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In their protest activities, women blur the distinction between the spheres.
Although they act in the male-dominated military area, they bring to it values
and issues which have been traditionally perceived as marginal to the discussion
of foreign politics and security (Sasson-Levy, 1995). Indeed, many women who
have infiltrated political life in Israel find it of value to present themselves
as mothers. Motherhood provides them with the legitimacy of voicing their
opinions, since they have already ‘paid their traditional dues’ to society. What
they would otherwise not dare to voice, they are allowed to express ‘as mothers’.
This tactic has become an official strategy even in formal political life. Lemish
and Tidhar (1999) have found, for example, that during the televised election
campaign for national elections in 1996, ‘women as mothers’ was the dominant
message across all parties. Women appeared with babies in their arms and
children by their sides and as mothers who talked about their children as well as
mothers who talked about children in general. In this capacity women spoke
about peace, the future, education, equality, personal safety, poverty, religion,
retirement, minorities, military service and more. It seemed that their roles as
mothers officially provided legitimacy to their presence on the screen and to the
message they were delivering. [...]

Conclusion: subversive playing to expectations

The fierce debate over the two perspectives among feminist journalists,
professional commentators and the public at large clearly echoes the trap
proposed by essentialism. This school of thought in feminist thinking assumes
inherent personality differences between men and women: women are a priori
nurturers and life-givers and therefore presumed to be more inclined towards
anti-violent and pacifist views. As in the intellectual debate over essentialism,
and its potential role in the oppression of women, the public debate too is torn
over the essentialist qualities of the ‘display of the womb’ in the political
discussion about the withdrawal from Lebanon. While the first perspective
would measure the success of the movement by the gradual shift from the
emotional ‘mother’s voice’ to the ‘civic’ one, the second perspective is in search
of the legitimization of the ‘mother’s voice’ in its own right.
Both perspectives, however, would agree that Four Mothers gained legitimacy
‘despite’ its framing as the traditional ‘mother’s voice’. It is with this perception
that we would like to take issue and suggest a rival interpretation: it is possible
that Four Mothers’ achievements were the result of working within the ‘rules of
the game’ rather than going against them. In their non-threatening, legitimized
and accepted roles as concerned mothers, life-bearers and caregivers, the public
was willing to lend an ear to their message and was able to sympathize with
their call. Since women are assigned the ‘emotional work’ in society, they, rather
than men, are expected and have the right to publicly express vulnerable
emotions such as fear and sadness (Mazali, 1997). Through these expressions
they are also reflecting men’s emotions, which are prohibited in the normative
world of militaristic masculinity so typical of Israeli society. Mourning,