Sex Roles and Social Change in the Kibbutz

Abstract

This paper asks what happened to the ideology of equality and why did men and women revert to traditional sex roles in the kibbutz. It suggests that in any society the most important single variable in explaining sex-role differentiation is the level of the division of labor in that society. In a simple economy, sex roles will be clearly defined, separating men's work from women's work, while in a society with a more complex division of labor, specializations will be created which will be filled by both men and women. Data comparing divisions within the labor force by sex in the kibbutzim and in Israel at large support this idea, showing that the gap between sex roles increased in the kibbutzim and decreased in Israel at large. This increase or decrease depended on the complexity of the division of labor in each society. Other historicalforces which affect the definition of sex roles also are discussed, raising the question of the future role of women in the kibbutz.