Why did Jewish Canadian women reject some aspects of second-wave feminism?

What is it about?

This article explores how Jewish Canadian women experienced second-wave feminism. In the Jewish community, women were seen as having special status because they were mothers. Their roles as care givers to children meant that they played an important role in passing on Jewish Canadian traditions and identity. Many Jewish Canadian women believed that this attitude was not compatible with second-wave feminism. So Jewish Canadian women selectively integrated some aspects of feminism, like equal pay for equal work, while rejecting others, like the idea that women and men were equal. Instead, they argued that the role of women in the home and family as a source of pride and strength rather than oppression.

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Photo by Bethany Beck on Unsplash

Photo by Bethany Beck on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Most of our research on feminism looks at activists, rather than considering how non-activists responded to the movement. This article instead focuses on ordinary women and demonstrates that they would often accept or reject different aspects of feminism in a way that aligned with their personal values. This was often contradictory and inconsistent. This article suggests that this lack of connection over the subject of motherhood was the norm rather than the exception. It also shows that perhaps we need to reconsider how we research feminism, and how the rejection of mainstream feminism can, in and of itself, be feminist activism.

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