The first generation: Older lesbian kibbutz members

This presentation focuses on narratives of 13 lesbian women aged 60-77 who were either kibbutz members in the past or are in the present. Eight came out as lesbians in their twenties and then became mothers, while five married men, had children, and came out as lesbians in their forties. Until the 1950s lesbianism had no place in the Israeli discourse, and when lesbians were addressed at all they were portrayed as women with a moral deficit or sexual deviation. As of the 1970s a trend of increasing tolerance began to emerge. However, the stereotypes did not disappear completely. The current study follows the identity construction process of lesbians who lived in a kibbutz by means of narrative interviews. Although life in the kibbutz allowed strong relationships between its members, it entailed a disciplining attitude by the collective. In these conditions the options were to obey the heteronormative common norms or to express one’s individuality, risk social denouncement, and leave the kibbutz. The findings indicate that these women were pioneers in their choice to declare their lesbian identity at a time when this was not considered legitimate. Some were also pioneers in their choice to become single-parent mothers or raise children together with a woman, a capacity doubted by society. The act of revealing their sexual identity was usually undertaken outside the kibbutz perimeter. Nonetheless, the women who came out at a young age and did not see the kibbutz as a place where they could realize their sexuality and hence left it are now, in their old age, considering returning to live on the kibbutz as a solution to their residential problems and as a good place to grow old. In contrast, women who came out at an older age and experienced many difficulties that involved realizing their lesbianism on the kibbutz no longer see it as their home.