Sexism in bar/bat mitzvah cards
Aug. 18th, 2014 09:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dr_whomI was just struck by the gendered double standard playing out on these bar/bat mitzvah cards.
The bar mitzvah card (for boys) is decorated with words mostly referring to the Jewish ritual observance that the bar mitzvah is supposed to be about: reading the Torah with a yad, wearing talit and tefillin. The bat mitzvah card (for girls) is mostly covered with words about shopping, clothes, and jewelry—the stereotypical signifiers of materialistic femininity—with almost no reference to anything having to do with Jewish ritual. The implicit message is clear: a bar mitzvah ceremony recognizes a young man becoming an adult participant in the Jewish community; a bat mitzvah is an occasion to get dressed up.
I didn't buy either of those for my cousins.
It is possible to make matching bar/bat mitzvah cards that don't buy into this double standard; here's a pair:
The bar mitzvah card (for boys) is decorated with words mostly referring to the Jewish ritual observance that the bar mitzvah is supposed to be about: reading the Torah with a yad, wearing talit and tefillin. The bat mitzvah card (for girls) is mostly covered with words about shopping, clothes, and jewelry—the stereotypical signifiers of materialistic femininity—with almost no reference to anything having to do with Jewish ritual. The implicit message is clear: a bar mitzvah ceremony recognizes a young man becoming an adult participant in the Jewish community; a bat mitzvah is an occasion to get dressed up.
I didn't buy either of those for my cousins.
It is possible to make matching bar/bat mitzvah cards that don't buy into this double standard; here's a pair:
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Date: 2014-08-19 04:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-19 04:35 am (UTC)Anyway: the chair cards are lovely. Everyone likes being hoisted on chairs!
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Date: 2014-08-19 04:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-19 05:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-19 10:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-19 01:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-19 01:12 pm (UTC)