males or females from certain professions

For most of written history, agriculture was the chief human occupation, and heavy physical labour was not confined to men. Women performed physically demanding chores such as grinding grain by hand in a stone quern, drawing and carrying water, gathering wood and churning milk to make butter. Generally, any respite from these tasks would occur only when a woman gave birth. The Industrial Revolution changed the work situation for both men and women. New technology has meant that many tasks that once required heavy physical exertion, and hence were restricted to men, can now be performed simply by pushing buttons. Operating a bulldozer, for instance, does not need muscle power so much as alertness, judgment, and coordination—qualities as plentiful in women as in men.