An ultra-orthodox woman performing difference in Israeli academia

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of the performance of religious and gender difference in Israeli academia. As an ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman in Israel, my identity uneasily hovers at the juncture of multiple and intersecting sites of discrimination: of all religious groups, the ultra-Orthodox attract the most opprobrium from Israeli society, being viewed as anachronistic, insular, and anti-Zionist—and females in academia have well-documented challenges to face. Through the medium of autoethnography, I explore what it means to be female and ultra-Orthodox in Israeli academe: the daily journeys between diverse discourse communities, the necessary shifts in rhetorical footing, and how performing gender and religious difference in this society promotes encounters with stereotyping and bias.

Keywords:

• Ultra-Orthodox Jews
• Israel
• autoethnography
• gender
• religion
• bias

Acknowledgment

Thank you to Sue Lanser and Yael Shapira for their invaluable feedback and to Susan Handelman for suggesting that I turn my experiences into an article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 At the time I began writing this article, I was an adjunct, working at two institutions. I have since moved to the tenure-track and now work only at the university.

2 In Israeli ultra-Orthodox society, eighth graders need to apply for admission to high school. Although academic achievement is a key element of the process, even more so is the socio-religious sorting that takes place, with some high schools catering to a more ‘modern’ clientele, while others are substantially more conservative. This particular high school is one of the most conservative in the ‘Lithuanian,’ non-Hasidic sector.

3 Thank you to Melodie Rosenfeld for bringing this phenomenon to my attention.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Esther B. Schupak

Esther B. Schupak is a lecturer at Bar-Ilan University, where she attained her doctorate in English literature as a recipient of the Presidential Fellowship for Outstanding Scholars. Her M.A. from University of Maryland is in Rhetoric and Composition, and her B.A. is in Interdisciplinary Studies, reflecting her ongoing interest in work that bridges academic disciplines. In addition to studying ultra-Orthodoxy, her research also focuses on Shakespeare, rhetoric, and pedagogy. She has published articles in Shakespeare, Shakespeare Survey, Research in Drama Education, College Teaching, and other journals, and is currently working on a book about Shakespeare's Roman dramas in the early days of the American republic. She teaches courses in Shakespeare, rhetoric, and academic writing.