Gender in the Orthodox Community

There are various gender issues within the Orthodox community including women having less of a voice than men do. The feminist movement JOFA helps women obtain the rights that they deserve. For example, in the Orthodox community women are chained to their marriage against their own will. Only a man is capable of initiating a divorce when they deem it necessary. JOFA plays a vital role in the modern Orthodox community because it strives for women’s rights. Gender roles are depicted in a very clear cut way on Yeshiva University’s website. Men and women are shown as separated on the website’s photos just as they are separated in religious practices. Because I am a Reform Jew I belong to a Reform temple. I remember going to an Orthodox Bat Mitzvah in middle school at an Orthodox synagogue. At this synagogue, a divider separated the men and women with the men sitting in the front of the room and the women in the back of the room. This is how I imagine religious gatherings in the Orthodox community because this is what I was exposed to at this Orthodox synagogue. In addition, women are inhibited from exposing certain body parts and skin. For example, they must cover their elbows with long sleeved shirts, knees with long skirts, and when they get married they must cover their heads. Men are freer with what they wear in that they are enabled to wear shorts and tank tops especially when playing sports.