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By shira • 16 years ago

A BLOG ON JEWISH FEMINISM!: from the rib?

I just started a blog on Jewish feminism, from the rib? Topics range from exploring biblical inequalities/women’s untold stories to the current injustices Jewish women face (i.e. the recent arrest of a woman trying to pray at the Western Wall) to the successes Jewish women have had in obtaining equal opportunities across denominations to the complexities and ambiguity surrounding gender roles in Judaism. As you can see, it’s a pretty broad range!

I think this blog is a really great opportunity to get multiple voices and multiple perspectives heard. This summer, I traveled to Israel with a feminist mindset and discovered horrific sexism that lies in religious traditions. I also met some really strong feminists seeking end the explicit gender inequality within Judaism. This blog is both a critique and celebration of the intersectionality that is Jewish feminism. Please check it out!
By shira • 17 years ago

Listening to the Voice of Change

I witnessed the inauguration of President Barack Obama in a noisy public high school auditorium. Every seat in every row was filled until 480 students were crammed and situated. Together, we waited for our school’s tech team to hook the computer up to the projector so we could digitally witness this historic moment of change.

We did not see President Obama take the oath of office. We did not see the inaugural address. Yet we heard him make history and, for the first time, we listened.

Almost every New York City public school attempted to visually broadcast the Inauguration of Barack Obama. Because the recession-laden Department of Education provides internet service to all these schools, only a few were able to see ...

I witnessed the inauguration of President Barack Obama in a noisy public high school auditorium. Every seat in every row was filled until 480 students were crammed and situated. Together, we waited for our school’s tech team ...
By shira • 17 years ago

Culture Shock: Spain

This summer, I spent a month studying abroad in Spain. In terms of feminism, I was truly shocked as to how the societal norms differed from cultural and political achievements and aspirations. 

Politically:

In all of Spain, gay marriage has been legal since 2005. The law views homosexual unions as marriage in the same way it views heterosexual unions as marriage. It is also legal and the norm for gay couples to adopt. Clearly, this Catholic socialist nation has made a lot more progress than our own. 

Before Spain returned to democracy in 1976, divorce, abortion, and contraception was all prohibited, though prostitution was permitted. With the rule of Adolfo Suarez, Spain’s first democratic president since before Franco, the sale of contraceptives was ...

This summer, I spent a month studying abroad in Spain. In terms of feminism, I was truly shocked as to how the societal norms differed from cultural and political achievements and aspirations. 

Politically:

In all of Spain, gay marriage ...
By shira • 17 years ago

NARAL Volunteer Chronicles: PrideFest:

I just got back from PrideFest NYC where I volunteered with NARAL. During the fair, I stood outside the booth with a pen, clipboard, and postcards for New York senators to support the Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act (RHAPP). Many postcards were filled out by awesome pride-goers. I met many interesting and enthusiastic people who were very happy to sign. One woman is even in the process of making a documentary that exposes crisis pregnancy centers! However, one person I approached elicited a very upsetting response:

ME: Hi! Would you like to sign a petition that supports women’s reproductive rights in New York State?

RANDOM MAN: Can you explain?

ME: Sure. This is a petition for the support of the ...

I just got back from PrideFest NYC where I volunteered with NARAL. During the fair, I stood outside the booth with a pen, clipboard, and postcards for New York senators to support the Reproductive Health ...
By shira • 17 years ago

The Rydell High Patriarchy

Grease was on TV on Wednesday and it got me thinking…

I saw Grease for the first time when I was three years old. My parents were completely unaware of the content rating as I held my boombox microphone to the TV and recorded “Summer Nights” and “Blue Moon,” memorizing the hand jive as the movie progressed. When I was six, I wanted to marry Danny Zucco. When I was ten, I wanted leather pants, Grease’s official symbol of conformity and change…all to please the boy. When I was twelve, a girl in my seventh grade class and I sang that final number, which marks the demise of Sandy’s individuality, when she interrupted, “Grease is just so sexist!”

I did not understand ...

Grease was on TV on Wednesday and it got me thinking…

I saw Grease for the first time when I was three years old. My parents were completely unaware of the content rating as I held my boombox ...