distaff vs weaker sex

distaff

noun
  • A woman, or women considered as a group. 

  • The part of a spinning wheel from which fibre is drawn to be spun. 

  • A device to which a bundle of natural fibres (often wool, flax, or cotton) are attached for temporary storage, before being drawn off gradually to spin thread. A traditional distaff is a staff with flax fibres tied loosely to it (as indicated by the etymology of the word), but modern distaffs are often made of cords weighted with beads, and attached to the wrist. 

  • A race for female horses only. 

  • Anything traditionally done by or considered of importance to women only. 

adj
  • Of, relating to, or characteristic of women. 

  • Of the maternal side of a family. 

weaker sex

noun
  • Women; the female gender. 

  • Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see weaker, sex. 

How often have the words distaff and weaker sex occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )