The first time International Women’s Day was observed – exactly a century ago in
Germany – it was known as International Working Women’s Day, protesting working
conditions during industrialization. Since then, the day has carried various
meanings, depending on the society in which it was marked. Decades after the
day’s inception, the UN General Assembly invited member states in 1977 to
proclaim March 8 as the UN Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace. Today
it is known simply as International Women’s Day.
Although the phenomenon
of international days was born in modern society, it has a distinctly Jewish
flavor. The day is used as a platform for what is known in Jewish tradition as
cheshbon hanefesh – a combination of account-taking and
reflection.
International Women’s Day in particular provides just that
sort of basis for an accounting of women’s status in fields ranging from
economic discrimination and the glass ceiling, through the role of women in the
family unit, to trafficking in women.
The list of inequities goes on.
However, upon reflection – which is the second aspect of cheshbon hanefesh – the
achievement of many women’s aspirations comes to light.
This duality is
demonstrated through viewing an edition of The Jerusalem Post on a typical news
day – let’s take Wednesday, February 23. The description of the gender-specific
problems and challenges begins with the news report of a policeman from Rosh
Ha’ayin convicted of “romance-driven crimes” against his girlfriend. Following
that, the day’s editorial details the tortuous path to conversion – keep in mind
that the vast majority of applicants for conversion in Israel are
women.
Then Seth Frantzman describes the “communal state of denial”
regarding “honor killings” in Israeli Arab communities. According to his report,
the female victims are buried in unmarked graves. This is the ultimate erasure
of a woman’s identity – as if she never existed.
In the same section of
the paper, a Globes correspondent reported that the Knesset Finance Committee,
in a prime example of insult following injury, has raised the office budget of
former president Moshe Katsav, who was convicted of rape and sexual
assault.
Following that preposterous piece of news were two op-ed
articles, both authored by women, which dealt with CBS’s Lara Logan’s beating
and sexual assault by a mob of Egyptian men in Tahrir Square last month. Maureen
Dowd brought to light the attitude of some who posted vile Twitter comments
relating to Logan’s assault, as if the assault itself were not despicable
enough. Kim Barker disclosed the compound state of danger in which female
correspondents function: physical danger resulting from being perceived as
sexual objects, at the same time they must cover up that very danger for fear of
job discrimination.
On the other hand, that day’s paper includes several
rays of hope for women, while illuminating the specific burdens that women
carry. The first instance is the Knesset Committee for the Advancement of Women
decrying the increase in illegal dismissals of pregnant women. If the first step
in erasing a societal blight is consciousness-raising, then the Knesset made a
positive move.
This was followed by two examples of women empowered
enough to help other women. A Tel Aviv lawyer, Sharon Taitz, was chosen to serve
as president of Ladies Circle International, which according to reporter Ruth
Eglash, is a volunteer organization spanning 36 countries and more than 10,000
members. But the accolade for womenhelping- women goes to Dr. Michal Sagi of
Hadassah University Medical Center. Science and health reporter Judy Siegel
described how Sagi and her colleagues identified two “founder” gene mutations
for breast and ovarian cancer in Sephardi women, whom doctors had thought were
not at risk for these diseases. All the articles mentioned above are connected
to deeply life-changing and even lifeand- death issues.
SO JUST by
skimming the headlines of the daily paper, one discerns two opposing factors at
play – ingrained prejudice regarding the accomplishments of women (remember
“you’ve come a long way baby” of Virginia Slims in the late 1960s, which
ironically hallowed the male-dominated vice of smoking, thus aggrandizing it for
women)? In a sort of cheshbon hanefesh taken by the UN, but not quite in keeping
with today’s complex reality, the gist of International Women’s Day is clarified
in a rather upbeat manner (http://www.un.org): “International Women’s Day... is
a day when women are recognized for their achievements... It is an occasion for
looking back on past struggles and accomplishments, and more importantly, for
looking ahead to the untapped potential and opportunities that await future
generations of women.”
As with any real-life situation, a tension exists
between the great strides and accomplishments of women worldwide and the
inequity and injustices which still prevail. It is in the hands of all
individuals in society to assure that future International Women’s Days will
reflect the positive elements alone, leaving the concept of inequity for an era
gone by.
The writer has a PhD from Bar-Ilan University, is a rabbinical
court advocate, coordinator of the Get- Refusal Prevention Project of the
Council of Young Israel Rabbis and the Jewish Agency, and author of Minee
Einayich Medima
on prenuptial agreements for the prevention of get refusal.