Factors in the Division of Labor by Sex: A Cross-Cultural Analysis

Abstract

A division of labor betweeIl the sexes has long been recognized by economists, sociologists, and other behavioral scientists as (I) the original and most basic form of economic specialization and exchange, and as (2) the most fundamental basis of marriage and the family and hence the ultimate source of all forms of kinship organization. On the whole, however, scholars have focused their major attention on the consequences rather than the causes of the division of labor by sex, seeking, for example, to ascertain 1tS bearing on such matters as the status of women and the forms of soczal organization. In the present paper the emphasis shifts to an inquiry into the factors governing the assignment of particular tasks to men or to women in the cultures of the world.