A Case Study of Women's Participation in DIY in France: Towards an Increasingly Androgynous and Individualistic French Society?

Over the past decade, the traditionally masculine pursuit of DIY has attracted an increasing number of female practitioners in France, thus seemingly challenging the long-established gendered division of tasks observed in the domestic sphere. This case study of women's DIY practices in France analyses women's rationale for participation by contrasting agency with economic necessity. Drawing on vertical and horizontal segregation theories, women's participation in DIY is examined as a potential indicator of progress towards greater gender equality in the domestic sphere. Finally, the article argues that women's participation in DIY illustrates the increasing normalisation of an androgynous division of labour already observed in the public sphere. This results from the development of individualistic values that are increasingly challenging the prevalence of gender as a term of reference in the construction of social and individual identity.