When I was in my early teens, women dominated software and men dominated hardware. I was too young to lug around 50lb disk drives and other hardware stuff, so I got started in software with the ladies. I took a typing class - also still mostly ladies. It proved invaluable.
Like weaving and sewing (and unlike physically moving heavy objects), these skills move back and forth in popularity with the sexes. In the 18th century, tailoring and dressmaking (as opposed to fitting) was typically a male profession. Weaving was a male profession - unless industrialization revolutionized the trade.
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