“性别分工”是指社会基于性别对男女两性所进行的不同社会角色的分配。尽管马克思、恩格斯没有系统论述过这一概念，但性别分工思想却始终是内含在马克思、恩格斯思想体系中的重要内容。马克思、恩格斯性别分工思想不是凭空产生的，孟德斯鸠、卢梭、巴霍芬等人对于平等、自由、家庭、分工、理想社会、资本主义制度、妇女解放等问题的思考都为这一思想的产生提供了丰富的理论资源。在对前人思想成果批判继承的基础上，马克思、恩格斯从双重属性、产生根源、实践形态、多重影响、历史命运，以及扬弃路径等多个维度对性别分工展开了全方位剖析和阐述。在考察人类历史发展规律过程中，马克思、恩格斯注意到原始性别分工是两性基于生理差异产生的分工，这种分工没有破坏两性劳动的同质性，也未造成两性权利的不平等。然而，私有财产的出现打破了原始共产制经济，父权制获得战胜母权制的物质资料基础后，性别分工就不再只具有生理学上的简单意义，而是从一种自然选择转向了社会规范，成为社会文化结构的重要组成部分。此外，在资本主义社会中性别分工不仅没有被消除，反而得到了加深和固化，成为了资本主义社会的基本机制。经由父权制和资本主义制度的扭曲、僵化，性别分工在物质资料生产和人口再生产中有着多种不同的实践形态，并致使两性在经济、政治、法律、道德领域，以及婚姻家庭关系中处于不对等地位，加剧了人的类本质异化。最后，随着社会生产力的发展，性别分工会因共产主义社会的到来而走向被消灭的历史命运。但是，马克思、恩格斯语境中的消灭并非意味着要消灭一切性别分工，或者取消性别分工本身的合法性，而是指对性别分工进行“扬弃”，即祛除传统性别分工所具有的强制性、片面性、阶级性，代之以平等和谐的两性合作。20世纪六七十年代，马克思主义女性主义应时而生，其代表人物艾里斯·扬提出了“性别分工”概念，希望以此填补马克思主义理论中所谓的“性别盲”缺陷。然而，通过系统建构马克思、恩格斯的性别分工思想，可以发现这一论断是一种误读。从实践层面看，虽然各国追求男女平等共识日益强化，妇女生存发展环境不断优化，但两性在多个领域的发展水平仍不平衡，因性别分工导致的性别不平等现象依旧显著。因而，以马克思、恩格斯性别分工思想为引领，能够为当代社会追求男女平等和人的解放，推动全球女性发展提供价值观指导。
"Gender division of labor" refers to different social roles assigned to men and women based on gender. Although Marx and Engels did not systematically discuss this concept, the thought of gender division of labor has always been an important part of the theoretical system of Marx and Engels.Marx and Engels' thought of gender division of labor did not come out of thin air. The theoretical thoughts of Montesquieu, Rousseau, Bahoven, Morgan, Saint Simon, Owen and Fourier on issues of equality, freedom, family, marriage, social division of labor, ideal society, capitalist system, women's liberation and human liberation provided rich theoretical resources for Marx and Engels' thought of gender division of labor. Based on the critical inheritance of their predecessors’ achievements, Marx and Engels analyzed and expounded the gender division of labor in an all-round way from different dimensions, such as dual attributes, root causes, practical forms, multiple influences, historical destiny, and the path of sublation.Firstly, in the process of investigating the law of human historical development, Marx and Engels noticed that the original gender division of labor was a division of labor based on physiological differences between the two sexes. This division of labor did not destroy the homogeneity of labor between the sexes, nor did it create a social situation of unequal rights between the sexes. However, with the emergence of surplus products and private property, the primitive communist economy was broken, andpatriarchy obtained the material basis for replacing matriarchy, the gender division of labor ceased to have a simple physiological significance, but shifted from a natural selection to a social norm, becoming an important part of the social and cultural structure. In addition, driven by the industrial revolution, capitalist productive forces and production relations expanded rapidly. The gender division of labor under the feudal patriarchal system was not been eliminated, but deepened and solidified, and became the basic mechanism of capitalist society. Secondly, Marx and Engels pointed out that the gender division of labor, distorted and rigidized by the patriarchy and capitalist system, had many different practical forms in the production of material goods and the reproduction of the population, and led to gender inequality in the fields of economy, politics, law and morality, as well as marriage and family relations, which intensifies the alienation of human nature.However, Marx and Engels believed that with the development of social productive forces, the gender division of labor would inevitably be "eliminated" with the advent of communist society. However, the "elimination" in the context of Marx and Engels does not mean to eliminate all gender division of labor or abolish the legitimacy of gender division of labor itself, but refers to the "sublation" of gender division of labor, that is, to eliminate the compulsion, one-sidedness and class nature of traditional gender division of labor and replace it with equal and harmonious gender cooperation. Obviously, this goal will not be achieved spontaneously, but depends on the progress of productivity, social system and ideology.In the 1960s and 1970s, driven by the second wave of feminism in the west, Marxist feminism emerged at the right time. Its representative, Iris Young put forward the term "gender division of labor" to fill the so-called "gender blindness" defect in Marxist theory. However, by rereading the classic works of Marx and Engels, it is not difficult to find that the thought of gender division of labor has always been an important part of Marx and Engels’ theoretical system. Therefore, the systematic discussion and construction of Marx and Engels' thought of gender division of labor is, from the theoretical level, conducive to responding to the relevant false assertions of Marxist feminism. From the practical level, through continuous efforts, although the consensus of pursuing gender equality in various countries has been increasingly strengthened, and the environment for women's survival and development has been optimized, the development level of both genders in economic, political, social and cultural fields is still unbalanced, and the gender inequality caused by gender division of labor is still significant. Therefore, Marx and Engels’s thought of gender division of labor can provide value guidance for contemporary society to pursue gender equality and human liberation and promote the development of global women.
