42 BE1WEENTEXTANDAlrnFACT
largercommunity.Ethnographicresearchhasdemonstratedthatgender-
associated activities signifygender-associated power. Thinkingabout
powerusuallymeansexamining formalinstitutions,butintraditional
socieliesinformalpoweristheconcomitantofthecomrolofeconomic
activitiesand is oftenjust as imponant,ifnOI morc important, than
formal relationsofpowcr.^24 Thatis, issuesofhouseholdpowerinpre-
modernagrariansocietiesarctypicallyresourcebasedandinvolvelabor
output,expertiseintechnologies,andcontroloffoodstuffs.
I discoveredthatvariouskindsofinformalpowerwouldhaveaccom-
paniedwomen'sdominanceofbreadmakinginancientIsrael.Iidentified
threeofthem:socialpower;personalpower;andsociopoliticalpower.
Socialpowerwithinhouseholds,specificallydecision-makingpowers,
accnleto women byvirtueoftheirdominance ofessential household
processes.^25 Thevirtualexclusivityofwomenin Israelitehouseholdsas
producersanddistributorsofcerealfoods(andprobablyotherfoodsas
well),whichcouldnotbeobtainedinanyotherway,wouldhaveprivi-
legedwomenintermsofinternalhouseholdpowerdifferentials.
Personalpower, ora valued sense ofself, is conlingent upon the
importanceofthesetoftaskssomeoneperforms.Thetechnologicalskills
requiredforfoodproduction(andtextileproduction)are,intheaggregate,
morecomplexthanthoserequiredforthegrowingofstaplecrops(which
isarguablya maletask).Furthermore,providingfoodisa dailyevent,with
foodimmediatelyconsumable,whereasbringingina harvestisseasonal
andsomewhatunpredictable.Thustheprocessand resultsofwomen's
laborinIsraelitehouseholdswouldhaveproducedgratificationandthe
attendantsenseofpersonalworthina moreimmediateandconsistentway
thanmighthavebeenpossibleformanymen.
Sociopoliticalpoweracross householdswould havebeen held by
Israelitewomenbecauseofthecommunalnatureofmanyoftheiractivi-
ties,Thegatheringofwomen 10 carryoutdailytasksmeanstheformation
ofinformalfemalenetworks.Thetimespenttogethergiveswomenaccess
toinformationthatisunavailabletomenandthatiscriticalforforging
suprahousehold social and political alliances, This social knowledge
embeddedinwomen'sinformalnetworkshelpsformessentialcommunity
24 A usefuldefinitionofIXlweristhatofSzinovaC1:'IXlweristhe"netabilityorcapabil-
ityofactiontoproduceorC!useintendedoutcomesoreffecrs,panicularlyonthebehavior
ofothers,oronothers'outcomes"(MaxirnilianeE.Szinovacz,"FamilyPower,"inHandbook
ofManiage(IIultheFamilyled.M.U.SussmanandS.K.Steinmetz;NewYork:Plenum,
19871,652).
25 ClroleM.unmihan,"Introduction-FCMXlandGender:Identity:mdPower,"inF()()(/
andGendl..>r:IdelllityandPower(ed.C.M.CounilunandS,I..Kaplan;Amsterdam:HarwCMXl
AcademicPublishers,1998),2,4.