Feminist Changes in Israel

Abstract

(from the chapter) This chapter focuses on how different feminist ideologies have affected Israeli society in general and the psychology of women in particular. It deals with the impact of feminism more than with the assumptions of any specific feminist approach. Moreover, the chapter is based on several suppositions: (1) Increasing gender equality is a desirable goal for both individuals and society; (2) gender equality does not imply "sameness," so that men and women may have different ways of doing things, but the differences may lead to similar results (e.g., men and women may have different management styles, but equal economic results); and (3) to increase gender equality, some major social changes need to be made, and those who benefit from the existing unequal situations are bound to resist such changes. This analysis examines the social-psychological impact of feminist ideas in three periods: (1) the hegemonic socialist era of nation building, in which feminism had only a minor influence on the psychology of women and on social processes (up to the late 1970s); (2) the liberal opening to "imported" Western ideas like capitalism and individualism, a period in which feminist psychology contributed to changes in the gender schema, and the gendering of traits, roles and stereotypes (the 1980s); and (3) the multiculturalism and globalization period with its local nuances, in which feminist psychology influenced the perception of the female body, leading to a significant change in the presentation of menstruation as "unclean," hiding the pregnant body, and, more recently, open and natural breastfeeding in public places (since the 1990s). These periods roughly correspond to the feminist waves that emerged in Europe and the USA. The chapter then turns to the examination of the impact of feminism on gender identities and gendered activism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved) (chapter)