Charedim waiting for an Egged bus in Bnei Brak Sunday blocked the bus when it arrived in protest over the driver- who was a woman. “They refused to enter and prevented her from continuing the route,” passersby reported.
Of course they will vehemently deny they consider women sex objects. But the idea of separating the sexes to such a extreme can only be because they believe men will have lustful thoughts about a woman when they see her. No matter how modestly she is dressed.
It is that kind of thinking that has led a few Charedi women to wear burkas or their equivalent. They apparently see Muslim modesty standards for women to be the most ideal way of preventing men from seeing them as the sex objects that they ‘obviously’ are. I met a women like that in Israel a couple of years ago. A very nice lady who wore a virtual tent over her body that covered every inch of it except for her face. This is what happens when Halacha is taken to an extreme.
Now it’s true that the natural human sex drive (especially in men where lust is more a function of the visual than it is in women) will often trigger lusting after a woman that is dressed immodestly. The more skin that is exposed the more lust will be triggered. Chazal recognizes this phenomenon which is why the subject of sex is called Arayos - skins.
Halacha therefore requires a certain degree of modesty in dress. Which is desirable if we want to maintain our mandate as a holy people. Even though we are commanded to resist temptation no matter how titillating, Chazal recognized that as a community we are far better off if we limit temptation as a matter of practicality. What kind of society would we be if we are in constant struggle to resist the near certain lust that is generated in men who constantly see women in extreme levels of immodest dress?
But as in all things a good idea taken to an extreme can have the opposite affect of it’s intent. Which is what happened in Bnei Brak last Sunday.
When extremes of modesty become the norm it creates a culture where any and all images of women and in some cases even references to them are seen as generating lust in men Charedi magazines that refuse to publish pictures of any woman no matter how modestly dressed caters to that kind of thinking. Women are objects that generate lust. Sex objects. To be avoided at all cost.
To that end one will find certain Charedi communities requiring male female segregation on buses. In some cases men and women are required to walk on opposite sides of the street. And in some cases even mentioning a woman’s name is considered immodest enough to generate lustful thoughts in men. I believe the Yated uses only the initial of a woman’s first name in the byline of her column.
It is the kind of thinking that will never use the word ‘breast’ to talk about breast cancer and how to help prevent it. It is the kind of thinking that has led some women wear Burkas (or the like). since they ‘understand’ that they are otherwise sex objects. Now it’s true that the vast majority of even right wing Poskim reject the idea of Burkas as a means of modest dress. But to the best of my knowledge they have not forbidden women from doing so. Which is why there are a few women that actually dress that way.
The idea that a female bus driver will generate lustful thoughts by passengers in Bnei Brak seems ridiculous on its face. (No pun intended.) But apparently it must. Why else would they do what they did there? They have been indoctrinated to see all women as a sex objects.
Although they never use those words and will deny it, if it looks like a duck...
Those who see women that way and react as I described are not sanctifying the name of God. In my view they are desecrating it with their ‘Frumma Yetzer Hara’. Even if unintentionally.
Not that this attitude will will ever change in those circles. I’m just telling it like it is. To these people, all woman regardless of how covered up they are considered sex objects that will generate lustful thoughts in men and to be avoided in any way, shape, or form.