Podbit · Modern Wisdom
Israeli kibbutzim tried to replace biological parenting with communal child-rearing to eliminate traditional gender roles. It worked briefly. Then the parents — especially the mothers — revolted. The women agitated more than the men to reclaim direct parenting of their own children, despite the commune's ideology pushing in the opposite direction.
Where this was said
At 1:55:35 · chapter starts 1:52:11
The parenting sex difference is among the most politically sensitive findings in the field. Stewart-Williams presents it carefully: in every culture where good data exists, women do more direct parenting than men, even though human males do vastly more than most male mammals. Average differences in parental inclinations — not just social coercion by men — seem to be part of the explanation. The kibbutz experiment [1] — Steve Stewart-Williams "Israeli kibbutzim tried to replace biological parenting with communal child-rearing to eliminate traditional gender roles. It worked briefl…" 1:55:35 provides a natural test: Israeli communes that tried to replace biological parenting with communal child-rearing found that parents hated it. Crucially, it was the mothers — more than the fathers — who agitated against the arrangement and eventually broke it down. This is a classic example of a sex difference emerging despite culture, not because of it. Stewart-Williams then introduces his 'soft bigotry of male expectations' critique (coined by Williamson): the implicit assumption that whatever men do is the norm means that saying women are more naturally parental is treated as an insult — which only makes sense if parenting is devalued, which is itself deeply sexist.
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