Capturing the gaze in film: Feminist critiques of Jewish and Islamic orthodoxy in Israel and Iran

This article addresses issues of body and sexuality exposed by documentary films about orthodox Jewish women in Israel and traditional Islamic women in Iran, directed by Anat Yuta Zuria and Ziba Mir-Hosseini (with Kim Longinotto), respectively. These two groups of religious women are faced with some...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Critical research on religion
Main Author: Shenker, Yael (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage [2018]
In: Critical research on religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Iran / Islam / Woman / Documentary film / Feminism / Israel / Orthodox Judaism
RelBib Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
AG Religious life; material religion
BH Judaism
BJ Islam
KBL Near East and North Africa
ZB Sociology
ZG Media studies; Digital media; Communication studies
Further subjects:B film and religion
B Feminism and Islam
B Israeli Jewish feminism
B film and feminism
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Description
Summary:This article addresses issues of body and sexuality exposed by documentary films about orthodox Jewish women in Israel and traditional Islamic women in Iran, directed by Anat Yuta Zuria and Ziba Mir-Hosseini (with Kim Longinotto), respectively. These two groups of religious women are faced with some similar circumstances. The directors of these films use their cameras to expose not only the male gaze, but sometimes they also turn their cameras back on the men who perpetuate and benefit from religious legal systems that subjugate these women. The camera thus is not merely a documentary tool but also a political tool revealing what is hidden in the inner sanctum and redeeming it from the "private sphere." This comparison highlights the potential of Jewish feminism in Israel; it challenges it to work in alliance with Islamic women who live either as citizens in Israel or as non-citizens in the occupied territories.
ISSN:2050-3040
Contains:Enthalten in: Critical research on religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/2050303218774887