Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice: Health Effects of the Sexual Division of Labor among Train Cleaners

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Abstract
Attempts have been made to justify the sexual division of labor by referring to women's relative physical weakness, lack of technical competence, and dislike for dirty work. An analysis of the work activity of train cleaners in France showed a rigid sexual division of labor, in which the task of toilet cleaning was exclusively assigned to women. Interviews and observations revealed a number of physical constraints associated with the work, and particularly with toilet cleaning. Women employees suffered from many musculoskeletal problems and were frequently absent from work. Toilet cleaning involved traveling distances of over 20 kilometers per day and maintaining uncomfortable postures. Twenty-five percent of time during the actual cleaning was spent in a crouched position. The work was complex, involving a number of choices and decisions, as well as requiring a variety of techniques adapted to the differences in the nature and location of soil. This “women's job” was dirty and physically demanding, and required technical skill. Among train cleaners, the inability to rotate jobs due to sex-typed job assignment may be associated with specific health and safety risks for both sexes.