Q&A: The Status of Women
The Status of Women
Question
Hello Honorable Rabbi,
I know this topic has already been discussed to death, especially in light of the media storms of recent months, but I would still be glad to hear your opinion.
Are the differences between men and women really “essential”? “Matter” as opposed to “form”? Is there a difference in the attitude toward women today as opposed to in the past? Is the Torah’s attitude, as reflected in the sources and in Jewish law, “discriminatory” because that was the social norm in earlier times (which also raises the question why Jewish law would promote those views), or is that attitude in fact the correct and healthy one, and we should still conduct ourselves that way today? Because there are sources that are hard to ignore and hard to present in a positive light—for example, the fact that women recite the blessing “who has made me according to His will” (even though I’ve also heard the explanation that this is actually loftier than the men’s blessing, but on the plain meaning it doesn’t seem that way), along with various quotations that at least on the surface sound insulting, and in general the overall spirit that emerges from the sources regarding woman as something secondary to man. Should our overall attitude toward all this be to justify everything that is written and everything said by the Sages, or to understand that these views belonged to an earlier era and no longer do today? And if they no longer do, then how did the Sages err in their understanding, and which of the differences still remain today?
Thank you very much
Discussion on Answer
In my view that’s not legitimate. No one is supposed to make decisions for me. With all due respect, let them leave me to sort out my own confusions. Especially since, as I wrote, there is no evidence for the essentialist view.
I didn’t say essentialist; I said statistical. You can call it whatever you want. But again, after all, you also educated your child in a certain educational framework that you believe in, and presumably when he grows up he’ll examine that education and choose whether to continue with it. So the same applies here—the statistics supposedly point to the situation (you can’t say it’s completely essentialist, and you can’t say the opposite either, so let’s leave it at “statistically”—for example, most girls are more emotional), and therefore it’s legitimate to cultivate that side, because as far as we know, for most girls that’s the side that should receive more emphasis.
Yes, you did say essentialist. After all, you began by asking whether the differences are essential.
In any case, I explained that in my opinion this is not about cultivating certain sides but about denying possibilities. That’s a big difference. There is a difference between encouraging women in a certain direction (which in my view is sometimes also problematic) and denying them options they want.
There is evidence for a different essential nature – https://alaxon.co.il/article/He's like this and she's like that/
There isn’t.
The link above says that there are differences whose source is sex (and not gender) already at the stages of pregnancy and in the early stages of childhood
I read it. Thanks.
But it seems legitimate to me that if someone thinks that statistically women are indeed more oriented toward certain fields, or a certain way of life, or a certain way of thinking, then he would also guide them to study and live that way in order to preserve it. And if a woman thinks that suits her less, then she can say so and go a different way. But it may be that opening up all the options is confusing. Just as if I believe I need to educate my children in a certain way because I believe those values are right for everyone, I’m not going to tell them about all the possibilities and say, “Do whatever seems right to you”; rather, I’ll educate them as seems right to me. Or take religious education, for example. And if my child feels differently, then he’ll go a different way. But it seems reasonable to me that if there are differences, then people would also try to reinforce them, no?