The following is a comparative study of two villages at different points along a continuum of reliance on the subsistence and cash economies. Of specific interest are the cultural implications and distributional effects associated with this profound distinction. Are cash and subsistence economies compatible or mutually exclusive? Principles identified in social sustainability literature provide a foundation from which to examine this question. Primary data collected via a Household Income Expenditure Survey (HIES) provide insight regarding distributive properties associated with relative dependence on and access to the cash and subsistence sectors of the economy using simple statistical analysis and content analysis methods. Changing gender ideologies are analyzed using attitudes related to post-marital education (PME) as a proxy. The study found that communities with a greater reliance on the cash economy exhibit a higher degree of economic stratification than communities where the subsistence economy is the predominant method of securing livelihoods. In contrast, the degree of political power among genders in the monetary economy appears to be equalized. In addition, gender ideologies that inform the division of labor appear to be more malleable in communities with a higher reliance on the cash economy.