Well, solidarity has its dark sides too (cf. male bonding). There is a tradeoff between what you can do as an individual and what power you have as a group.
>Besides, whatever 'anti-individualist' or 'collectivist' norms may have
>prevailed among peasants, enforcement of sex/gender norms in factories
>isn't a matter of peasant 'attitudes' carried over to the urban/industrial
>environment.
It might be a ritualistic behavior that long lost its utility, like for example, hunting or fishing. Hence I posed it as a question to what degree it is ritualistic and to what degree it still maintains solidarity.
What interests me is an empirical explanation of the phenomenon at hand, rather than casting it in normative terms.
Regards
WS