Blurry Glasses=Modesty Police
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
It’s not a joke, although it certainly seems like one.
In some ultra-Orthodox communities in Israel, shops are now selling eye glasses with lenses that intentionally blur whatever the wearer is looking at, the web site ynet reports.
The goal is to allow men to walk through their neighborhoods without having to risk getting a good look at immodestly clad women.
Entrepreneurs obtained a patent for glasses with blurry lenses for a mere 25 NIS, or a little more than $6, the site reports. Shops in Israeli communities such as Meah Shearim are also hawking removable stickers that can be affixed to prescription glasses to achieve the same goal.
Why a person who needs corrective lenses wouldn’t choose to simply remove their glasses to avoid seeing women dressed is perhaps a mystery only understood by that community.
The glasses are designed for situations in which a man might be required to go where women might be present. This problem is often avoided within those communities, either by having men and women walk in separate areas, or forcing women to dress according to the community’s extremely modest standards.
Should the situation arise, however, where a woman might be in the vicinity, a man may simply grab his glasses, put them on, and hurry on his way.
The glasses are equipped with slits at the bottom that allow the user to walk without tripping, according to vosizneias.com.
One Israeli woman who heard of the fad facetiously expressed her hope that the glasses would result in men walking into women. That, in turn, would “lead to mixed dancing.” One can only hope.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
