Ask Your Reading Guide a thoughtful guide for reading Schreiner, here to help you read Olive Schreiner's Woman and Labour closely — its 'parasitism' argument, its evolutionary-biology vocabulary, and its place in the suffrage movement it helped inspire.
The Argument What does Schreiner mean by 'sex-parasitism,' and which women does she think it affects most? Why does Schreiner think access to labour matters more than any other single demand? What is Schreiner's argument connecting women's condition to war in Chapter IV? How does Schreiner respond to claims that sex differences in temperament and ability are simply natural?
Context & Legacy How does the story of the destroyed manuscript shape how Schreiner frames this book? How does this book's argument connect to Lyndall's speeches in The Story of an African Farm? Why is the book dedicated to Constance Lytton, and what does that signal about its moment? What in Schreiner's 1911 argument still applies to women and work today?