Feminism

Content type
Collection

Jewish Women’s Comics and Graphic Narratives

The history of Jewish women’s comics and graphic novels can be traced back to early and mid-20th-century progenitors. With the underground comics scene of the late 1960s/early 1970s, several Jewish women laid the groundwork for the themes, styles, and communal ties that would be taken up by the post-underground. In the 21st century, the works of Jewish women in comics and graphic novels is booming.

Marti Friedlander

London-born Marti Friedlander migrated to New Zealand in 1958. She became one of the country’s most outstanding and influential photographers in portraiture, photo-journalism, photo-books, and “street” photography. Her photographs still live vigorous public lives in exhibitions, books, and periodicals published after her death.

Colorful Geometric Watercolor Background

Confronting My Assumptions about Orthodox Judaism

Jessie Schwalb

I have come to understand that no sect is a monolith.

Lilith Magazine Fall 1987 (crop)

Jewish Feminist Texts Help Me Get through the Pandemic

Molly Fraser

I will continue to access Jewish feminist texts for wisdom and fortitude when I need them.

Daniella Levine Cava With Supporters in Coral Gables, Florida

Daniella Levine Cava: Miami’s Matriarch

Goldi Lieberperson

Daniella Levine Cava, to whom I affectionately refer as “DLC,” made history during this election cycle.

Photo of Kamala Harris with Barbie Silhouette Background

From Barbie to Kamala: “Little Girls, Dream Big”

Dahlia Plotkin-Oren

Just as Mattel has expanded Barbie dolls to represent broader diversity, we as a society need to continue working towards equality and representation. Kamala Harris's election is a step in that direction.

Graphic of swimmers

My Body Is My Own in Lockdown

Dahlia Soussan

For the first time in my life, my body is entirely my own.

Topics: Feminism
Painted Lines Overlayed with Outline of Ohio

The 2020 Election in Ohio: Continuing the Feminist Struggle for and Beyond Representation

Rose Clubok

Electing a candidate who advocates for reproductive rights for all is just as essential as ensuring women are represented in government.

Judith Collage, 2020 by Judy Goldstein

Facing Holofernes: How to Live Up to a Name Like Judith

Judy Goldstein

In order to live up to a name like Judith, we must face our own Holoferneses head on.

Topics: Feminism, Bible
Illustration of Silhouetted Face Over Butterfly Background

My Jewish Feminist Metamorphosis

Lily Pazner

On the day of my bat mitzvah, I started to confront my internalized antisemitism and sexism.

Photo of Dr. Martens Boots

In Their Footsteps: Stomping in the Boots of My Feminist Foremothers

Goldi Lieberperson

My Doc Martens are so much more than just shoes.

Topics: Feminism, Family
Dodie Altman-Sagan's Bubbe's Lion of Judah Pin

Exploring My Identity with My Bubbe's Lion of Judah Pin

Dodie Altman-Sagan

My Bubbe’s Lion of Judah pin is a reminder for me of my grandmother: a strong, feminist leader.

Maya Stutman-Shaw Wearing Tefillin with a Friend at the Western Wall

My "Girl Power" Tefillin Journey: Wearing Davening Attire as a Girl

Ma'ayan Stutman-Shaw

One day, I hope to walk into an egalitarian Jewish space with my tallit on my shoulders and my kippah on my head.

Topics: Feminism, Ritual
 “Robe Poème, L’Ange a Glissé…” by Sonia Delaunay, 1922

A Jewish Feminist and a Feminist Jew

Liana Smolover-Bord

Judith Plaskow said, “I am not a Jew in the synagogue and a feminist in the world."

Glasses Resting on Open Tanakh

The “Jewish Women Question”: Can Women Learn Gemara?

Rena Kosowsky

I’ve learned the value of endurance in activism through my experience with Talmud learning.

White chairs against a black wall

A Seat at My Orthodox Jewish School’s Ma’ariv Service

Lana Klein

There were no chairs in the women's section of my school's shul. 

Close up image of Shoshanah Curiel-Alessi's tie-dyed pink and purple tallit

How My Bat Mitzvah Tallit Helped Me Find My Voice

Shoshanah Curiel-Alessi

This prayer shawl was the antithesis of everything I’d told myself I was supposed to be; it challenged tradition, caught attention, and took up space.

2019-20 Rising Voices Fellow Hannah Landau's Zine Pages

How to Be Perfect: A Guide for Girls

Hannah Landau

Perfection is the goal and trying is the consequence.

Topics: Feminism, Crafts
Illustration of Raised Hands with #MeToo Written on the Palms

Why We Still Need to Be Talking about #MeToo in the Jewish Community

Dahlia Soussan

As too many Jewish women find their allegations unheard and unaddressed, I am responsible to amplify those female voices.

Illustration of Parts of the Body

Social Media “Influencers”: Start Influencing Girls to Love Ourselves

Neima Fax

Girls today are given an image of what an ideal body should look like on social media, and our introduction into womanhood and knowing our bodies is through the lens of fixing it.

Topics: Feminism, Media

Can We Talk? Spring 2020 Season Wrap

As they wrap up another season of Can We Talk?, Nahanni Rous and Judith Rosenbaum look back on episodes and interviews from this season. They reflect on how the podcast has been a vehicle for connection, commiseration, and change during this difficult time—and they look ahead to a new season in Fall 2020.

Judith Butler

Judith Butler is the Maxine Elliot Professor of Comparative Literature and the Program in Critical Theory at the University of California, Berkeley. Butler’s work treats gender, hate speech, the precarity of life, the precarity of one’s position as a Jewish thinker in light of Israeli policy towards Palestinians, alternative kinship structures, non-violence, vulnerability, and other, equally complex and important aspects of human existence.

Woman measuring her stomach

It's Ok to Gain Weight during the Pandemic

Larisa Klebe

A pandemic is no time for fat-shaming.

Joan Nestle

What Does Sex-Positive Feminism Look Like?

Belle Gage

Joan Nestle opened the door to important conversations about women and sexuality. Contemporary feminist activists must continue them.

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