Women's Work

Linda Gilmore

Brown, Judith.  "A Note on the Division of Labor by Sex."  American Anthropologist 72  (1970):  1073-78. Article first published online:  28 OCT 2009.

Using ethnographic records, Judith Brown cites several examples of division of labor by sex among various tribal groups.  It is evident that the division of labor is based almost entirely on the female's child bearing and child care responsibilities.  In societies in which the work to be done was conducive to performing the necessary tasks while simultaneously caring for children, men and women were more likely to share the work load fairly equally; both the type and amount of work to be done.  According to Brown, "It is obvious
that certain subsistence activities are extremely compatible with simultaneous child care and that societies depending on such subsistence bases invite considerable economic contribution by women" (p. 1077).

Of course, with technological advances and civilization things change.  In 1893 Durkheim would state that though, "primitive men and women are fairly similar in strength and intelligence...  With the “progress of morality,” women became weaker and their brains became smaller" (Brown, p. 1074).  This quote is compatible with a quote from Wajcman (1991) that Katherine T. Durack uses in her article, "Gender, Technology, and the History of Technical Communication, "the work of women is often deemed inferior simply because it is women who do it" (p. 39).  

It seems that the extent to which women's work is valued is directly related to how dependent a society is upon that work, and in the context of technical communication, it is also dependent upon the definitions of technology and workplace. As in other articles we've read regarding defining technical communication, the definition of technology broadens everyday.  We are now considering the possibility that cookbooks and sewing pattern instructions may be considered technical writing.  The technical communication workplace is also becoming more fluid with people working from home or any other place that has wifi available.

Maybe in time modern society will achieve the same egalitarian approach to all forms of work that the tribal groups had, and work done by women, especially done by women at home, will be as valued as work done outside the home by men.  The field of technical communication is definitely at the forefront of creating equal opportunity for women, and equal value for women's work.  This equality and value will only continue to increase as our definitions and inclusion become more widespread.