Distinguishing Between Sexism and Religion
Distinguishing Between Sexism and Religion
INTRODUCTION
One of my first assignments after my arrival to Florence was to keep a journal of my direct experience of Italian society and culture, with a special focus on gender. Subsequent to receiving the assignment I remember thinking to myself that I had no idea how to do that, but figured that I would catch on. On the contrary, it took me longer than I thought it would to understand this project. Staring off I did what was easiest and wrote about my culture shock; looking back on it now, the most difficult part was the transformation from culture shock to noticing normal everyday occurrences. I was finally able to do this towards the end of September, which was also around the same time I went to the synagogue. When I arrived for the services I was overwhelmed with things I noticed. Approaching the synagogue I noticed it was a spectacular building that was clearly built with elegance. I moved towards the doors and realized that I was not able to sit with the male friend I arrived with. We parted ways as I made my way to the corner of the hall and passed through two red curtains. Walking through these curtains was like walking into another world; this world was bizarre to me because it made me feel isolated. The women were located all the way to the right of the synagogue, where there was a fence like divider put up between the men and women. It was extremely hard to hear, let alone to see anything. This was probably the reason why all the women were chatting and not bowing their heads in silence like the men. I could not understand why the men had the privilege of seeing the rabbi, was this an example of sexism? This incident made me extremely curious to what the Jewish society, especially women, thought of this separation and how women are treated with in the religion overall. My curiosity was the reason I chose Jewish women in the Florentine society as my focus point for my research paper. I make the
INTRODUCTION
One of my first assignments after my arrival to Florence was to keep a journal of my direct experience of Italian society and culture, with a special focus on gender. Subsequent to receiving the assignment I remember thinking to myself that I had no idea how to do that, but figured that I would catch on. On the contrary, it took me longer than I thought it would to understand this project. Staring off I did what was easiest and wrote about my culture shock; looking back on it now, the most difficult part was the transformation from culture shock to noticing normal everyday occurrences. I was finally able to do this towards the end of September, which was also around the same time I went to the synagogue. When I arrived for the services I was overwhelmed with things I noticed. Approaching the synagogue I noticed it was a spectacular building that was clearly built with elegance. I moved towards the doors and realized that I was not able to sit with the male friend I arrived with. We parted ways as I made my way to the corner of the hall and passed through two red curtains. Walking through these curtains was like walking into another world; this world was bizarre to me because it made me feel isolated. The women were located all the way to the right of the synagogue, where there was a fence like divider put up between the men and women. It was extremely hard to hear, let alone to see anything. This was probably the reason why all the women were chatting and not bowing their heads in silence like the men. I could not understand why the men had the privilege of seeing the rabbi, was this an example of sexism? This incident made me extremely curious to what the Jewish society, especially women, thought of this separation and how women are treated with in the religion overall. My curiosity was the reason I chose Jewish women in the Florentine society as my focus point for my research paper. I make the