The division of labor on “The Walking Dead” appears to be along gender lines with the women doing the “stabilizing” home and hearth keeping while the men do the “protecting” with the guns and patrols.
One woman has taken to carrying a gun and sharing guard duty. The lead female character (season 2) chastises her for missing laundry responsibilities and leaving the rest of the female characters to “take up slack”.
The women are in just as much danger as the men but are not expected to be able to protect themselves equally. A woman learns to protect herself and she is “corrected” for it. The men are continually debating about who owns who.