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SEXUAL DIVISION OF LABOUR

Sociologyindex, Sociology Books 2011, Stereotyping

Sexual division of labour is the allocation of work task, either in the private household or in the public economy, on the basis of the sex of the person.

Women may cook the meals and men wash the dishes, or women may perform caring roles such as nursing or social work in the public economy, while men perform the tasks of driving trucks, fighting fires, or manufacturing goods.

Most societies have had some division of labour by sex. The sexual division of labour is related to stereotyping.

Although the expression 'sexual division of labour' seems to have survived criticism from social scientists it is actually incorrect.

The division of labour between the sexes is chiefly gendered: it is based on cultural practices rather than any inherent suitability of either sex to perform specific roles.

"Compared with the mid-1980s, there has been a massive change in attitudes towards who does what within the family," argues researcher Dr Catherine Hakim of the London School of Economics.

The Sexual Division of Labour in Feudal England
Christopher Middleton, newleftreview.org
The creation of a political economy of sexual divisions has undoubtedly been one of the most significant intellectual outcomes of the recent feminist revival. The call in the early seventies for the development of an historical and materialist (though not always Marxist) account of sexual division, oppression and conflict met with an immediate and enthusiastic response, so that the last few years have seen the emergence of a prolific literature exploring the articulation of capitalism with the sexual division of labour and its attendant relations of sexual authority and subordination. Attention has been drawn to the home as a centre of production as well as of consumption, socialization and psychological retreat; and the question of reproduction, in all its senses, is now a central concern of many Marxist studies of the workings of capitalism. Women’s responsibility for childcare and housework no longer passes unnoticed—a natural, unchanging phenomenon unworthy of serious consideration—but has come to be considered in both historical and comparative perspective.

Attitudes on the sexual division of labour are changing
esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk
Traditional views that men should bring home the bacon and women stay at home to cook it are diminishing in popularity, according to a new study of attitudes towards the sexual division of labour in the family. "Compared with the mid-1980s, there has been a massive change in attitudes towards who does what within the family," argues researcher Dr Catherine Hakim of the London School of Economics.
"Only about one-fifth of adults aged 20- 60 now accept the idea of ultimate responsibilities for income-earning and for housekeeping being allocated by sex, compared to between one-half and two-thirds of adults 12 years ago," she says.
While this change of attitude means that men no longer have the role of breadwinner imposed on them automatically, the practicalities of family life are little altered. Four-fifths of men still see themselves as the main breadwinner and only ten per cent of couples claim they are both jointly responsible for income-earning. The rejection of complete role segregation has not yet led people to accept a new model of fully symmetrical sex-roles, with both husband and wife jointly responsible for income-earning and domestic work on a day-to-day basis. Indeed, role-reversal, with the wife as the main breadwinner is generally regarded as a temporary situation, often associated with the male partner's unemployment or early retirement. So, there's no danger of women losing their monopoly of the ironing board just yet.

Women, health and the sexual division of labour : a case study of the women's health movement in Britain - Lesley Doyal
Abstract: The women's health movement in Britain can be divided into three main stages. During the first period, most activities took place outside the National Health Service with the emphasis on women as consumers of medical care. Feminists exposed the sexism inherent in most medical practice and stressed the need for women to gain control of reproductive technology. During the second phase, these priorities began to change towards a greater concern with the NHS and the need to defend it against reductions in resources, and increasing privatisation. These campaigns involved women not just as users of medical services, but also as health workers, bringing the women's health movement into the wider political arena. Socialist feminists argued that feminist participation in health struggles was essential if the NHS was to be not merely defended but qualitatively changed to meet the real needs of users and workers. During the third (and current) stage of the women's health movement, feminists have moved beyond a concern with medical care alone towards the development of a socialist feminist epidemiology - towards the identification and eventual elimination of those aspects of contemporary society that make women sick. - © 2011 by Critical Social Policy Ltd - csp.sagepub.com/content/3/7/21

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