Are there any universals about gender roles acorss all societies?

Question

If so, what are they? if not, why?

Answer 1

When you talk of generalities, such as gender roles, you are leaving lots of room for deviance...or exceptions to the rule as it were.  That being said, women have for the most part avoided metal working tasks, be it iron workers to rail road workers to black smiths, males dominate these positions.

   Also, in spite of being the majority of the human population, NO state, or country wide legislature has a majority of women legislators.

True, there are individual exceptions to these gender roles, but these are still aberrations.  For gender roles across all societies though, these two are about as close as you can get  to being universal.

Answer 2

Childbearing is aways the woman's job.  Pretty sexist if you ask me.

Answer 3

Yes. All men should take out the rubbish.

Answer 4

Wombmen are always female.  Breast feeding infants (when done) is always done by females.  The role of Mother (however defined) is always associated with the female gender and Father (however defined) is a male role.

There is just no way to avoid these roles which seem to be biologically or genetically determined.

Other than these, what might be called amazing is the fact that all societies (or cultures) do have gender roles.  These can be spoken or unspoken, written into law or even unconsciously believed.  Even the most enlightened individuals are still members of societies which have gender bias in terms of roles.

Items like the difference in pay and the corporate glass ceilings are evidence of sexual bias relating to gender roles in the United States of America today.

In the past, military duty of all cultures was primarily a male role.  No culture in recorded history had armies composed of only females.  Even today males out-number females by a very large margin, especially in combat situations.  Males have always been thought of as more expendable (a single male can impregnate multiple women).

Most societies currently believe that only males can perform the onerous act of rape.  This is and has been almost universal.

Answer 5

Conceiving and biologically carrying offspring ontogenetically for nine months, and finally parturition (giving birth).

Beyond that, universals are hard to come by.