Thorstein Veblen：The Theory of the Leisure Class, Excerpt 39

After some considerable advance has been made in the practice of employing a special corps of servants for the performance of a conspicuous leisure in this manner, men begin to be preferred above women for services that bring them obtrusively into view. Men, especially lusty, personable fellows, such as footmen and other menials should be, are obviously more powerful and more expensive than women. They are better fitted for this work, as showing a larger waste of time and of human energy. Hence it comes about that in the economy of the leisure class the busy housewife of the early patriarchal days, with her retinue of hard-working handmaidens, presently gives place to the lady and the lackey.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/833
Locator：Excerpt 39 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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