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For Women and Girls Only: Reshaping Jewish Orthodoxy Through the Arts in the Digital Age
A compelling look at the lives of ultra-Orthodox and formerly ultra-Orthodox Jewish women and their use of media technologies to create a new market for music and film
Mainstream portrayals of ultra-Orthodox religious women often frame their faith as they are empowered only when they leave their community. This book flips this notion on its head. Drawing on six years of fieldwork between New York and Montreal, Jessica Roda examines modern performances on the stage and screen directed by and for ultra-Orthodox women. Their incredibly vibrant Jewish artistic scenes defy stereotypes that paint these women as repressed, reclusive to their shtetl (village), and devoid of creativity and agency.
For Women and Girls Only argues that access to technology has completely transformed how ultra-Orthodox women express their way of being religious and that the digital era has enabled them to create an alternative entertainment market outside of the public, male-dominated one. Because expectations surrounding modesty, ultra-Orthodox women do not sing, dance, or act in front of men and the public. Yet, in a revolutionary move, they are creating “women and girls only” spaces onsite and online, putting the onus on men to shield themselves from the content. They develop modest public spaces on the Internet, about which male religious leaders are often unaware. The book also explores the entanglement between these observant female artists and those who left religion and became public performers. The author shows that the arts expressed by all these women offer a means of not only social but also economic empowerment in their respective worlds.
For Women and Girls Only is a groundbreaking reversal of mainstream portrayals of ultra-Orthodox religious women, and of those who have left the community yet maintain ties to it. It is the first work to focus on the ultra-Orthodox female art scene in music, film, and dance across North America and on social media.
Mainstream portrayals of ultra-Orthodox religious women often frame their faith as they are empowered only when they leave their community. This book flips this notion on its head. Drawing on six years of fieldwork between New York and Montreal, Jessica Roda examines modern performances on the stage and screen directed by and for ultra-Orthodox women. Their incredibly vibrant Jewish artistic scenes defy stereotypes that paint these women as repressed, reclusive to their shtetl (village), and devoid of creativity and agency.
For Women and Girls Only argues that access to technology has completely transformed how ultra-Orthodox women express their way of being religious and that the digital era has enabled them to create an alternative entertainment market outside of the public, male-dominated one. Because expectations surrounding modesty, ultra-Orthodox women do not sing, dance, or act in front of men and the public. Yet, in a revolutionary move, they are creating “women and girls only” spaces onsite and online, putting the onus on men to shield themselves from the content. They develop modest public spaces on the Internet, about which male religious leaders are often unaware. The book also explores the entanglement between these observant female artists and those who left religion and became public performers. The author shows that the arts expressed by all these women offer a means of not only social but also economic empowerment in their respective worlds.
For Women and Girls Only is a groundbreaking reversal of mainstream portrayals of ultra-Orthodox religious women, and of those who have left the community yet maintain ties to it. It is the first work to focus on the ultra-Orthodox female art scene in music, film, and dance across North America and on social media.
330 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 5, 2024
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25 people want to read
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March 5, 2024Women filming a movie on the streets of Borough Park. Williamsburg moms learning dance moves inspired by modern jazz, Zumba, and mambo. A Hasidic woman from Flatbush singing songs by Barbra Streisand and Whitney Houston on Instagram.
Just a decade ago, these scenes would have been hard to come by, according to scholar Jessica Roda. Her new book, “For Women and Girls Only: Reshaping Jewish Orthodoxy Through the Arts in the Digital Age,” charts a trend in the Haredi world in which women’s creativity has transcended the world of schools and summer camps to become a thriving professional industry of its own.
Read my full article in Shtetl, a news outlet covering Haredi communities: https://www.shtetl.org/article/jessic...
Just a decade ago, these scenes would have been hard to come by, according to scholar Jessica Roda. Her new book, “For Women and Girls Only: Reshaping Jewish Orthodoxy Through the Arts in the Digital Age,” charts a trend in the Haredi world in which women’s creativity has transcended the world of schools and summer camps to become a thriving professional industry of its own.
Read my full article in Shtetl, a news outlet covering Haredi communities: https://www.shtetl.org/article/jessic...
June 5, 2024
My review of the book can be found here: https://thelehrhaus.com/commentary/bo...
October 28, 2024
This was a very thorough and well researched book. Roda has taken the time to understand many aspects of the Ultra Orthodox community. A must read for anyone who wants to understand this community.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews