.bradford.ac.uk/acad/dppc/gender/mandmabstracts/jmacinnes.html) describes this division of labour as 'patriarchy', a kind of 'gender contract' which defines explicitly what people of either sex can do or think. The accepted sexual division of labour has meant that women's work has been limited to childrearing and other domestic duties (e.g housework) and limited to the private sphere. Men, on the other hand, have occupied the role of 'breadwinner'...