Phoebe Maltz Bovy is a former editor of the Sisterhood blog at the Forward. Her writing has appeared in several publications, including The New Republic and The Atlantic. Her book, “The Perils of ‘Privilege,’” was published by St. Martin’s Press in March 2017. She has a PhD in French and French Studies from New York University, and has read a lot of 19th century French Jewish newspapers for a 21st century American.
Phoebe Maltz Bovy
By Phoebe Maltz Bovy
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Life Should Hasidic Moms Have A Dress Code?
Who among us would disagree with the suggestion that we “unite to show our children that there is another way”? Out of context, this suggestion seems as if it might relate to climate change, say. Or just something like basic human decency. Sam Kestenbaum reports that a Hasidic girls school in Crown Heights, Bnos Menachem,…
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Life A Critic Discussed Gal Gadot’s ‘Breed.’ Controversy Ensued.
If you write an article that causes controversy, but that you hadn’t intended to have that effect, you have two options. The first is to wait the requisite three minutes until whoever was outraged has forgotten about whatever you wrote and moved on to the next thing. The other? To respond to the criticism. The…
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Life When Secular Jewish Women Wear Long Skirts, Confusion Ensues
Sometimes a maxi skirt is just a maxi skirt. Over at The Cut, Lilit Marcus describes a very specific fashion and identity conundrum: because she’s got a “Hebrew name” and is “drawn to things that might get defined as conservative — below-the-knee dresses, cardigans buttoned all the way up, tights in nearly every color of…
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Life Lena Dunham’s For Corbyn. Blessing Or Curse?
Lena Dunham, the woman widely (if unfairly) blamed for dooming Hillary Clinton’s candidacy with her enthusiastic support, has just gotten behind… Jeremy Corbyn, of the British Labour Party. From her Instagram: “With Jeremy Corbyn you have a chance at a fair and just leader who will temper the fascism and darkness of our current American…
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Life ‘Wonder Woman’ Is Not An Op-Ed
Christina Cauterucci is getting some pushback for a Slate piece with the headline, “I Wish ‘Wonder Woman’ Were as Feminist as It Thinks It Is.” In it, Cauterucci argues that “whatever chance ‘Wonder Woman’ had of being some kind of feminist antidote to the overabundance of superhero movies made by and for bros was blown…
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Life How Powerful Is Ivanka Trump?
Yes, the CNN declaration that Ivanka Trump is “America’s most powerful Jewish woman” drew eye-rolls. (My favorite response was Emily Nussbaum’s: “The Nanny in reruns is a more powerful Jewish woman than Ivanka Trump.”) But… isn’t she? For the past several months, I’ve been Ivanka-ing it up a storm for the Sisterhood, not because I…
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Life What We Talk About When We Talk About Hillary Clinton
Why, in May 2017, with the 2016 elections ever further behind us, did the National Review publish a story calling out Hillary Clinton for being a “sad, unemployed, 69-year-old lady”? Put another way: Why is The Hillary Conversation still ongoing? Why is so much energy — from the right, but also from the internally-critical left,…
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Life Students (And A Parent) Protest School Dress Code Sexism
As the weather gets warmer, school dress codes once again get put to the test. Even secular schools, even public schools, will often have skirt-length requirements. While rules themselves may be gender-neutral, we live in a society that sexualizes women’s and girls’ bodies. Outfits designed for women and girls tend to be revealing in ways…
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