The status of women at the Kotel (Western Wall) is in the news. You may have heard of The Women of the Wall, a group that meets monthly to pray together at the Kotel. Some members have been arrested for wearing prayer shawls. The controversy centers around whether these women are simply observing Judaism in the way they see fit, or making a concerted attempt to change the status quo. Today's guest post by photographer Rahel Jaskow addresses a different question. Documenting her claims with photos, she argues that the status quo has already been changed. A concerted effort to enforce more segregation, and failure to improve the women's areas, has led to a general worsening of conditions … [Read more...]
Halberstam Defends Her Pro-Makeup Stance
March 23, 2012 by 17 Comments
I reread the Halberstam article about whether marriageable girls wear enough makeup, after reading a claim that it was satire. The parts about the greatness of her son including the Ph.D. he is aspiring to, and Ollie's hair straightening salon, were indeed over the top. Her hyper-sensitivity about the girls she interviews easily qualifies as satire. This line alone could win a prize: "'Let’s see…she had a nose job….gastric bypass …botox injections….her teeth were capped…..and she wears violet-blue contact lenses…There’s practically nothing about her that’s real!' she laughed. 'But…guess what? She’s getting married next month!'" But so many sections were clearly … [Read more...]
A Tale of Two Purim Costume Ads
February 8, 2012 by 9 Comments
It's only Tu Beshevat, but the marketing for Purim is ratcheting up with advertisements for Purim costumes everywhere. A week or two ago, Hadassah Margolese, mother of 8-year-old Naama of Beit Shemesh fame, opened a haredi weekly distributed for free in her building's mailboxes. She was shocked to find an ad for Purim costumes, with the faces of the girls blurred out: Margolese posted the scanned ad to the Red Pirate chain's Facebook page. A message posted by Red Pirate claimed that they had no knowledge of the altered ad, which was commissioned by an agency. The original ad with the girls' faces appeared in several local publications. The chain apologized, saying that they would not … [Read more...]
Sderot Businesses Asked to Sign “Modesty” Contracts
December 12, 2011 by 24 Comments
I've written a lot about extreme modesty in women's dress and we always have this discussion about whether or not it is any of our business. At what point do we say "live and let live," and when do we begin to worry that these trends will affect us in our daily lives. Well, the time to worry is here. I'm posting the whole story from Haaretz and my comments appear at the end. Haredi group 'asks' businesses in Israel's south to tell female employees to dress 'dignified' Yair Yagna Dozens of Sderot businesses, include the retail SuperPharm and Optica Halperin retail chains, signed a modesty agreement over the past few months under which they guarantee that their workers will make … [Read more...]
Is Hyper-Modesty about Female Empowerment?
October 3, 2011 by 34 Comments
NRG published a story about a pamphlet distributed to homes in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh, urging women to wear shalim, or cloaks. If you have a copy of the pamphlet, please let me know. According to the pamphlet, the purpose of wearing a shal is "to cover the outline and shape of the body and hide the color of the clothing . . . the purpose of this embellishment is for the woman to honor her husband, and it isn't modest for the whole neighborhood to know what clothing she chose to wear on the Sabbath." According to the article, "The pamphlet goes on to bring long and detailed explanations of the halachic obligation, according to the writers, to wear the shal, along with quotes from … [Read more...]
Elad Poster Outs Couple for Immodest Behavior
May 29, 2011 by 7 Comments
A pashkevil went up over the weekend in Elad, warning the public about a woman and man who did "grave deeds:" Elad is a religious city outside of Petach Tikva. Here's my translation: So the Public May Know With great sorrow we must publicize that according to our Holy Torah one must stay away from the woman [name and address erased] who does the most GRAVE and licentious DEEDS that are not according to our Holy Torah. and the licentious man [name and address erased] who does things with her that must not be printed. May the good Lord send us atonement for their actions. The Guard of Holiness, Elad The story appeared in Mynet, the Petach Tikva edition of Yediot … [Read more...]
A Frum Fashion History of Denim Skirts
May 13, 2011 by 14 Comments
In Tablet Magazine, Dvora Meyers takes readers on a tour of her wardrobe over the years, and how in retrospect, her skirt choices paralleled her journey away from Orthodox Judaism. In this passage, Meyers describes her ambivalence about wearing pants in public for the first time: Even with all of my arguments lined up, the final leap to jeans was surprisingly difficult for reasons that had little to do with Jewish law. The problem was that in jeans, I blended in too well. Walking down the main campus thoroughfare or a crowded New York City street, I was invisible to the other Orthodox Jews. I no longer received brief, knowing glances from other frum women on the subway who understood … [Read more...]
With a Mother-in-Law Like This, Who Needs Enemies?
December 11, 2010 by 35 Comments
The letter below appeared in yesterday's edition of the alon Giluy Daat in a column called gilui lev (confession or revelation). My children tell me the letter isn’t typical for this column — most are thank-yous and the like. But if it’s at all typical of the way parents in the religious community think, it’s no surprise we have a “shidduch crisis.” I'll let the writer speak for herself, but couldn’t resist adding notes at the end. My wonderful daughter-in-law: Welcome to our family. I don’t need to tell you that you have joined an amazing and cohesive family,1 nor that you have received a husband like no other (with complete objectivity).2 You’ve received a … [Read more...]
Haredi Fashion Photography
November 30, 2010 by 12 Comments
Ynet has an article about the newest trend in fashion photography: Haredi models and styles. The article contains a video interview with the first professional haredi fashion photographer, Shprintzi Friedman. I was struck by the length of the skirt worn in the right-hand photo. Since when does “haredi fashion” include short skirts? The pictures are meant for catalogues since haredi magazines, even those aimed at women, don’t print photos of women. Hat tip: Rafi of Life in Israel Short-Skirt Wearers Threatened in Bnei Brak Haredi Women Adviseded to Sit on Separate Bench from Immodestly Dressed Women Burkas: The New Fashion … [Read more...]
Objectification of Women on Both Ends of the Spectrum
October 13, 2010 by 15 Comments
In the Jerusalem Post Yehuda Mirsky asks "Where is the Tzniut?" Mirsky was among those who filed a petition with the High Court to prevent separate sidewalks for men and women in Mea Shearim during the Sukkot holiday. When he visited, secular security guards blocked women from entering the main streets. They refused to tell Mirsky the name of their company. Mirsky also writes: Yet there can be no denying that it is tied to a corresponding extremism in secular society. The objectification of women in extreme haredi practices is more than matched by the objectification of women to which we are subjected to day and night by the colossal apparatus of marketing and advertising. And that … [Read more...]
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