Orthodoxy, Gender, and the Body

Session Submission Type: Panel Session

Abstract

Our understandings of ourselves as gendered, embodied beings is strongly shaped by the social and cultural contexts in which we internalize our group’s stories, norms and values, and its prescriptions for appropriate gendered identities and practices. Orthodox Judaism requires members to observe all 613 commandments in the Hebrew Scriptures, which prescribe intensive regimes of embodied ritual practices that occupy members’ lives from morning until night. The papers on this panel highlight the various ways that individuals and groups challenge traditional religious authorities, texts, and conventional gendered practices, and begin to create alternative gendered places and spaces within the religion.

Sub Unit

• Social Science

Chair

• Jody Myers, California State University at Northridge

Individual Presentations

• Religious Defection and the Transformation of Bodily Practices - Lynn R. Davidman, University of Kansas

• Rid Yourself of Frigidity and Impotence: The Empowering Sexual Hygiene of Esther Jungreis’ Orthodoxy - Matthew Williams, Stanford University

• HISHTADLUT and BITACHON: Haredi Women Negotiate Bodily Autonomy and Divine Intervention - Michal Raucher, University of Cincinnati

• Serving God with My Naked Body - Cara Rock-Singer, Columbia University