Kibbutz/Kibbutzim

Kibbutzim (plural of “kibbutz”) are collective communities in Israel whose original aim was to implement values of equality, democracy, identical worth of all types of work, and mutual aid to all their members. This setting seemed to be ideal for gender equality, but in reality was only partially achieved because of the traditionally defined division of labor between men and women. Neoliberal changes that occurred during the last two decades have increased career opportunities for young, educated women in the kibbutz, while decreasing them for middle-aged women. These changes also made women more vulnerable to the injustices existing in the general society.