Women in Black: Challenging Israel's Gender and Socio-Political Orders

Abstract

The Israeli protest movement 'Women in Black' is studied by focusing on the movement's mode of protest, which is used as a prism through which to analyse the manner in which the structure, contents and goals of protest challenge the socio-political and gender orders. The article analyses the protest vigil of 'Women in Black' in Jerusalem, and characterizes it, following Handelman (1990), as a minimalist public event. After examining and analysing the sources of minimalism it was concluded that minimalism was the result of two social processes attendant at the formation of 'Women in Black' as a social movement: personal interpretation of the political field, and avoidance of ideological deliberation amongst the participants. The minimalism of the public event preserved the movement for six years and created a collective identity that emphasized the symbolic difference between those within the demonstration and those outside it. This difference was symbolized by a juxtaposition of opposites. The essence of opposites is analysed by means of 'thick description', i.e., by deciphering them in the context of Israeli society. The study concluded that the mode of protest of 'Women in Black' has created a symbolic space in which a new type of political woman is enacted. This identity challenges established socio-cultural categories Israel.

Social Movements Through the Gender Lens

“…Their very presence in the public sphere subverted traditional social order where women are seen as belonging to the domestic sphere. As a consequence, the female activists were subjected to sexist abuse from bystanders aimed at deligitimation of the women as political actors (Helman and Rapoport 1997)…”

Gender and “Peace Work”: An Unofficial History of Israeli-Palestinian Peace Negotiations

“…It suggests that, unlike the public image of Israeli women peace activists emerged during the late 1980s as a new type of political woman (Helman and Rapoport 1997); women's incorporation in the formal peace negotiations was based on traditional definitions of gender roles and stereotypes.…”

The Civil Society, the Uncivil Society, and the Difficulty Israel Has Making Peace with the Palestinians

“…Movements such as 'Women in Black' protested against the Israeli occupation and challenged in the public sphere the inviolable connection between masculinity and soldiering and the existing patriarchal order whose power relied on the destructive element of force (Helman & Rapoport, 1997). In those years it became clear that the peace movement's demonstrations were part of a more comprehensive phenomenon.…”