BOOK REVIEWS 613 And before all,Australian feminist work is members,including women.Equality was to transdisciplinary,building in a coherent con- be assured by requiring that all members work. structive fashion on feminist work from a Wage payment to individuals-indeed,an range of disciplines.Matthews'book,then, internal economy based on money-was not only provides a thorough history of strictly forbidden.Food,shelter,clothing,en- women in Australia and a compelling account tertainment and culture,education,and child of pressures on individual women's lives,but care were all to be provided collectively by a at the same time reviews and builds on an self-governing community of equals impressive range of feminist literature. This is the situation in the kibbutz today:A I have only two critical comments regarding woman is not dependent on a man for her this book.First,Matthews uses the term con- support,nor are her children.She need not do sumption to describe aspects of domestic routine cooking,shopping,or laundry,nor is labor that concern the maintenance and nur- she the main caretaker of her children.Vio- ture of household members,the preparation of lence against women and children in the kib- food,shelter,and clothing.Other Australian butz is almost unheard of. feminists have also used this term to describe European labor Zionism was not particu- aspects of the household economy.I am un- larly concerned about the emancipation of easy with it,given the obvious work context women,and even from the beginning,as in which this "consumption"takes place,and Safir's historical materials make clear,women I would like to see a more careful definition. and only women were expected to specialize Second,considering Matthews'sensitive in domestic jobs.As Blasi points out,there treatment of so many aspects of women's was not and is not now an infrastructure to lives,the omission of a theoretical and histori- assure the equality of women with men.The cal analysis of so-called volunteer work as an ideals of hard physical work on the land and aspect of the gender order is surprising. their accompanying imagery were masculine; Matthews'book is free of jargon and is eas- in effect,women were considered equal (or ily accessible to students in introductory unequal)according to a male yardstick. women's studies and history classes.At the At the beginning,the kibbutz settlements same time it offers a new perspective and were very poor.There were many more men fresh knowledge and understanding of than women.Some of the women worked women's lives even to more seasoned alongside the men in the fields-but the men feminists. did not work alongside the women in the kitchen and the laundry.The men received special training for their work;the women did not. Sexual Equality:The Israeli Kibbutz Tests the Some women resisted this situation from Theories, edited by MICHAL PALGI,JOSEPH the beginning,but the differentiation between RAPHAEL BLASI,MENACHEM ROSNER,and men's work and women's work only increased MARILYN SAFIR.(Preface by Betty Friedan.) when children came along.Industrialization, Norwood,PA:Norwood Editions,1983.337 which entered the kibbutz in the 1950s and pp.$27.50 cloth. continues to this day,has improved the stan- dard of living.The birth rate in the kibbutz ZELDA F.GAMSON increased and is now higher than the general University of Massachusetts/Boston Israeli birth rate.The family has become a central institution in the kibbutz for both men Sexual Equality brings together articles, and women.The private dwelling has become most of them published elsewhere,from kib- the center of family life,and the mother holds butz members and nonmembers,Israelis and that center together. non-Israelis.The articles were selected delib- The result:About 80 percent of kibbutz erately to highlight contradictory approaches women work in child care,clothing care,and to sexual equality in the kibbutz.For all their cooking (Palgi and Rosner).Girls'and differences,however,the authors differ hardly women's work aspirations are lower than at all on the fundamental facts.(Indeed,it men's;despite an equal education,girls per- would have been well had the editors pruned form more poorly than boys in high school some of the repetitious material from the con- (Safir).While they do not differ in their over- tributions.)All agree that the kibbutz from the all participation in kibbutz life,men and beginning has emphasized equality for all women also specialize outside of work.Men Contemporary Sociology,September 1985,Volume 14,Number 5 This content downloaded from 183.195.251.166 on Sat,16 Jan 2016 12:34:00 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and ConditionsBOOK REVIEWS 613 And before all, Australian feminist work is transdisciplinary, building in a coherent con￾structive fashion on feminist work from a range of disciplines. Matthews' book, then, not only provides a thorough history of women in Australia and a compelling account of pressures on individual women's lives, but at the same time reviews and builds on an impressive range of feminist literature. I have only two critical comments regarding this book. First, Matthews uses the term con￾sumption to describe aspects of domestic laborthat concern the maintenance and nur￾ture of household members, the preparation of food, shelter, and clothing. Other Australian feminists have also used this term to describe aspects of the household economy. I am un￾easy with it, given the obvious work context in which this "consumption" takes place, and I would like to see a more careful definition. Second, considering Matthews' sensitive treatment of so many aspects of women' s lives, the omission of a theoretical and histori￾cal analysis of so-called volunteer work as an aspect of the gender order is surprising. Matthews' book is free of jargon and is eas￾ily accessible to students in introductory women's studies and history classes. At the same time it offers a new perspective and fresh knowledge and understanding of women's lives even to more seasoned feminists. Sexual Equality: The Israeli Kibbutz Tests the Theories, edited by MICHAL PALGI, JOSEPH RAPHAEL BLASI, MENACHEM ROSNER, and MARILYN SAFIR. (Preface by Betty Friedan.) Norwood, PA: Norwood Editions, 1983. 337 pp. $27.50 cloth. ZELDA F. GAMSON University of Massachusetts/Boston Sexual Equality brings together articles, most of them published elsewhere, from kib￾butz members and nonmembers, Israelis and non-Israelis. The articles were selected delib￾erately to highlight contradictory approaches to sexual equality in the kibbutz. For all their differences, however, the authors differ hardly at all on the fundamental facts. (Indeed, it would have been well had the editors pruned some of the repetitious material from the con￾tributions.) All agree that the kibbutz from the beginning has emphasized equality for all members, including women. Equality was to be assured by requiring that all members work. Wage payment to individuals-indeed, an internal economy based on money-was strictly forbidden. Food, shelter, clothing, en￾tertainment and culture, education, and child care were all to be provided collectively by a self-governing community of equals. This is the situation in the kibbutz today: A woman is not dependent on a man for her support, nor are her children. She need not do routine cooking, shopping, or laundry, nor is she the main caretaker of her children. Vio￾lence against women and children in the kib￾butz is almost unheard of. European labor Zionism was not particu￾larly concerned about the emancipation of women, and even from the beginning, as Safir's historical materials make clear, women and only women were expected to specialize in domestic jobs. As Blasi points out, there was not and is not now an infrastructure to assure the equality of women with men. The ideals of hard physical work on the land and their accompanying imagery were masculine; in effect, women were considered equal (or unequal) according to a male yardstick. At the beginning, the kibbutz settlements were very poor. There were many more men than women. Some of the women worked alongside the men in the fields-but the men did not work alongside the women in the kitchen and the laundry. The men received special training for their work; the women did not. Some women resisted this situation from the beginning, but the differentiation between men's work and women's work only increased when children came along. Industrialization, which entered the kibbutz in the 1950s and continues to this day, has improved the stan￾dard of living. The birth rate in the kibbutz increased and is now higher than the general Israeli birth rate. The family has become a central institution in the kibbutz for both men and women. The private dwelling has become the center of family life, and the mother holds that center together. The result: About 80 percent of kibbutz women work in child care, clothing care, and cooking (Palgi and Rosner). Girls' and women' s work aspirations are lower than men's; despite an equal education, girls per￾form more poorly than boys in high school (Safir). While they do not differ in their over￾all participation in kibbutz life, men and women also specialize outside of work. Men Contemporary Sociology, September 1985, Volume 14, Number 5 This content downloaded from 183.195.251.166 on Sat, 16 Jan 2016 12:34:00 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions