I say lets take that step forward in creating renaissance people, those who do it all.
What value ‘making things easier’?
‘Because tribes did it’ could excuse every human behavior under the sun.
Without solid answers, I hesitate to say something ‘is’ something, but I believe the human culture evolves, and geography once had a lot to say about the pace…
Kennewick man, one of the oldest skeletons found in North America, was of Pacific Rim descendency, not of Siberian descendency. He was found with a spearpoint lodged deep into his hip. I don’t think he fell accidentally on his hunting spear.
I bring this up because we must remember that humanity walks social lines. Sometimes we take steps forward, sometimes we take steps back.
If things ‘work’ then when change it?
Division of labor ‘works’ but doesn’t lead me to conclude that it must be done.
I think the only wait to treat the genders as equals is to expect them to know of similiar things, and allow specialization to happen, to trust that it will, rather than order it.
Having not been there, I can’t judge that it was a good idea or not when the story was first told that man does this, or than woman does that.
What I can say is that I value female and male friendships equally.
I think a deeper question is how do we address our feelings of sexuality in a healthy way?
I think the more mixed and the more comfortable the sexes are, the more difficult marraige and monogamy are to enforce.
After all, the division of the sexes are all pre-birth control, but also, pre-HIV. funny how that worked out.
The universe is making us be very careful, to set up systems, to deal with our sexuality, one way or another.