Problem: Hasidic men cant see pics of women w/out it being "sexually suggestive". Solution: Dont let Hasidic men read newspapers #thatwaseasy
As Haredi influence in Israel is growing, they're beginning to press such reactionary gender norms on the entirety of Israeli society. It is a huge problem, and quite scary actually, to see Israel starting to degrade from its pole position in terms of protecting liberal egalitarian values (on a different topic, see also).
Jewlicious just launched a "women's voice" movement, which encourages women in Israel to sing and hum in public, directly as a challenge to Orthodox groups who wish to see them (literally) silenced. And while I sign onto that project (the women's project, not the Orthodox silencing one), I'd add what I wrote in the comments over there, to wit:
If the problem is that Orthodox Jewish men can't hear or see women without being plagued by impure thoughts, then the solution is that Orthodox Jewish men shouldn't be allowed to leave the house.
Problem solved.
UPDATE: And now the problem is crossing over to the IDF, where members of the military's old guard are urging the Israeli armed forces to check forces that threaten women's equal stance in the military.
It's interesting that stories about misogyny and stories about child sex abuse are both going around, but nobody seems to connect them. In the ultra-orthodox community in Brooklyn there is a child sex-abuse scandal that spills over to Israel. In Penn State, there is a child sex-abuse scandal. In both cases, there are no women in positions of authority. Anybody who has taken a look at the numbers on child-abuse and abuse of women know that they are universally correlated.
ReplyDeleteThe misogyny of these ultra-Orthodox communities aren't merely political threats.
I enjoyed the news account I read yesterday about women using the front doors of public buses that were supposed to be segregated by gender.
ReplyDeleteIf Orthodox men are so easily aroused, perhaps they should be ordered to therapy.