Strictly Observant: Amish and Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Women Negotiating Media

Rivka Neriya-Ben Shahar

Published by Rutgers University Press 2024

Strictly Observant

Amish and Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Women Negotiating Media

Rivka Neriya-Ben Shahar

https://doi.org/10.36019/9781978805255

Overview
Contents

About this book

The Amish and ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities have typically been associated with strict religious observance, a renunciation of worldly things, and an obedience of women to men. Women’s relationship to media in these communities, however, betrays a more nuanced picture of the boundaries at play and women’s roles in negotiating them.

Strictly Observant presents a compelling ethnographic study of the complex dynamic between women in both the Pennsylvanian Old Order Amish and Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities and contemporary media technologies. These women regularly establish valuable social, cultural, and religious capital through the countless decisions for use and nonuse of media that they make in their daily lives, and in ways that challenge the gender hierarchies of each community. By exhibiting a deep awareness of how media can be managed to increase their social and religious reputations, these women prompt us to reconsider our outmoded understanding of the Amish and ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities, the role that women play in these communities as agents of change, and our own relationship to media today.

Author / Editor information

RIVKA NERIYA-BEN SHAHAR is a senior lecturer at Sapir Academic College in Sderot, Israel, where she teaches communications, religion, and gender.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Tables Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction. The Miracle, Case Studies, and Methods Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 1 Under the Eyes of God one day in the life of an old order amish woman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	31
Chapter 2 From the Holy House and Community to the Secular Workplace and Back: one day in the life of an ultra-orthodox woman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
Chapter 3 “Only Occasionally, When I Happen to Be around One” self-justifications of media consumption as boundary management Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	70
Chapter 4 “My Husband Told Me . . .” the women’s relationships with news Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	85
Chapter 5 “Satan’s Tool to Draw Our Focus away from God” the women’s perceptions about media technologies and content Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	104
Chapter 6 “We’d Rather Talk about Babies” sharing behaviors among amish and ultra-orthodox women Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137
Chapter 7 “I Made It as a Boundary for Myself” concluding discussion on the women’s boundary management Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
Appendix: The Specific Data and Statistics on the Amish and Ultra-Orthodox Women’s Media Consumption Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	183
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	185
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	187
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	189
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197
About the Author Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	207

Language: English
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 220
Illustrations
- Other: 2 tables
Keywords: amish; anabaptist; jewish; orthodox; ultra-orthodox; orthodox judiasm; religion; women; sex; gender; jewish studies; Pennsylvania dutch; isreali; isreal; gender studies; women's studies; feminism; sexism; media; technology; media studies; work; secularism; news; film; tv

eBook

Published: January 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781978805255