Are Haredi Women Taking Their Cues From Outkast?
By Daniel Treiman
Some ultra-Orthodox women are defiantly taking seats at the back of Israeli buses in the name of what they see as religiously mandated gender-segregation. What’s more, as the Forward reports, some of them (or at least one of them) are comparing their actions to those of civil rights legend Rosa Parks.
Let’s set aside the moral question here, since I’m but a simple Jew and thus find such weighty matters painfully vexing. On the basic level of the facts, however, I just don’t understand how the Rosa Parks analogy applies: These haredi women want to sit at the back of the bus. Rosa Parks, of course, refused to give up her seat at the back of the bus. But, it seems safe to say, she didn’t particularly want to be relegated to the rear of the bus, and her brave act of defiance gave birth to a movement that eventually put an end to racially segregated seating in public transportation.
This leads me to believe that perhaps these haredi women are not, in fact, motivated by the example of Rosa Parks, the civil rights icon, but rather by “Rosa Parks,” the hit song by the Atlanta hip-hop outfit Outkast. That song, of course, features a chorus that urges, “Ah ha, hush that fuss/Everybody move to the back of the bus.”
I only hope that these haredi path-breakers don’t now try to implement the second half of the song’s chorus: “Do you wanna bump and slump with us/We the type of people make the club get crunk.” In any case, they should be aware that Outkast was sued over its song on behalf of (the since departed) Parks, and so they may want to consult an attorney as a precautionary measure.
But that’s just my own personal theory. You can decide for yourselves which Rosa Parks they’re emulating by watching a pair of videos. Be forewarned, however, that the first video contains some language that may be offensive to many viewers, while the second video contains a moving depiction of personal courage.
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Wait -- wasn't Rosa Parks sitting in the middle of the bus and asked to move to the rear? And as you say, who exactly are these women defying by claiming the back of the bus? Rosa Parks is Rosa Parks because she broke the law in defense of her beliefs. It's like saying I'm Martin Luther King because I also have dreams -- mine just happen to involve being naked in public.
From Wikipedia: "[Rosa] Parks refused to obey bus driver James Blake's order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger."
... and the second video also states that Parks was told to vacate her seat for a white passenger, not move to the back of an already full bus.
This is hilarious and insightful post! The actions of the Haredi women make for a fascinating lesson in irony, and gender politics. As a woman who was raised Orthodox--spending countless hours behind the wooden mechitza in the far back of my family's shul-- but was educated at a liberal arts college well known for its history of feminism, I am at once deeply troubled by the actions of the Haredi women, but I can also--grudgingly-- appreciate their point of view. In their world, the strict division of genders is of paramount importance (though the implications behind that division smack of sexism); of course, the irony here is that, in my (fairly secular) world these women's actions are REgressive, rather than PROgressive, especially as compared to the actions of Rosa Parks. These Haredi women have every right to uphold the tenets of their faith, but to couch their actions in terms of activism is absolutely problematic and even a little, well, funny.
Deep South, 1950's -- Sammy Davis Jr. gets on one of the segregated buses. The driver: "Back of the bus N*****!" Sammy Davis Jr.: "But I'm Jewish!" The driver: "Off the bus!"
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. did a short story on the bus issue. Click here for video CBC News story on Israel’s ‘modesty buses’ Joel Katz Religion and State in Israel
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. did a short story on the bus issue. Link for CBC News video story on Israel’s ‘modesty buses’: http://tinyurl.com/5pufey Joel Katz http://religionandstateinisrael.blogspot.com/
In fairness, I believe the suit against Outkast was thrown out.
действие, служба, предпринимательство, экономическая деятельность, нап равленная на достижение определенных результатов (получение прибыли). - сделки, торговые операции. - деловая житье, деловые круги, экономическая деятельный общий вотличие от других сфер жизнедеятельности (культуры, политики, образова ния и т.д.). - общество, начинание, экономический субъект. Термин, обозначающийучреждение, специализирующееся в той разве другой области предпринима тельства.
Дисбазия - (дис + греч. underpinning - ход, ход). Нарушения ходьбы, походки.
Very nice site!
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