Divisions of Labor: Who Does What on Board?

The ladies, they fix the head while men are baking bread

and women deal with feds but guys are making beds

and everyone sews...

(with sincerest apologies to Cole Porter's, Anything Goes) 

Oh, these modren times we live in! On a boat, traditional gender roles get tossed right out the porthole...or do they?

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This was a Raft-UP topic in January 2013.


Dividing some tasks along traditional gender lines worked out well for Dana (Northfork), to her surprise.

• Raft-UP: Pink Jobs and Blue Jobs 

Dividing tasks up based on interests and strengths led Stacey (S/V Bella Vita) to think about the women who had gone before her fighting for equal rights, as she acknowledged that she really liked a lot of "pink" tasks.

• Pink or Blue? 

Steph (Norna's News) jokes that the division of labor on her boat has probably put women's causes back a few years.

• Raft Up: Blue Jobs, Pink Jobs 

And Diane (Ceilydh Sets Sail) found the pink/blue division a matter of simple practicality while resisting the 1950s value judgements that went along with it.

• Raft up--The Pink and the Blue 

We should have outgrown this whole conversation a long time ago, says Behan (Sailing with Totem).

• Raft-up: boat jobs are colorblind 

At sea, there are no gender roles, there are just tasks that need doing (Jaye, Life Afloat).

• Pink Jobs and Blue Jobs; and a follow-up: Raft UP: "Alike" and "Equal" are Two Different Things

Lynn (s/v Celebration) and husband Steve work well together and try to exchange roles, but he's still the better mechanic.

• Catching Up 

We learn about a "black" job when we hear both the pink and blue points of view from PacificSailors.

• Pink and Blue Jobs Aboard  

Much of their division of labor feels old-school, but the plumbing system is hers (Karen, Toast Floats).

• His, Hers, and Theirs 

It's not gender or even skill, but simply "who hates this job less" that determines division of labor for Ean (more JOY everywhere!).

• Raft-UP: Two-Toned Task Management 

Livia, (SV Estrellita 5.10b), speculates that a lot of her frustration is not with the jobs as much as the expectations.

• Pink + Blue = Purple 

Great humor in this post by Kat (SV Island Bound).

• Pink Jobs and Blue Jobs

And Kyra (SV Nyon) pushes back against the stereotype.

• Pink and Blue Do Not Belong Here

What happens when women do blue jobs?  Sabrina  (Wildcat Sailorgirl) explores being pink in a primarily blue world.

• Boat Girl Oddity

Barb, Harts At Sea, writes about getting her hands dirty - and worse - while pulling wire.

• Pink Jobs, Blue Jobs, Dirty Jobs, Boat Jobs

Tammy, Things we did today, lists some criteria by which jobs are apportioned on her boat.

• Pink Jobs/Blue Jobs - Division of Labor

It might be a generational thing, says Michael (Log of s/v Del Viento).

• Pink & Blue?

And if you're a woman singlehander and new liveaboard, ALL the jobs are pink. (Suzanne, Orbis Non Sufficit)

• Pink Jobs and ... More Pink Jobs

This is a series of three posts from the awesome Women and Cruising website.

• Boat jobs: Pink or Blue? Betsy Morris's confession 
• Boat jobs: Pink or Blue? Marcie Lynn comments 
• Boat jobs: Pink or Blue? ...Violet, Meri says

The SailNet forum recently hosted a thread that discussed Pink/Blue jobs and expectations.

• Unleashing Womens Potential in Blue Water Sailing

Newly added posts:

Laurie commented that she used to joke that "sailing is easy, I just drink wine while he drives the boat!". Well, all that changed when he went back to fill the kitty and she singlehanded for several months this past summer, prompting her to write a

• Love Letter to My Captain

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