GENDER DIVISION OF LABOR

Gender and Society

SECRETARY

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

CONSTRUCTION WORKER

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
DOCTOR

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

NURSE

___ ___ ___ ___ ___

TEACHER

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

PROFESSOR

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GENDER DIVISION OF LABOR

The way work divided between men and

women according to their gender role.
BEFORE THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

 In agrarian societies, both spouses worked in the

farm
 Often the women would tend the kitchen, the
garden, the home and the poultry
 Often the man would do the heavier task in the
field and slaughter the heavy animals
AFTER THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

 Roughly in 1700s – 1800s, people begin to work

outside their home for wages
 This was not a complete shift until the World War
II
SEPARATION OF SPHERES

 Men’s domain was the public sphere outside the

home
 Women’s domain was the private sphere inside the
home
 A marriage in which a man works outside the home
for pay and a woman does unpaid work at home is
called a breadwinner/homemaker relationship
WOMEN’S WORK

 Women often did “Women’s Work”

 Teaching
 Secretary Work
 House Cleaning
 Nursing
 Often, women did “helping” or “supporting” roles
for more powerful or prestigious men
OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION

Refers to the inequality in the distribution

of women and men across different
occupational categories.
Horizontal Segregation
Vertical Segregation
HORIZONTAL SEGREGATION

refers to the extent to which men and women

are located in different occupational sectors
VERTICAL SEGREGATION

refers to the extent to which men and women occupy

different hierarchal positions within the same
occupational sector
DEVALUING WOMEN’S WORK

 Women’s work is often devalued

 In the past, a man’s wage was supposed to support his
family but a woman’s wage was seen a supplementary
income
 Are feminized jobs paid poorly because they are not
valuable or because women do them?
 A Conceptual Framework for Gender Analysis
and Planning
Construct your own gender activity profile, as relevant to your course.
The main questions to ask are:
 who does what?
 where do men and women work?
 when do men and women work and for how long?
ACTIVITY PROFILE
Location Activity Gender Time

HOME CHILD CARE EQUALLY DAILY

MALE/FEMALE