In the present paper, we make an attempt to examine the interstate variation in the proportion of females in the total working force in India during a given bench-mark year 1981. The exercise is expected to provide interesting insights into the nature of labour markets and some structural forces operating in various state economies in India. The main finding of the paper is that sex-discriminating aspects of rural technology in general and in the agricultural sector in particular are the major determinants of interstate variation in the access of females to the working force and hence in their relative contribution to the state domestic product.