‘Exclusion of women’ in Israel is nothing new
And women have long been aware of these issues. Feminist organizations - religious Jewish feminists and Arab feminists included - have been fighting for decades against all aspects of exclusion and discrimination. Even women who do not call themselves feminists know exactly what kind of oppression they live under, even if they call it by other names. In lectures that I give, I hear - below the myth adopted by women that equality reigns and the sky is the limit - the awareness of this oppression, and the fear of recognizing it openly.
None of this is new for men either. The rhetoric about discrimination against women has been around for quite some time. There are only a few men who discuss discrimination against women or attempt to change the situation, but most men do not consider it to be their problem. They place themselves somewhere between sympathizing with women and feigning denial of any kind of oppression. Either way, it does not take any of them by surprise.
So what happened? Perhaps the political climate that brings the right-wing, super-Jewish, anti-democratic feelings - as well as various forms of oppression - to the surface is causing more and more people to lose any shame they might have had about excluding women. And perhaps this sloughing off of shame is what is annoying the public. Exclusion and discrimination are acceptable, but they must be done quietly to maintain the facade of equality. Perhaps this is a kind of inertia, in a good way. The masses protested the cost of living and the difficulties of life this summer with all their might, but nothing much happened; this is another way of shouting that people are still unhappy. And perhaps it’s good news that when men and women think something is no good, they feel they can do something about it.