Female Smurf Scrubbed From Movie Posters In Ultra-Orthodox Israeli Town
By Josefin Dolsten March 27, 2017
(JTA) — The latest casualty in Israel’s “modesty wars” is a Smurfette, a blue cartoon creature who stars in the latest “Smurfs” movie.
While a Smurfette — differentiated only by her long blonde hair and six cartoon eyelashes — graced billboards across Israel for “Smurfs: The Lost Village,” along with her three presumably male Smurfs, she was nowhere to be found on the posters in Bnei Brak.
The film’s distribution company decided to erase the blue-bodied beauty from posters in order not to offend residents, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz, which shared a photo of the poster with only the three male Smurfs. The company, Forum Film, also told Haaretz that it is common practice not to feature women on posters in Bnei Brak.
We’re not sure whether to laugh or cry #SmurfsMovie https://t.co/DRRGPfm1Ei
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) March 27, 2017
Not all Orthodox communities in Israel are on board with the strict gender-separation represented by the haredi community. Modern Orthodox Jews are among those active in pluralistic groups like the Yerushalmit Movement, Women Changing Jerusalem and Yerushalmim, which have put up their own advertisements featuring pictures of women.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
