Sex Role Differentiation in Iranian Families Living in Urban and Rural Areas of a Region Undergoing Planned Industrialization in Iran (Arak Shahrestan)

Abstract

This study examined the effect urban development, in an area undergoing planned industrialization, would have on sex role differentiation in the family in a nonWestern society-Iran. It was conducted in the spring of 1972 among a sample of lll urban and 105 ruralfamilies chosen through area probability and systematic sampling procedures. The data were collected by a survey technique. The hypothesis that less sex role differentiation would occur in urban areas than rural areas was only partially supported. Some tasks demonstrated differences in the direction stated and others did not. In both areas, role differentiation concerning the service function was quite strong, being mainly a female task. Some specific tasks performed in rural areas were often shared such as livestock care and hauling tasks. Property maintenance tasks, excluding house cleaning, were also highly differentiated in both areas but were male tasks. The most significant difference between the two areas concerned handling finances. Urban women were given more opportunity to actually make purchases and allocate funds than rural women despite the fact that half the rural women were contributing to the family income by carpet weaving. Only a small proportion of urban women worked. Therefore, while rural women shared hard labor type tasks with males, they did not have much opportunity to utilize money or to come into contact with the larger society. While some movement toward sharing of these latter tasks was demonstrated in the urban areas, the majority of urban males still had the major responsibility for controlling the finances.