Welcome to the Forward’s Jewish News coverage about feminism and womens issues.
Feminism
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Life When Women Bully Other Women
Thinkstock The road to the corner office isn’t an easy one for a woman. There is the glass ceiling to break, and then the maternal wall to mount and then, if you get that far, there are glass cliffs to avoid. Oh my! Many are working today to deconstruct these barriers, including pushes for better…
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Life 5 Reasons ‘Seinfeld’s Elaine is Feminist Icon
This week marks the 25th anniversary of Seinfeld, the mostly loved but sometimes reviled sitcom about nothing. In honor of this milestone, the Sisterhood would like to pay our dues to the character of Elaine Benes, whose spunk and guile was given shape by the most enduring cast member, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss. Elaine was an unlikely…
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Culture Ellen Willis and Me
The Essential Ellen Willis By Ellen Willis Edited by Nona Willis Aronowitz University of Minnesota Press, 536 pages, $24.95 Ellen Willis died in 2006, but her voice still echoes in the culture. Willis was the first pop music critic for The New Yorker, an editor and writer for the Village Voice and Rolling Stone, founder…
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Life You Can Do it In a Skirt
Cross-country skiing in a skirt / Courtesy of youcandoitinaskirt.wordpress.com As someone who identifies as an Orthodox feminist but still (mostly) follows the dictates of tznius, or modesty, I often find myself feeling marginalized. Among the women who dress the way I do, I am judged for my progressive views; among those with views more like…
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Opinion A Non-Giggly Girl Causes Problems Among the Ultra-Orthodox
Ultra-Orthodox girls lean out of a classroom window / Getty Images “What do you mean he abused her?” The question was shrill and innocuous. The teacher, Mrs. Stern, looked incredibly uncomfortable. But hey, she had brought it up. “He got into the bed with her, and he abused her.” Mrs. Stern shrugged her shoulders at…
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Opinion Maharat Graduation Surprised Me — Twice
Last year’s Maharat graduation ceremony / Robert Kalfus Two dramatic moments punctuated yesterday’s graduation ceremony of the New York-based Yeshivat Maharat, the rabbinical academy for Orthodox women, which ordained its second class of women who will serve Orthodox communities as poskot — halakhic decisors and advisors. They were granted the title “Maharat,” and acronym for…
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Life Why Women Are the New Gatekeepers of Modesty
Getty Images // Ultra-Orthodox women in Israel Who are the gatekeepers of the conservative religious ideal of tznius, or modesty? This question has been argued and parsed on social media and on blogs in recent years as radicalism in the ultra-Orthodox communities has taken on new and more visible forms. A common misperception is that…
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Life Why Shouldn’t Feminists Be Happy?
Getty Images // A smiling Gloria Steinem. In a recent column, the Guardian’s Jessica Valenti takes aim at our culture’s fixation on the happiness of women. She argues that we shouldn’t concern ourselves with whether or not feminism makes women happier because happiness is not the point. After all, a social justice movement seeks justice,…
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Fast Forward Why some Satmar Hasidic leaders endorsed Zohran Mamdani as mayor, stunning many Jewish voters
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News How Mamdani became New York’s next mayor, with Jews divided between fierce opposition and fiery support
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Opinion I’m an Israeli who lives in New York. Here’s why I’m voting for Mamdani
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Culture Mamdani quoted Eugene Debs in his victory speech — there’s a long Jewish history there
In Case You Missed It
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Opinion The fundamental miscalculation behind the GOP’s antisemitism crisis
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Fast Forward US teen deported, Israeli rabbi wounded as tensions mount for Jewish activists in the West Bank
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Yiddish טשיקאַוועסן: אַקטיאָר דזשעסי אײַזנבערג זאָגט ער וועט אַוועקגעבן אַ נירTidbits: Actor Jesse Eisenberg says he’ll donate a kidney
מיט צען יאָר צוריק האָט ער שוין געקלערט דאָס צו טאָן.
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Fast Forward Pelosi won’t seek reelection, ending the pioneering congresswoman’s decades of Jewish outreach
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