the_ragnarok

In recent years, there's a growing trend in Israeli society of ultra-orthodox Judaism growing stronger and stricter, and pushing women out of the public sphere whenever they can.

Recently it made the news when four cadets were expelled from officers' training (Hebrew) for leaving a ceremony, against orders. They left because there was a woman singing on stage. According to some ultra-orthodox rabbis, kol b'isha erva - meaning, inaccurately but grasping the spirit of the thing, the voice of the woman is a cunt. Men are forbidden from listening to women sing, lest it arouse them and distract them from Torah.

In and of itself, this event isn't a big deal. Personally I don't even believe they should be forced to listen to a singer if they don't want to; orders are orders, but these were stupid, unnecessary orders to give. I seriously wish this was it.

Far from it.

It starts with, literally, the deletion of women. In ultra-orthodox newspapers, women are erased from newspaper photos. In ultra-orthodox strongholds like Bnei Brak and the Me'a She'arim neighborhood in Jerusalem, ads displaying women - any women at all, regardless of their dress, their ages or the way they're shown - are defaced and torn.

This has been going on for ages. For a long time few cared, because the ultra-orthodox are a closed, tight-knit society. Live and let live, right? Their women feel more comfortably hiding behind modesty. Let them.

But now these things are leaking out. In more and more bus lines, gender segregation is enforced. In Me'a She'arim, entire streets are set apart for men and for women, lest they mingle. In the army, combatant women in artillery were removed from their duties (Hebrew) so as not to offend religious male soldiers by forcing them to serve alongside women.

(There are a lot of problems with women's place in the IDF in general, as I've talked about before, but there's no denying it's an important venue of advancement in Israeli society. Pushing women out of it is a blow to their societal standing, no use saying otherwise.)

And it happened to me too. I was denied pay for work I've done because my replacement was a religious guy who wouldn't talk to me, so I couldn't explain to him the changes I've made. My employer claimed that made my work useless, and therefore didn't pay me. (Granted, that employer was just plain wrong and also a douchebag; but it does say something that a man can claim his religion forbids him to talk to a co-worker and get away with it. It ain't right.)

So it's clear the situation is fucked up and must be protested. Our protest will take the form of a sing-in - a group of women standing in a public place, all singing together. Because we are equal citizens, and have a right to speak - or to sing, as the case may be. We will not be silenced.

Here's hoping it stirs something.