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| Sexually provocative images of women in Meah Shearim (YWN) |
Yet another example of how extreme the people of Meah Shearim are - is being shared with their readers on YWN:
Kol Berama Radio host Avi Maimon reports of objections to new 20 and 100 shekels notes by people in Meah Shearim, as both new bills have pictures of women.
Rumors of a boycott are circulating and Yishai Dricks headed out to speak with Yoli Krauss, the operations officer of the Eida Chareidis, to see if there truly is a boycott.
Krauss told Kol Berama Radio one should not use the bills and if one gives him a 100 shekel note with a woman on it he will not accept it. He adds most prefer to use US dollars but will use shekels, however the new ones with the women on it are not acceptable.
I think I have more in common with Morgan Freeman than I do with these people - who have more in common with Yassir Arafat than they do with me - or any other normal Jew! I don't know why anyone considers them even remotely normal, let alone role models of religiosity! But there are elements on the right that have extolled their religious virtues as exemplars of what it means to be religious.
While I’m sure that there are many of us that might be smirking at this, I don’t think it is remotely funny when an entire group of religious Jews that have one of the highest birth rates among all of Orthodox Jewry has gone so far off the rails… all in the name of modesty.
Although they think it is modesty, it is not. It is a concession to the mindset among them that women are first and foremost thought of as objects of sexual desire. So much so that they consider a picture of a female face on money to be too much for them to handle… too much of a sex object.
They clearly do not realize it, but they are just as guilty of objectifying women as Hollywood is. (I use 'Hollywood' as a euphemism for the entertainment industry and Madison Avenue.) Only their way of doing it is Hollywood’s polar opposite. All of which contributes to the phenomena of sexual harassment, molestation, and abuse.
I suspect that there is a lot more of that going on than anyone realizes. A lot more! The only ones being reported now involve men in powerful positions taking advantge of that perception. They see women as sex objects to be used at their own pleasure and convenience. Believing that they are immune from exposure because they are so powerful. After all they have the ability to end careers. They believe that no one would believe their accusers. Nor would their victims expose them for fear they would either not be believed or blamed.
There is no question in my mind that this is the image of women in our day today in both a secular world where life imitates art - and in the extreme religious right where the sight of a face on a some paper currency is seen in sexual terms.
We live in a world that is highly sexualized. A world where men more often see women in sexual terms rather than in human terms. A world where both the opposite ends of the religious/secular spectrum see women the same way – as objects of sex. The extreme right exaggerates the avoidance of woman so as not to encounter those objects while too many men in the secular world take sexual advantage of women - seeing them entirely as sex objects
This is one area where feminism has been helpful. Women now feel empowered to speak up. More women than ever are no longer intimidated by a culture that sees them as objects. Perhaps we can thank Harvey Weinstein for that. His exposure as a serial sex abuser has opened the floodgates.
And yet, I wonder... Right now, there is a sense of outrage about all this. But I wonder if things will really change or will we go back to business as usual after the current discussion dies down.
I don’t think there is much we can do about people that are afraid to handle money because the picture of a woman on it might cause them to sin. But the rest of society can change how men see women. It starts with Hollywood. There has to be an end to the overwhelming portrayal of women in sexual terms. Women should be portrayed with more respect - as human beings and not always as objects of sexual conquest
The era of James Bond has to end. Not every movie has to have at least one woman that immodestly dressed. Or not dressed at all. Or in sexual scenes.
I know that sex sells. But ads should no longer sell their products by sexualizing them by featuring scantily clad women. Because that is exactly what objectifying women is.
I doubt that any of this will happen. But as long as things remain the same, I fear that society will continue to objectify women and that will continue to contribute to narcissistic sociopaths like Weinstein and Rose acting on it. And all of the current talk about the dawning of a new day will be for naught.