baronmagdalene:

thepeacockangel:

Also like taking obsessive care of a lawn is masculine but gardening is feminine? So like grass is the plant it’s manly to take care of? WHY?  WHY IS GRASS MANLY?

It used to be a class issue.  A lawn is saying “look at how wealthy I am, I don’t have to grow my own crops!  Look at how much work/money I put into something that serves no purpose!”  Flowers were a part of this too.  But a garden of edibles says “I need to supplement my diet with my own land.  Woe is me.”

The differentiation between a lawn as masculine and a flower garden as feminine came later.  Makeup is feminine, frilly clothing is feminine, bright color is feminine. Plainness became masculine – suits, simple haircuts, plain shoes. The gender differentiation came later, and was partly based upon, class differentiation

And I think that must have something to do with the switch from Feudal to Capitalist economies, the division of aesthetic labor is a capitalist thing and I want to know why.