I address the need to look at marriage behavior by both males and fema
les in developing societies. Using event history analysis, I focus on
gender differences in rural, as opposed to urban, Central Java and arg
ue that modem social contexts are not necessarily more egalitarian wit
h regard to the marriage process and gender roles than are traditional
social contexts. The findings support the conclusion that, in Java, m
odern urban settings may be responsible for increased gender role diff
erentiation. Although urbanization has meant better educational access
and later more self-choice marriages for women, it has also meant low
er rates of participation in the labor force and the adoption of conju
gal norms supportive of women's economic dependence on men. Thus, in r
ural areas there are the greatest similarity in the determinants of ma
rriage timing for Javanese men and women, particularly with regard to
their economic roles: Participation in any type of work delays marriag
e for both sexes. In contrast, employment facilitates marriage for urb
an men and indicates their provider role, whereas it has no effect on
the timing of marriage for urban women, who are more influenced by the
ideologies imparted through schooling.