Book
Licensed
Unlicensed
Requires Authentication
Strictly Observant
Amish and Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Women Negotiating Media
-
Rivka Neriya-Ben Shahar
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2024
About this book
Yonathan Shapiro Best Book Award from the Association for Israel Studies
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.
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.
Reviews
"In this fascinating, sensitive, and accessible book, Neriya-ben Shahar offers us a compelling and insightful analysis of the lives and media-usage of women in Amish and Ultra-Orthodox communities. Strictly Observant is a timely and welcome contribution to readers interested in communication studies, religious studies, Jewish studies, and gender studies."— Ayala Fader, author of Hidden Heretics: Jewish Doubt in the Digital Age
"Sophisticated and compelling. . . . Strictly Observant makes important empirical, methodological, and theoretical contributions to the study of strict religious observance which have implications far beyond scholarship on Amish and Ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities. In addition to providing valuable insights into the daily lives of strictly religious women, Neriya-Ben Shahar convincingly demonstrates the importance of non-traditional measures of female influence and power. Further, she advocates for a radical form of participant observation that could be extended to many areas of study such as political campaigns, organizing, and advocacy. For scholars of religion and politics, gender studies, and ethnographic researchers, this book is an invaluable resource."— Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies
"In this fascinating study, Shahar breaks new cultural ground. Orthodox Amish and Jewish women stand worlds apart in their religious beliefs yet share similarities coping with modern media. Both are savvy and shrewd in creating symbolic boundaries to enhance their communal stature."— Donald B. Kraybill, author of The Riddle of the Amish
"Shahar's analysis is as subtle as the efforts of those she researched here. It is consistently enlightening. . . . Highly recommended for anyone interested in the field of the sociology of religion, and especially in (audience research) media studies."— Contemporary Jewry
“A fascinating analysis of how Amish and ultra-Orthodox Jewish women deal with modern technology and media. . . . This most interesting read details and contrasts the struggles and challenges these two communities of women face and how they deal with them.”— Jewish Link
"[Shahar's] volume, with its rich descriptions of daily life, is a welcome addition to Amish cultural literature."— Anabaptist World
Topics
-
Download PDFPublicly Available
Frontmatter
i -
Download PDFPublicly Available
Contents
vii -
Download PDFPublicly Available
Tables
ix -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Introduction. The Miracle, Case Studies, and Methods
1 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Chapter 1 Under the Eyes of God one day in the life of an old order amish woman
31 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Chapter 2 From the Holy House and Community to the Secular Workplace and Back: one day in the life of an ultra-orthodox woman
47 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Chapter 3 “Only Occasionally, When I Happen to Be around One” self-justifications of media consumption as boundary management
70 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Chapter 4 “My Husband Told Me . . .” the women’s relationships with news
85 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Chapter 5 “Satan’s Tool to Draw Our Focus away from God” the women’s perceptions about media technologies and content
104 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Chapter 6 “We’d Rather Talk about Babies” sharing behaviors among amish and ultra-orthodox women
137 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Chapter 7 “I Made It as a Boundary for Myself” concluding discussion on the women’s boundary management
161 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Appendix: The Specific Data and Statistics on the Amish and Ultra-Orthodox Women’s Media Consumption
183 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Acknowledgments
185 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Notes
187 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
References
189 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Index
197 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
About the Author
207
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
February 14, 2024
eBook ISBN:
9781978805255
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook ISBN:
9781978805255
Keywords for this book
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
Audience(s) for this book
For universities and colleges of further and higher education
