Answer to Question #204156 in History for Kiara

Question

Explain why so many field workers on the sugar plantations were women

Answer 1

A higher number of men than women worked in the sugar plantations, this is because women were considered to be unskilled and so they were subjected to work in the fields. They were not trained into skilled occupation because teaching them was considered to be highly costly and it would require specialized and extensive training.

It was considered that offering training to women would be a waste of time and resources in that childbearing and nursing soon after would interrupt their ability to provide service. They were therefore subjected to unskilled labor in the sugar plantations.