Oh the possiblities!

Sotah — Thu, 17 May 2007 13:24:16 +0000

Imagine a world where you can tell someone is a republican by the way they dress? Well, in certain sections of Jerusalem that seems to be the case. Except, of course the political discourse of choice is not republican or democratic and the difference in outfits runs between secular and Dati Lumi (religious Zionist). The irony here is that people who dress like the biggest “hippies” at least according the US ideas of what hippies wear are actually the most Conservative, both socially and politically. As generally expected, political differences are worked out on the covered bodies of women. (There are differences in the way Dati men dress as well, and those differences have many nuances, except the items the men wear are generally symbolic – different kind of yammakas, ritual fringes and such). However, the dress of women is not marked with any specific ritual objects; (their body is the only ritual object women can own) rather, the politics are rapped up in how covered up they are, the more layers, the more “boho” the outfit, the more extremist. Women who wear two or three skirts layered on top of each other are more ”frumer” than women who wear pants underneath their below-the-knee skirts. Women who wear a skirt and shirt, with a summer dress on top, are more frum then the women who just wear a shirt and a summer dress (the dress of course is below the knee).

I’m not really sure what to make of this. Of course I’m leaving out the whole wig issue, since Dati Lumi women do not wear wigs, but scarves and hats (goes along with the hippie look). I’m fascinated by the settler wannabees and actual settlers a.k.a “the anti-hippie” adaption of a version of hippie dress that requires many layers. Is it a desire to wear regular items found in Israeli clothing stores, but adapted for modesty? That seams like the obvious answer, but the two skirts look does not go along with that theory, since both skirts are already long and flowly, and thus modest if worn alone.

Perhaps a better answer lies in the belief that the more clothing your wear simultaneously, the more modest you are. If one “boho” skirt is “boho,” two boho skirts, are twice as “boho” and twice as Dati Lumi. And who can resist being more of what you are? Thus by covering their bodies in outfits reminiscent of late 1960th ”make love not war”, the women manage to flip this adage and constrain their sexuality while advocating for war.

Sotah » modesty

Oh the possiblities!