Israeli Women's Studies: A Reader

edited by Esther Fuchs
contributions by Dafna Izraeli, Orly Lubin, Tamar Mayer, Sharon NeÆeman, Shulamit Reinharz, Orna Sasson-Levy, Susan Sered, Simona Sharoni, Ella Shohat, Yael Yishai, Judith Buber Agassi, Nira Yuval-Davis, Deborah Bernstein, Tamar El-Or, Ayala Emmett, Yael Feldman, Esther Fuchs, Manar Hassan and Hanna Herzog

Rutgers University Press, 2005
eISBN: 978-0-8135-6887-4 | Paper: 978-0-8135-3616-3 | Cloth: 978-0-8135-3615-6
Library of Congress Classification HQ1728.5.I88 2005
Dewey Decimal Classification 305.42095694

ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC

ABOUT THIS BOOK

Israeli women do not enjoy the equality, status, and power often attributed to them by the media and popular culture. Despite significant achievements and progress, as a whole they continue to earn less than their male counterparts, are less visible and influential in the political arena, do not share equal responsibilities or privileges in the military, have unequal rights and freedoms in family life and law, and are less influential in shaping the nation's self image and cultural orientation.

Bringing together classic essays by leading scholars of Israeli culture, this reader exposes the hidden causes of ongoing discrimination and links the restrictions that Israeli women experience to deeply entrenched structures, including colonial legacies, religious traditions, capitalism, nationalism, and ongoing political conflict. In contrast, the essays also explore how women act creatively to affect social change and shape public discourse in less ostensible ways.

Providing balanced perspectives from the social sciences and the humanities, this comprehensive reader reflects both an emerging consensus and exciting diversity in the field. It is the definitive text for courses in Israeli women's studies.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

ESTHER FUCHS is a professor in the department of Near Eastern and Judaic studies at the University of Arizona and the author of Israeli Mythogynies: Women in Contemporary Hebrew Fiction.

REVIEWS

A valuable resource for scholars and students of Judaic, Israel, Middle Eastern, and women's studies. There is no single volume currently available that represents such a broad range of historical, political, religious, and cultural approaches to Israeli women. This book will fill that gap for years to come!

— Judith R. Baskin, editor of Jewish Women in Historical Perspective

Esther Fuchs is a superb scholar who has created a must-read for academics and the general public alike. Broad public interest in Israel and the Middle East will certainly make this collection of essays on Israeli women a widely-read and important volume.

— Susannah Heschel, Eli Black Associate Professor of Jewish Studies, Dartmouth College

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents
Preface
Introduction
Esther Fuchs, Israeli Women's Studies
Myth and History
Dafna N. Izraeli, The Zionist Women's Movement in Palestine, 1911-1927: A Sociological Analysis
Shulamit Reinharz and Manya Wilbushewitz, Shohat and the Winding Road to Sejera
Deborah S. Bernstein, Daughters of the Nation: Between the Public and the Private Spheres in Pre-State Israel
Tamar Mayer, From Zero to Hero: Masculinity in Jewish Nationalism.
Law and Religion
Nira Yuval-Davis, The Bearers of the Collective: Women and Religious Legislation in Israel
Tamar El-Or, Paradoxes and Social Boundaries: Ultraorthodox Jewish Women and their World.
Susan Sered, The Ritualized Body: Brides, Purity and the Mikveh.
Society and Politics
Judith Buber Agassi, The Status of Women in Kibbutz - Society
Manar Hassan, Growing Up Female and Palestinian
Yael Yishai, Between the Flag and the Banner: Dilemmas in the Political Life of Israeli
Hanna Herzog, Homefront and Battlefront: The Status of Jewish and Palestinian Women in Israel.
War and Peace
Simona Sharoni, Homefront as Battlefront: Gender, Military Occupation and Violence Against Women.
Ayala Emmett, Citizens of the State and Political Women
Orna Sasson-Levy, Gender Performance in a Changing Military: Women Soldiers in 'Masculine' Roles
Literature and Culture
Esther Fuchs, Amalia Kahana-Carmon and Contemporary Hebrew Women's Fiction
Ella Shohat, Making the Silences Speak in Israeli Cinema
Orly Lubin, The Woman as Other in Israeli Cinema
Yael S. Feldman, Feminism Under Siege: The Vicarious Selves of Israeli Women Writers
Index

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