Kibbutzim practiced communal child care, rotation of jobs, and direct democracy in part to ensure equality. Traditional sexual inequality was attributed to the "biological tragedy of women" 7--the idea that since women had to bear and raise children they were forced into doing "domestic service" and became economically dependent on their husbands. As Melford Spiro explains in the beginning of his book, Gender and Culture: Kibbutz Women Revisited, the kibbutzniks recognized that "although it is a biological imperative that women bear children, it is not a social imperative that mothers care for them." 8 Sharing that role through communal child care would allow women greater economic independence and equality through the "dissolution of the sexual division of labor...which, in turn, would assure sexual equality in the domestic, political, and cultural domains." 9 Unfortunately the kibbutzim did not apply this theory to their lives in its entirety, so it has not yet been proven true or false. Michael Nathan notes aptly that "[a] change in the definition of the male role is a necessary condition for the change in the definition of the female role. This condition was never achieved in the kibbutz." 10 True, communal child care was an integral part of the kibbutz ideology, but from the beginning it was always the women who cared for the children.
The men of Degania doubted the power of the woman at first. Their chavera Miriam Baratz learned in secret from an Arab woman how to milk a cow; only after the men woke up one morning to find the milking already done did they believe she was capable of the job. 11 It is to their credit that they immediately acknowledged her right to perform such work. However, men were on the whole stronger than women, and most early kibbutzim and kvutzot (small predecessors of the kibbutz) could not afford to waste manpower. Job rotation was supported in theory but it was not uncommon to find the less physically demanding tasks of laundry and cooking relegated to women while men farmed and built roads.
When Miriam had a baby, the group accepted the challenge of creating "an organizational structure...in accordance with the dual principle of the mother's right to work and the kvutza's duty to educate its children." 12 Joseph Bussel had elucidated the underlying philosophy in 1916:
Child care is not only the responsibility of the mother, but of all the women. The essential thing is to preserve the principle of co-operation in everything; there should be no personal possessions, for private property hinders co-operative work. As for payment for child care, this must certainly be made from the general fund, since in communal life all expenses should be paid communally, and nobody can be exempted simply because he has no children. In fact, all the expenses for child care should be paid for by the community. 13
This was the origin of the role of the metapelet--the person who took care of the children when they were not in the classroom--and the "education group"-based system of communal child care and education which is fundamental to the kibbutz. Taking care of the kids became a full-time job, officially of the same status as working in agriculture. It is worth noting, however, that even the word metapelet itself is feminine; it is rare to find a man in the position. Women did perform a lot of "men's jobs" in the early years, but as the number of children grew, more and more of them found themselves metaplot.
Most of the founding generation of kibbutzniks came from societies in Europe where sex roles were quite distinct, stereotypes abounded, and men and women were considered unequal. The kibbutz movements' advancements towards sexual equality should not be underestimated--the group has come a long way. Yet the criticism that Nathan elucidated in 1983 cannot be forgotten. The absence of changes in the male role corresponding to the changes in the female role has significantly thwarted the realization of utopian sexual equality.
Has equality been reached? Researchers Tiger and Shepher concluded in 1975 that "the kibbutz has ensured complete formal equality between the sexes and enabled women to fulfill themselves in work, polity, and education." 14 (Emphasis mine.) The kibbutz is a voluntary organization, and each adult member has a vote in the direct democracy system of the General Assembly which makes or approves all decisions. At least one scholar has argued that this political setup alone makes inequality in the kibbutz an impossibility. The distinction that must be made is one between de jure and de facto equality. The very nature of the kibbutz--and its direct democracy system in particular--ensures it de jure equality. De facto equality, however, is the subject of a lot of debate.
The "problem of the woman," as it is often referred to, is recognized in the sex-role division of jobs, less political involvement on the part of women, a return to familism, adolescent girls' lessened interest and achievement in school, and a general feeling of unhappiness and dissatisfaction among kibbutz women. These facts themselves are not generally disputed but their meaning is the subject of a lot of controversy. Do these differences between males and females on the kibbutz necessarily mean there is inequality? How and why did they come about? It is worth looking at the examples themselves in depth before turning to the scholars' various interpretations.
Zionism played an important part in the development of the kibbutz, and especially central was the concept of reclaiming and building the land. Contrary to the stereotypical European Jew immersed in his books, the ideal pioneer worked the earth with sleeves rolled up, muscles showing, blond blurit blowing in the wind. All jobs hold the same economic status in the kibbutz, but this did not prevent agricultural work from being held in higher esteem and higher demand than other types of work. Kibbutzim now classify work as either productive (income-producing) or service, with service jobs much less respected. Jobs require increasing amounts of skill or education, so job rotation happens less frequently than it used to and having a "permanent" job has become a mark of status. A more distinct sex-role division has developed in conjunction with this trend, with women working almost exclusively in service jobs--particularly child care, education, the kitchen, and the laundry--and men in productive jobs--especially agriculture and industry--or management.
There are exceptions, of course, but since there is such a need for metaplot and teachers, women are regularly pushed into these positions which they often don't want. Amia Lieblich's oral history, Kibbutz Makom, adds the voice of kibbutz women themselves to this discussion. Ester (age 64) thinks that service branches like education, the laundry, and the kitchen should be considered income-producing branches, since the kibbutz is in effect making money by not having to spend it to have these jobs done by outsiders. "Raising children is the most productive branch we have," she notes, and recognition of the importance of women's jobs would "make a tremendous difference in the self-image of the women working there." 15 Nima (age 33) is a journalist who spends half her week away from the kibbutz writing for the Movement's weekly magazine. "Presently," she says, "I don't see how I could work full-time within the kibbutz and find satisfaction. This is one of the problems of women in the kibbutz, and I believe it is the most serious problem in our life here." 16
Nima's point is an important one. Overall women are unhappy with their current jobs, but they are not interested--as they once were--in working at men's' jobs either. Since the kibbutz is a small community it can only offer a limited choice of careers. Some men also share this frustration of not being able to find a fulfilling career within the kibbutz, though in more limited numbers.
Connected to this dissatisfaction with work is an increase in familism. Women are having more children; children are now living with their parents in the majority of kibbutzim; and the unit of consumption has shifted from the group (the kibbutz as a whole) to the family. When asked about the most important part of their lives, most men cited work while women cited their families.17 Nima--who is part of the second generation--thinks the increase in familism among her generation is a result of being deprived of family life as a child. 18 Iris, a thirty-year-old mother, wants to leave the kibbutz and find a "balance between my dedication to my family and some sort of meaningful occupation." She doesn't like the typical woman of her generation who "devotes all her energy to her apartment and household activities" and she attributes that behavior to the women's "frustration of not being able to realize themselves in any other way." 19
While scholars Menachem Rosner, Lionel Tiger and Joseph Shepher, and Spiro explain the trend biologically, Alison Bowes sees it as "an attempt by kibbutz women to win themselves a more valued role in their communities" 20 and Shoshana Livne believes it is a "transfer of aspirations." 21 Kibbutz women are now trapped in a vicious circle of unclear origin. They are unhappy with their jobs, so they turn to the family for satisfaction and produce more children. The increase in youth population then creates more demand for metaplot and teachers, so women have even less chance of obtaining the fulfilling jobs they desire.
This sex-role division and dissatisfaction with jobs has had repercussions among adolescents. The educational system is designed to minimize sex differences but, as Tiger and Shepher explain, the attempt is "counteracted" by the reality students observe outside the classroom. 22 Children make distinctions between sexes at a young age, helped by the fact that the Hebrew language distinguishes between masculine and feminine. Dorit Padan-Eisenstark maintains that the education system itself is male-oriented. Work is a part of the kibbutz education, and girls do most of their hours in child care or menial labor. While boys learn valuable skills in agriculture or mechanics, adolescent girls perform a "passive withdrawal" 23 from school and community involvement. Safir believes this withdrawal is caused by a role conflict between what girls want for themselves and what they are expected to become. Their "educational aspirations" are met less often than those of males, 24 their career expectations are lower, 25 and they have a poorer self-image. 26 Efrat, a sixteen-year-old sabra, feels exploited by the system because the school is used as a source of temporary labor. She and her classmates want to settle on a younger kibbutz because "[w]e're afraid of the kinds of jobs or social positions we will get here after returning from the Army, and we think that a young kibbutz can offer us much more." 27
One final trend must be mentioned here, and that is a change in political involvement. The primary decision-making body on the kibbutz is the General Assembly. All decisions must be approved by this body, and every adult kibbutz member is entitled to a vote. When kibbutzim were small, meetings might be called on the spur of the moment and relatively minor decisions might be debated for hours. Members might nod off at three A.M. but missing a meeting was practically unheard of. As the kibbutz grew, it began forming committees to deal with a lot of day-to-day decision-making. The General Assembly still holds the ultimate power, but it has begun to take on the role of a rubber stamp for all but the most major issues. Attendance at the weekly Saturday night meetings has decreased, and some kibbutzim now broadcast the General Assembly meeting on close-circuit television so members can watch from their own bedrooms. Today the de facto power in the kibbutz lies in its committees and secretariat.
Committee members are elected, but--with the exception of the secretary of the kibbutz and a few work managers--these positions are done in addition to one's regular job without additional compensation. There are more men than women on most committees, and even those with a majority of women are usually chaired by a man. Women also speak less during both committee meetings and the General Assembly. Spiro credits these facts to women's disinterest, but it is often hard to find anyone to fill the positions, and as a rule men have been more easily persuaded. What is of most concern, however, is the limited role women play in the agricultural, industrial, and economic committees and the secretariat because these groups have become the major decision-making bodies. They direct a lot of development and as such control much of the future of the kibbutz.
Women change jobs more often than men; the time they take off to have children commonly interferes with maintaining a permanent job or obtaining the training necessary for many skilled positions. 28 Bowes explains how this has influenced politics on a typical kibbutz she calls Goshen:
Constant change of unskilled jobs meant that women on Goshen acquired knowledge about the workings of the kibbutz economy with difficulty, if at all. While a man with a permanent, skilled job had in-depth knowledge of a particular branch, and was involved in planning that branch's role in the economy as a whole, most women were effectively excluded from such decision-making processes, and therefore from a large area of kibbutz affairs. This lies at the root of the complaint that women do not participate actively in kibbutz politics: much of the very technical know-how and experience needed to do so is simply not available to them, and the areas in which they do not participate are considered to be among the most important of community concerns. 29
Perhaps de jure equality might have once held answers to the "problem of the woman," but in an age of increasing specialization its influence is restricted to theoretical arguments. Even the chance to make changes to the kibbutz has been effectively limited to a small percentage of members.