Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To say that most heavy duty physical labour is done by men? When was the last time a female plumber, builder, roofer,painter and decorator, drain unblocker, or boiler or washing machine engineer came to your house?

612 replies

YourAmplePlumPoster · 15/06/2025 19:03

To say that most heavy duty physical labour is done by men?

OP posts:
WhistlingalongtheMudFlats · 15/06/2025 20:03

UpsideDownChairs · 15/06/2025 19:57

Well I do my own decorating/plumbing/drains/appliance repair and servicing (where legally allowed to), so there's that.. When I last had new tires fitted the fitter was a woman - car wheels are pretty heavy.

You know that men, on average, are significantly stronger than women right? So for a start, any job requiring strength, a man would be more suitable for (especially grip strength - which I definitely suffer with when sorting out undoing stuff under the sink etc). There's also the added danger to a lone woman going into people's houses, although there's mitigations they can make.

I would be happy to hire a woman do do any of these jobs though - in fact probably more happy, as a single mother, as it's always a worry when you invite strangers into your house.

Sure the OP has plenty of 'grip strength'.

Beccin · 15/06/2025 20:04

I’ve had a female plumber and electrician this year. They both did great jobs.

WhistlingalongtheMudFlats · 15/06/2025 20:05

AccidentalPrawnYouFool · 15/06/2025 20:01

I saw a female tree feller last week so YABU.

Did you see them WITH THE DEVIL
Did they LEVITATE

MissPobjoysPonies · 15/06/2025 20:05

YourAmplePlumPoster · 15/06/2025 19:08

When was the last time you had a female roofer, painter and decorator, someone to unblock the drains, the boiler engineer, the plumber, the window cleaner who attended you? Me. NEVER.

Or window cleaner is female 🤗

BrickHare · 15/06/2025 20:05

Barnbrack · 15/06/2025 19:53

What's the average salary of a gas engineer? Lots of manual labour, fair but of technical Information to learn.

What's the average salary of a nurse? Fair bit of manual labour, fair bit of technical information to learn.

12 hour shifts, antisocial hours, call outs. Big salary difference between the traditionally male and traditionally female roles... Yet women, were the problem right? We're the ones pushing for this set up!

All the jobs the op listed you don’t need any real formal training for. Maybe a few GCSE. A nurse however in the example you give you need GCSE, A levels and 3-4 years doing a degree plus 2300 placement hours. So it’s more than just a “bit technical”

MissPobjoysPonies · 15/06/2025 20:05

MissPobjoysPonies · 15/06/2025 20:05

Or window cleaner is female 🤗

And our gas engineer actually!

Barnbrack · 15/06/2025 20:06

BrickHare · 15/06/2025 20:05

All the jobs the op listed you don’t need any real formal training for. Maybe a few GCSE. A nurse however in the example you give you need GCSE, A levels and 3-4 years doing a degree plus 2300 placement hours. So it’s more than just a “bit technical”

Oh I know, I work in healthcare, I was being facetious.

YourAmplePlumPoster · 15/06/2025 20:07

Barnbrack · 15/06/2025 19:22

My sister is a nurse in a long term mental health ward, she's hoisting 20stone men with schizophrenia and wiping bums and cleaning foreskins. It's pretty physical. Gets attacked a lot. Huge number of the female workforce doing similar as nurses or carers.

We saw during COVID lockdowns that most male dominated industries could be largely locked down without deaths increasing, fewer female dominated ones.

It's a bit like the argument men shouldn't have to do the dishwasher and cook dinner because they mow the lawn 6 times a year and clean the gutters twice

Why is this relevant? I've had roofing repairs, painting and decorating, boiler repairs, plumbing and new bathrooms put in. None of the people doing the work have EVER been women. Why is this "goady" or controversial? Just stating fact.

OP posts:
Fingernailbiter · 15/06/2025 20:07

YourAmplePlumPoster · 15/06/2025 19:08

When was the last time you had a female roofer, painter and decorator, someone to unblock the drains, the boiler engineer, the plumber, the window cleaner who attended you? Me. NEVER.

So what?

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 15/06/2025 20:07

I’m not sure what the point of this post is.

Men are over represented in the trades you’ve listed, but they aren’t exclusively done by men, so it must be for a reason other than that they CAN only be done my men.

Many of the trades on your list aren’t really heavy duty. And there’s alot of work I’d call heavy duty that’s not on there - caring work, for example, can be a lot more heavy duty than plumbing or being an electrician or painter and decorator.

So unless your point is that men are still unnecessarily dominating relatively well paid work, YABU

Firefightress1 · 15/06/2025 20:07

Im a firefighter... is that good enough?

SnoopyPajamas · 15/06/2025 20:08

What inspired this post, OP? What point are you trying to make?

WhistlingalongtheMudFlats · 15/06/2025 20:08

Idk if it's allowed but it would be fabulous to build a directory of links to female tradies from here

We can't do it at the moment because the MRA would use the directoey to send passive aggressive valentines and post fake one star reviews

Happyher · 15/06/2025 20:08

I had a female tradeswoman fit my dishwasher and fit out a bedroom with wardrobes, shelving and a desk. She did it for a living. Was previously a bus driver. I found the whole experience a lot less stressful

ScarlettOYara · 15/06/2025 20:08

WhistlingalongtheMudFlats · 15/06/2025 20:05

Did you see them WITH THE DEVIL
Did they LEVITATE

Goodie Plum is a witch!

BrickHare · 15/06/2025 20:08

No offence to anyone that does these kind of “heavy manual” jobs but from my experience all of the thick lads at school ended up in these trades. The ones that weren’t all went off to uni and ended up in professional jobs.

TheeNotoriousPIG · 15/06/2025 20:09

I grew up in a family where the women do the painting and decorating, gardening, heavy lifting, etc. on top of everything else. I was very bemused when I was informed by school that men do these jobs.

I am a female. I'm also a farm worker... which surprises a lot of people. I often get mistaken for being a work experience student, because who on earth expects a small, slim female to drive a JCB, milk a herd of cows, and shear sheep by herself? Our milk recorder, main artificial inseminator, livestock vets, half of our work experience students and even our best working dogs are all female.

Earlier in the week, I was clearing drainpipes at great height, while standing in a JCB-mounted man basket. I've unblocked drains at home, too. I've done simple plumbing. I'm far from weak, courtesy of regularly lifting heavy loads. I'm small but mighty! Thus, please don't tar all women with the same brush. Some of us don't mind doing jobs that involve hard physical labour!

ScarlettOYara · 15/06/2025 20:09

Firefightress1 · 15/06/2025 20:07

Im a firefighter... is that good enough?

👏 👏 👏 👏

UpsideDownChairs · 15/06/2025 20:10

YourAmplePlumPoster · 15/06/2025 20:07

Why is this relevant? I've had roofing repairs, painting and decorating, boiler repairs, plumbing and new bathrooms put in. None of the people doing the work have EVER been women. Why is this "goady" or controversial? Just stating fact.

OK, so you don't hire women to do these jobs - I think you'll find that makes you the one with a problem with female tradies.

CarterBeatsTheDevil · 15/06/2025 20:10

It's like OP's having the other half of an argument here that started elsewhere

cryptide · 15/06/2025 20:11

You aren't really making your point clear. Yes, there are certain jobs that are more suited to men. Likewise there are an awful lot of jobs which have a hefty imbalance in favour of women. So what?

ScarlettOYara · 15/06/2025 20:11

YourAmplePlumPoster · 15/06/2025 20:07

Why is this relevant? I've had roofing repairs, painting and decorating, boiler repairs, plumbing and new bathrooms put in. None of the people doing the work have EVER been women. Why is this "goady" or controversial? Just stating fact.

I've had three neighbours move into our street in the last year. Every one has a Nissan Juke.
Just stating fact.

DissidentDaughter · 15/06/2025 20:11

TheeNotoriousPIG · 15/06/2025 20:09

I grew up in a family where the women do the painting and decorating, gardening, heavy lifting, etc. on top of everything else. I was very bemused when I was informed by school that men do these jobs.

I am a female. I'm also a farm worker... which surprises a lot of people. I often get mistaken for being a work experience student, because who on earth expects a small, slim female to drive a JCB, milk a herd of cows, and shear sheep by herself? Our milk recorder, main artificial inseminator, livestock vets, half of our work experience students and even our best working dogs are all female.

Earlier in the week, I was clearing drainpipes at great height, while standing in a JCB-mounted man basket. I've unblocked drains at home, too. I've done simple plumbing. I'm far from weak, courtesy of regularly lifting heavy loads. I'm small but mighty! Thus, please don't tar all women with the same brush. Some of us don't mind doing jobs that involve hard physical labour!

👏 As the saying goes: “If you want something done done, ask a woman!”

WhistlingalongtheMudFlats · 15/06/2025 20:11

YourAmplePlumPoster · 15/06/2025 20:07

Why is this relevant? I've had roofing repairs, painting and decorating, boiler repairs, plumbing and new bathrooms put in. None of the people doing the work have EVER been women. Why is this "goady" or controversial? Just stating fact.

How does OP know that these people have never been women? One is not supposed to ask, nowadays.

pinkglitter12 · 15/06/2025 20:12

How many women do you know that even want to do these as a job, or are strong enough to do them?