I think that men should help with housework

@SW-User I know what happened during the second world war... Owing to a lack of men available women were accepted into more mainstream physical work.

I am not rationalising the current situation, I am trying to explain one way that the attitudes may have come to pass...

I can cook, clean, iron, sew etc because these to me are life skills everyone should have, I can also paint, hang wallpaper (admittedly badly), build shelving units perform simple automobile maintenance, because these too are life skills. None of these is, or should be gender specific, they are just things everyone should know how to do.

@Quizzical Prior to industrialisation women worked in the fuelds, for exsmpke, and their babies would be brought to be breast fed. Meanwhile women higher up the social scale employed "wet nurses" to feed their infants - working class women who'd has a baby and therefore could breastfeed
So there are other reasons for the division of labour than those you've claimed.
However, keep up the good (house)work :)

@SW-User You don't get a lot of fields in inner cities... There has always been a difference in the division of labour between rural and city communities. In rural areas everyone chips in, even children.

It's not a claim, it's merely a suggestion. As I do not have a doctorate in gender studies or sociology my suggestion is just as full of holes as anyone else's. I am sure there are a multitude of factors.

But the 'men are just lazy assholes' stance that seems to be prevalent these days does not sit well with me.

@Quizzical Prior to industrialisation there were few cities! Now women also work full time, have children, and do most of the chores. Only wealthy women can stay home to be wives and mothers. That said, many women in this class also want a career.

@SW-User There were still a lot of cities. They were just a lot smaller...

I am not actually sure what we are arguing about anymore tbh. I am not saying that women have NEVER worked, nor that life was ever easy... It wasn't really particularly easy for anyone except for the elite.

But there is a definite physical reason why men were the ones who mainly went out to work, and also a reason for woman being homemakers.

Prior to industrialisation there was no a division of labour based on biology!! There are political reasons why women ended up as cooks and cleaners, why housework became viewed as women's work. As said, you need a very big history lesson.

@SW-User Of course there was... There has been since the dawn of time... Women were gatherers, men were hunters! lol

The bigger, stronger, faster men went out to fight sabretooths etc, and the milk producing women stayed near the cave and looked after the kids...

Hence as a side effect, men developed extreme focus, and woman developed multitasking skills.

So, what are the political reasons for women being lumped with housework in your opinion?

@Quizzical You've kind of idealized how it was with Hunter gathers and interpreted according to the division a of Labour now, imposed 20/21st century stuff on the past. There were not such division at all. A possible reason for the division of Labour after industrialisation is connected to the marketplace, jobs available. Again compare the role of women during the war, and after