Women of Valour

At the heart of growing fundamentalism in the Haredi sector lies the fate of women: rabbis have decreed bans on women driving, installed modesty patrols, enforced gender segregation on buses, and caused women’s faces to be omitted in newspapers and magazines. Whilst Haredi men attempt to render women voiceless and faceless, mainstream media does little better. Haredi women, however, are not all sitting silently in their floor-length clothing locked in their homes despairing their helpless fate.  In a range of texts and genresthese women have been responding to their experiences. In this talk, Karen will draw on research from her recent book, Women of Valor, to highlight the work Haredi women are doing today.

Karen Skinazi is a senior teaching fellow at the University of Bristol. She has recently published Women of Valor: Orthodox Jewish Troll Fighters, Crime Writers, and Rock Stars in Contemporary Literature and Culture. Her writing about literature, race, gender, Jewish culture, and motherhood has appeared in academic journals and popular papers