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‘Four Mothers’: The Womb in the Public Sphere 137

lamenting and crying are almost always the behaviours of women, and as such,
they are perceived as marginal to rational decisions and to practical lines of
action. Women expressing their fear over the fate of their soldier-sons illustrate
how crucial the military service is, how significant and important, a matter of life
and death. A mother’s anxiety and pain serve as a mirror to society’s values.
Public expressions of such anguish as is manifested in women’s protests can
therefore be seen as an extension of women’s traditional role as ‘mourners’
rather than a revolutionary act of empowerment (Tidhar and Lemish, 1993;
Lemish and Tidhar, 1999). As such, they are perceived as non-disruptive and
acceptable and are allowed into the public discourse. [...]
The case study of Four Mothers thus raises the more general issue of the rhetoric
of the female voice in the public sphere. The civic voice of women is allowed and
expressed, among other things, through the discourse of motherhood. This is one
possible process of gaining authority for the otherwise silenced female experience
and worldview.

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