where did the male and female symbols originate
Gender symbol The two standard sex symbols are the Mars symbol ♂ (often considered to represent a shield and spear) for male and Venus symbol ♀ (often considered to represent a bronze mirror with a handle) for female, derived from astrological symbols, denoting the classical planets Mars and Venus, respectively. They were first used to denote the effective sex of plants (i.e. sex of individual in a given crossbreed, since most plants are hermaphroditic) by Carl Linnaeus in 1751.[3]
Oikos Traditional interpretations of the layout of the oikos in Classical Athens have divided into men's and women's spaces, with an area known as the gynaikon or gynaikonitis associated with women's activities such as cooking and textiles work,[4] and an area restricted to men called the andron.[5] In Lysias' speech On the Murder of Eratosthenes, the women's rooms were said to be situated above the men's quarters,[6] while in Xenophon the women's and men's quarters are next to one another.[7]