Page 149 - Communication Theory and Research

McQuail(EJC)-3281-10.qxd 8/16/2005 12:00 PM Page 134

134 Communication Theory & Research
is clearly expressed in the commentary of an academic woman who moved to a
political career:

Being a mother and a wife is a wonderful thing, but this position has
nothing to do with the public rights women have: those are derived from
their status as citizens and it has nothing to do with their marital status. It
is time in the State of Israel that women’s opinions will be listened to on any
issue, including that of foreign affairs and security, in their own right and
not through the mercy of others. The time has come for women to allow
themselves to express their opinions without the need for the sponsorship
of the men in their lives. (Tamir, Yediot Acharonot, 15 January 1998)

According to this perspective, equality for women would mean accepting their
arguments as genderless citizens. Playing on their femininity and unique pers-
pective as mothers thus defeats the grand goal of claiming equal status. This
frustration is expressed by one of the founding activists:

What difference does it make if I am a mother? If what I am saying is true,
why does it matter who said it? If I am a mother, does it mean that only the
lower part of my body is functioning and the upper part not? Why does it
connote shrieking and yelling? Being a mother is one of my functions that
I am proud of, but it doesn’t degenerate my brain! I am presenting the
problem as a citizen. And I expect an answer. And what about the men?
Are they completely disassociated from emotions? Only the rational
works for them? Only the rational leads them to war? (Ben-Dor, interview,
21 July 1998)

This line of argument challenges the potential long-term contribution of Four
Mothers to women’s presence in the public sphere, as another feminist author
suggests:

The female voice in the public debate is not necessarily beneficial to both the
political issue and the women’s issue. ... Peace movements in Israel take
upon themselves, in many ways, the traditional division of roles between
the sexes: the boys fight, the girls pacify; the men speak in the name of
global considerations, the women speak in the name of the private; the men
produce violence, the women withdraw from conflict. ... To engage in
politics in the name of the ‘female voice’ means to fixate ourselves in
‘women’s roles’ ... is it women’s right to express themselves in regard to
security matters derived from their womb? ... does a woman who does not
have children need to be silent when we talk of war and peace? ‘Worried
mothers’, ‘terrified mothers’, ‘hysterical mothers’, are typical expressions
through which politics can continue to ignore any woman who stands in the
political debate in the name of motherhood. Well, the woman is hysterical.
Let us stroke her head and resume talking about important matters. She
continues to scream outside? Never mind, let her yell a bit if it makes her
feel better. We all have mothers, we can understand. Significant political