ABSTRACT
The German notion of Geschlechtscharakter (the character of the sexes), which has nowadays fallen into disuse, emerged in the eighteenth century. In the nineteenth century it was generally used to describe the mental characteristics which were held to coincide with the physiological distinctions between the sexes. In their own terms, statements about the ‘character of the sexes’ are intended to convey the quintessential nature of man and woman. The following is an attempt to outline and interpret the value-system behind the term ‘character of the sexes’. At the basis of this analysis lies the assumption that the investigation of norms pertaining to family life will indicate a line of approach to the qualitative aspects of family life which are neglected in the contemporary preference for quantitative research. Statements about the sex-specific character traits of man and woman are in the first instance normative statements, and as such their relationship to reality is problematic. But at the same time they are almost certainly based on common experience of the real socio-economic sexual division of labour. Because of this, they can lay claim to a certain degree of relevance. It can be assumed, therefore, that at the very least they do not contradict the accepted model for the sexual division of labour. The fact that the sexual division of labour traditionally plays a central functional role in the organisation of family and household must also be taken info account, as must its decisive influence on the socialisation of children, the theory and practice of which it thoroughly permeates. However, socialisation, in so far as it forms the later behaviour and actions of the adult, is a complex amalgam of material and normative, direct and indirect forces and experiences. This dialectical interaction between reality and norms, hinted at here, is obviously particularly relevant for the family as the ‘natural’ location of the sexual division of labour. The study of norms pertaining to family
life thus belongs necessarily to the historical study of the family in general.
