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Un-partnered: The Meaning of Being Single Jewish Women in America, 1976-Present

Mon, December 17, 1:15 to 2:45pm, Seaport Hotel & World Trade Center, Harborview 3 Ballroom

Abstract

This paper is an exploration of the term “single” and the experience of American Jewish women during a time of rapid social change in America. Although it has often been used as if its meaning was a foregone conclusion—an unwed female—“single” can be understood in myriad ways as a result of both choice and lack thereof. A woman may be single because she has yet to meet someone she, society, or her family deem appropriate; single because her partner has moved away temporarily, deserted her, or died. She may be divorced. If a married woman goes to synagogue alone, she may feel and be perceived as single. An intermarried Jewish woman can be single as the only Jew in the partnership. If a Jewish woman of color is the only POC in a room, she inhabits that space as single. Jews by choice are single when they are the only person in their family of origin to have voluntarily given up another faith and/or adopted Judaism. Lilith magazine is an independent, Jewish-American, feminist non-profit publication that has been issued quarterly since 1976. The magazine features award-winning investigative reports, first-person accounts both contemporary and historical, entertainment reviews, fiction and poetry, art and photography. Topics include everything from single mothers by choice to deconstructing the JAP stereotype, and much else that will be the focus of my research. In March of 2017, Brandeis celebrated four decades of feminist thought and themes with a symposium dedicated to the legacy of Lilith and marking the donation of the publication’s manuscripts, letters, cover art, and photographs to the special collections, adding an important piece to the Jewish feminist archive at Brandeis. Preliminary research into this treasure trove, suggests that the topic of single women was addressed and portrayed explicitly and implicitly. My paper will illustrate how the narrative about single Jewish women evolved in the pages of Lilith since the publication’s founding. It will argue that, in various ways, Lilith’s portrayal and treatment of single women was ahead of its time relative to the contemporary American Jewish community at large...and remains so today.

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