Hasidic Feminism: The Beginning

I’ve been hiding for a long time. 

Hiding behind my PhD program. Hiding behind the demands of marriage and motherhood.  Hiding behind my small town life. Hiding behind, let’s face it, my insecurities. 

What I am really afraid of is making my thoughts and ideas public without being entirely sure of who I am. I am not the liberal, radical feminist of my college days nor am I a Hasidic woman cemented in my faith without doubts or challenges. I am somewhere in-between, waiting for this all to make sense. 

In fact, I thought I would wait until I had it all figured out to start sharing my theory of Hasidic Feminism. Everything would be well researched, well thought out, and nuanced enough to speak to everyone and anyone. However, as I am writing my dissertation and falling down internet rabbit holes about gender politics, I am realizing the truth is going to be an impossible thing to define and I am sure to offend people along the way.  

Because the questions of gender, physical sex, womanhood, mothering, fathering, birthing, working, legislating and just simply being a person in this world are not really simple at all.  

The deceptively simple question that is at the core of my academic work on gender, and what I call Hasidic Feminism, is this: 

What is the relationship between biological sex (those organs that we use to create a new generation of humankind) and gender (all those characteristics, talents, traits, tastes, mannerisms, modalities, and so on that we code as either being masculine and feminine)? 

The answers to this question out in the world are as polarizing as they are powerful. 

In the vision of queer theory, both sex and gender are produced through and by a discourse (a system of meaning making that ultimately results in language) that is already divided into two genders before any of us came along. The very idea of a male or female body is only intelligible because we see the world through a language of binary sex. And therefore it can all be dismantled, changed and undone. 

On the flip side, historically men and women have been confined or privileged to live, work and succeed in certain places and stations because their abilities were seen as immutable and deeply essential parts of their being, completely tied to their biological sex. 

It is my belief that we need a more nuanced approach to understanding the reality of gender.  I think most people intuitively know that the reality of gender lies somewhere between these two poles. In our physical sex lies a key to our identities, but it can open many doors. 

My work in Hasidic Feminism seeks to carve out this middle ground.  A space where our society can value and recognize the unique capabilities of masculine and feminine modes of being that are both derived from and can transcend our physical sex. This means our notion of gender would take into account the ways men and women differ even as we understand it as something transferable, dynamic and, yes, fluid. 

To say this at all feels scary and daring at this moment in history. Who will be hurt by my statements?  Who will agree without thinking about the balance I seek to strike? Who will think I am a voice of clarity on something I am still getting clear? 

Ultimately, though, I am coming to terms with the impact I want to have on the world. If I am going to have any impact at all, I have to come out of hiding. 

I am beginning this blog to talk about what it means to be a woman in a new way, in a way I have rarely seen reflected in the media I consume, in the articles that make claims and yet, defer the responsibility to others. I am going to stand behind what I write as long as you understand it is all in motion, it is all being figured out in the meantime, it is all open to critique, comments and cooperation. 

So, tell me, what do you think?