Karin Carmit Yefet - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Karin Carmit Yefet
Law and Social Inquiry-journal of The American Bar Foundation, Dec 17, 2021
The vast multidisciplinary literature on marital dissolution tends to conceptualize divorce as a ... more The vast multidisciplinary literature on marital dissolution tends to conceptualize divorce as a personal, individualist act that naturally resides in the domestic sphere. The article challenges this prevailing scholarly perspective by dissecting a substantially underexplored dimension of divorce as a citizenship-certifying act located squarely in the public sphere. Drawing on a pioneering qualitative study among Palestinian Christians in Israel as a case study, we argue that Israel’s divorce law, which locks Catholics into indissoluble marriages, should be recognized as a key state instrument for delineating the contours of citizenship—a boundary-demarcating apparatus between insiders and outsiders who are excluded from full and equal membership. The article provides novel insights into the complex interrelations between divorce, gender, and citizenship, showing how Palestinian-Christian women pay the price of a purportedly sex-neutral, no-exit regime. The article also illuminates a seldom-studied phenomenon we call “divorce conversion”: the act of changing one’s denomination for the sake of marital freedom, which is a hallmark of Palestinian-Christians’ third-rate status in the Jewish state. We conclude that divorce should be reconceptualized as a right to egalitarian female citizenship, serving as a basic precursor to women’s full participation in all spheres of life.
The American Journal of Comparative Law
Israeli legal feminists have largely overlooked the constitutive theoretical developments that in... more Israeli legal feminists have largely overlooked the constitutive theoretical developments that introduced the “third wave” to global feminism. Drawing on the critical insights of black and postcolonial feminist discourse, this Article introduces Mizrahi feminism to Israeli jurisprudence. It aims to lay the groundwork for a new theoretical school of critical legal scholarship in Israel and expose the multidimensional oppression endured by Mizrahi women in Israeli law and history. To this end, the Article focuses on a particular slice of the legal history of the Israeli abortion law reform of the 1970s. Analyzing extensive parliamentary protocols and institutional archival records, the Article pioneers the deconstructive toolbox of Mizrahi feminism in order to extract the subversive ethno-class narrative that has been left invisible in the feminist story of Israeli abortion law—a sorely neglected history of a separatist, quality-control regulatory mechanism that restrains the Mizrahi ...
Law and History Review
The paper addresses the perpetual discontent evoked by the concept of legal pluralism, one which,... more The paper addresses the perpetual discontent evoked by the concept of legal pluralism, one which, in turn, brings about incessant efforts to “rethink” it. We suggest that one of the sources of this discontent is the erroneous view that legal pluralism is a theory, and the consequent misguided expectations that it should provide scholars of law and society with causal hypotheses and explanations. We argue that legal pluralism is not a theory but a research perspective, and, as such, is not meant to provide us with explanatory propositions, but rather to increase our awareness of the plurality and inter-relationality of socio-legal spheres and of the implications thereof. We further identify—and briefly discuss—the four core principles of a pluri-legal perspective: plurality, relationality, power, and agency. Taken together, these four premises constitute a manifesto of sorts for a pluri-legal perspective.
The Hebrew University Law Journal, Vol. 45, 2, 385, 2015
Hebrew Abstract: מאמר זה עוסק ביחס בין מיניות, מגדר ומשפט. בעקבות מחקרים מצטברים בתחומים שונים, ו... more Hebrew Abstract: מאמר זה עוסק ביחס בין מיניות, מגדר ומשפט. בעקבות מחקרים מצטברים בתחומים שונים, ובהם פסיכולוגיה, סוציולוגיה, כלכלה ולימודי התרבות, המכונים "תיאוריות של כלכלת מין", ניתן לתאר את הפעילות המינית ההטרוסקסואלית כמתרחשת בשוק שבו המין הוא משאב, ולמיניות הנשית ערך רב במובהק מזה של המיניות הגברית. אולם, כידוע, הבעלות הנשית האינדיווידואלית והקבוצתית על משאב המין, אינה מיתרגמת למשאבי הון סימבוליים אחרים ולעוצמה כלכלית וחברתית. ההפך. המיניות שימשה מאז ומעולם אמצעי מפתח ל דיכוי נשי, ולפי עמדה פמיניסטית מקובלת היא מהווה את השורש ש מצמיח ומנציח את אי השוויון המגדרי בחברה.המאמר מבקש לנתח ולפרק את האסטרטגיות שבאמצעותן החברה המודרנית, שעדיין לא השתחררה מכבלי הפטריארכייה, פיתחה מערך תרבותי-משפטי מסועף ההופך את כלכלת המין ל"קלקלת מין", חוסם נשים מלעשות שימוש מעצים במשאב המין שברשותן, וממשיך לשמר את יחסי המדרג ההייררכיים בין גברים לנשים. לטענתנו, הציר עליו סובב פרויקט קלקלת המין הוא הבניה של קשר הכרחי בין מין, אישה ובושה. האכיפה הסיסטמטית של הקישור בין מין לבושה נעשתה בעיקר תוך שימוש בכלי ממשטר-מיניות מרכזי, הידוע בשם דיכוטומיית הפרוצה-ברה ומשוואת הקנס-פרס במשפט.על רקע זה, המחקר מניח את אבן הפינה לחשיבה מחודשת על הסדרת המיניות במשפט הישראלי. הוא מציע מתווה ראשוני, שיפותח בחלקו השני של הפרויקט, לפיתוח דוקטרינות משפטיות שימשיגו מיניות אנושית - גברית ונשית - באופן פוזיטיבי, כך שיסייע להמרתה מאתר של סכנה, השפלה וחולשה למקור של כוח, מימוש עצמי והעצמה.English Abstract: This article, the first part of a wide-ranging project, offers an innovative conceptualization of sexuality in law. In line with the accumulated scholarship in diverse disciplines including psychology, sociology, economics and cultural studies, it is suggested to describe heterosexual sexual activity as occurring in a market in which sex constitutes a resource, and in which female sexuality is of significantly greater value than male sexuality. According to such perceptions, often referred to as 'theories of the sexual economy,' it would have been plausible to assume that women could convert their ownership of the sexual resource into other forms of symbolic capital and into economic and social power. This is not the case in practice. Modern society, which has yet to overcome the supremacy of patriarchy, has developed a complex culturo-legal strategies designed to transform the sexual economy into a 'sexual dysonomy,' thus facilitating the preservation of hierarchal gender relations between men and women.The article exposes the latent and sophisticated and ways through which the law . serves the sexualdysoconomic project, and particularly the "price-prize" equation and the virgin-whore dichotomy. Against this backdrop, the article offers an initial outline, to be developed in the second part of the project, for reconceptualizing sexuality in the law. In particular, the research project will provide a theoretical basis for the reformulation of legal doctrines regulating human sexuality in a gender-neutral fashion. Ultimately, the article seeks to contribute to and facilitate the transformation of female sexuality from a site of danger, humiliation, and weakness to a source of power, self-actualization, and empowerment.
Social Science Research Network, 2009
This work is dedicated to my friend and mentor, Israeli Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel, who h... more This work is dedicated to my friend and mentor, Israeli Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel, who has devoted his life to combating human suffering and who holds the plight of the agunot close to his heart. I would like to extend my deep gratitude to Professors Akhil Amar and James Whitman for their thoughtful comments, and to Professor Shahar Lifshitz, for his seminal scholarship and contribution to the development of Israeli family law in general and to this piece in particular. I am also indebted to former Chief Justice Aharon Barak for stimulating my research and for his patience. Special thanks to Kristin Macleod-Ball and Mark Shawhan for their untiring assistance and dedication, and to Frieda Cohen, of blessed memory, and Benjamin Cohen, for reading and commenting on previous drafts of this piece. Last but not least, I thank the ISEF Foundation, whose generosity, support, and ideals made this work possible.
Throughout Israel\\u27s turbulent history, not a week has gone by without her being a focus of wo... more Throughout Israel\\u27s turbulent history, not a week has gone by without her being a focus of world attention.\\u27 The situation of Israeli women, however, has rarely captured the spotlight. In most fields of law, Israeli women enjoy a strong suite of rights and an egalitarian status compared to their sisters in other nations. However, in the domain of divorce law, women are subject to a blatantly discriminatory regime, in which their strictly-limited right to obtain a divorce is grossly inferior to the corresponding right held by Israeli men. Israeli law accords Orthodox rabbinical courts exclusive control over marriage and divorce, and those courts in turn grant full control over divorce to men. No one--not the government, not the courts, not even a rabbi--is authorized to divorce a couple except for the husband. The judicial act of divorce is not constitutive, but merely declarative-the rabbinical court can merely declare that the husband must divorce his wife, and in limited ins...
Social Science Research Network, 2015
Feminism has largely treated men as the undifferentiated dominant gender group, neglecting a disc... more Feminism has largely treated men as the undifferentiated dominant gender group, neglecting a discussion of men's own gender identity. As a result, the legal conceptualization of masculinity is still under-explored; a tapestry of legal doctrines renders inconsistent ideological messages about what it means to be a "man," and especially what it means to be a father. Israeli legal scholarship, in particular, has done little to explore how extensively stereotypes of masculinity permeate existing law and undermine the role of men as parents. This Article fills in this academic void and begins the project of answering the largely ignored "man question," that is, how the law constrains male gender roles and how those constraints inhibit the father-child relationship. Through the critical lens of masculinities theory, I explore how and why male gender identity may frustrate father care in general and to Israeli father care in particular. As I argue, the Zionist conception of hegemonic masculinity promotes a hyper-masculine archetype for Israeli men. The Article then analyzes a diverse body of doctrines, from reproductive technologies law to child custody and support law, to expose the sophisticated ideological work done by the law in entrenching an essentialist form of idealized masculinity through what I term a "bio-economic model" of fatherhood. The Article concludes by promoting a new legal model of "engaged fatherhood" as an integral component of male citizenship in Israel. While the Article focuses on Israel as a case study, entrenchment of gendered parenting roles is a near-universal problem, addressed by feminism and masculinities studies across various legal systems. It is hoped that the t Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law ,University of Haifa. J.S.D., LL.M. Yale University; LL.M, LL.B. summa cum laude, Bar Ilan University. A special thanks is due to Professor Nancy Dowd, who introduced masculinities studies to legal thought, and who so generously shared with me her thoughtful comments and suggestions. I also wish to thank Professor Zvi Triger, whose innovative scholarship inspired this research. Needless to say, all views expressed are my own, as are any errors. My gratitude to Lior Frank, for his excellent research assistance, and for Laura Femino for her superb editing assistance. Also thanks to Arielle Humphries and McKaye Neumeister, the Yale Journal of Law and Feminism editors, for their dedicated work.
<jats:p>The vast multidisciplinary literature on marital dissolution tends to conceptualize... more <jats:p>The vast multidisciplinary literature on marital dissolution tends to conceptualize divorce as a personal, individualist act that naturally resides in the domestic sphere. The article challenges this prevailing scholarly perspective by dissecting a substantially underexplored dimension of divorce as a citizenship-certifying act located squarely in the public sphere. Drawing on a pioneering qualitative study among Palestinian Christians in Israel as a case study, we argue that Israel's divorce law, which locks Catholics into indissoluble marriages, should be recognized as a key state instrument for delineating the contours of citizenship—a boundary-demarcating apparatus between insiders and outsiders who are excluded from full and equal membership. The article provides novel insights into the complex interrelations between divorce, gender, and citizenship, showing how Palestinian-Christian women pay the price of a purportedly sex-neutral, no-exit regime. The article also illuminates a seldom-studied phenomenon we call "divorce conversion": the act of changing one's denomination for the sake of marital freedom, which is a hallmark of Palestinian-Christians' third-rate status in the Jewish state. We conclude that divorce should be reconceptualized as a right to egalitarian female citizenship, serving as a basic precursor to women's full participation in all spheres of life.</jats:p>
University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, 2020
Objective: The aim of the present work was to study the effect of Quercetin on the structure of f... more Objective: The aim of the present work was to study the effect of Quercetin on the structure of filiform and fungiform papillae of the tongue in albino rats with streptozotocin induced diabetes. Design: Thirty adult male Wistar rats were divided into 3 equal groups (10 rats each): Group 1 (control group), Group 2: (diabetic group) and Group 3: (Quercetin treated diabetic group). In both groups 2&3 diabetes was induced by single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (50 mg/kg). After confirmation of diabetes, Quercetin was administrated to group 3 (50 mg/kg/day) orally for 12 weeks. Then all rats were sacrificed and the tongues were dissected out for light microscopic (LM) examination, immunohistochemical examination, histomorphometric analysis and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) examination. Results: LM examination of diabetic group revealed disturbances in filiform papillae with hyperkeratosis. Fungiform papillae exhibited slight elongation with separation between taste bud cells. SEM examination revealed disturbance in the normal orientation of filiform papillae which appeared thin. On the other hand, in Quercetin treated group, there was marked improvement in the shape and orientation of the papillae. However, some changes were observed by LM which included hyperkeratosis and in SEM some filiform papillae appeared thin. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed strong reaction for caspase 3 in diabetic group, while in Quercetin treated group the reaction was mild. Quercetin treatment resulted in significant decrease in both area percentage of immunopositive cells and the optical density of caspase 3 immunostaining which was significantly increased after induction of diabetes. Conclusions: In a rat model, Quercetin can to a great extent overcome most of the detrimental effects of diabetes on the structure of both filiform and fungiform papillae of the tongue.
במאמר זה אנו מבקשות להעשיר את התפיסה הפמיניסטית של המיניות הנשית ולהציע - נוסף על ארבעת המכלולים ... more במאמר זה אנו מבקשות להעשיר את התפיסה הפמיניסטית של המיניות הנשית ולהציע - נוסף על ארבעת המכלולים האסרטגיים שזיהה פוקו כמשמשים בעצם ייצורו של מערך המיניות - עוד מכלול אסטרטגי שאותו נכנה "קלקלת המין".
Hebrew Abstract: המאמר מציע המשגה עכשווית של המיניות במשפט. חלקו הראשון חשף כיצד המשפט תורם להפיכ... more Hebrew Abstract: המאמר מציע המשגה עכשווית של המיניות במשפט. חלקו הראשון חשף כיצד המשפט תורם להפיכת כלכלת המין לקלקלת מין ומהווה גורם המעכב את תפיסת המיניות הנשית כמקור לעונג, כוח והעצמה. חלק זה מזהה "מכלול אסטרטגי" נוסף הפועל במסגרת מערך המיניות, מעבר לאלה שזיהה פוקו, וטוען כי "קלקלת המין" פועלת בתיווכו של מכלול אסטרטגי זה, אותו אנו מכנות "סקאלת ההשפלה". סקאלת ההשפלה היא כלי מודרני למשטור מיניות נשית המושתת על הצמדת מחיר חברתי של בושה לכל פעילות מינית נשית הנחזית כחורגת מגבולות מגדריים מוגדרים. המחקר מזהה כיצד גם במאה ה-21, שבה נורמות של מוסרנות מינית הן לכאורה נחלת העבר, עדיין משמרת החברה, בסיוע המשפט, תיוג של נשים לפי האופן שבו הן נתפסות כמשתמשות במשאב המין, וקונסת מופעים שונים של שימוש במיניות הנשית, החל משימוש "לגיטימי" לכאורה, הכרוך במידה נמוכה של השפלה, ועד לזנות, נקודת האל-חזור שבתחתית סקאלת ההשפלה.על רקע זה, המאמר מציע מיפוי של נורמות משפטיות התורמות לקיומה של סקאלת ההשפלה, ומשרטט מתווה ראשוני להמרת הסדר המשפטי הקיים, בו נשמרת נחיתותן ...
Hebrew Abstract: מאמר זה עוסק ביחס בין מיניות, מגדר ומשפט. בעקבות מחקרים מצטברים בתחומים שונים, ו... more Hebrew Abstract: מאמר זה עוסק ביחס בין מיניות, מגדר ומשפט. בעקבות מחקרים מצטברים בתחומים שונים, ובהם פסיכולוגיה, סוציולוגיה, כלכלה ולימודי התרבות, המכונים "תיאוריות של כלכלת מין", ניתן לתאר את הפעילות המינית ההטרוסקסואלית כמתרחשת בשוק שבו המין הוא משאב, ולמיניות הנשית ערך רב במובהק מזה של המיניות הגברית. אולם, כידוע, הבעלות הנשית האינדיווידואלית והקבוצתית על משאב המין, אינה מיתרגמת למשאבי הון סימבוליים אחרים ולעוצמה כלכלית וחברתית. ההפך. המיניות שימשה מאז ומעולם אמצעי מפתח ל דיכוי נשי, ולפי עמדה פמיניסטית מקובלת היא מהווה את השורש ש מצמיח ומנציח את אי השוויון המגדרי בחברה.המאמר מבקש לנתח ולפרק את האסטרטגיות שבאמצעותן החברה המודרנית, שעדיין לא השתחררה מכבלי הפטריארכייה, פיתחה מערך תרבותי-משפטי מסועף ההופך את כלכלת המין ל"קלקלת מין", חוסם נשים מלעשות שימוש מעצים במשאב המין שברשותן, וממשיך לשמר את יחסי המדרג ההייררכיים בין גברים לנשים. לטענתנו, הציר עליו סובב פרויקט קלקלת המין הוא הבניה של קשר הכרחי בין מין, אישה ובושה. האכיפה הסיסטמטית של הקישור בין מין לבושה נעשתה...
Feminism has largely treated men as the undifferentiated dominant gender group, neglecting a disc... more Feminism has largely treated men as the undifferentiated dominant gender group, neglecting a discussion of men's own gender identity. As a result, the legal conceptualization of masculinity is still under-explored; a tapestry of legal doctrines renders inconsistent ideological messages about what it means to be a "man," and especially what it means to be a father. Israeli legal scholarship, in particular, has done little to explore how extensively stereotypes of masculinity permeate existing law and undermine the role of men as parents. This Article fills in this academic void and begins the project of answering the largely ignored "man question," that is, how the law constrains male gender roles and how those constraints inhibit the father-child relationship. Through the critical lens of masculinities theory, I explore how and why male gender identity may frustrate father care in general and to Israeli father care in particular. As I argue, the Zionist conce...
Law & Society Review, 2022
The article analyzes Israel's ecclesiastical court system through the prism of Weberian t... more The article analyzes Israel's ecclesiastical court system through the prism of Weberian theory to both empirical and theoretical ends. On the empirical level, it aims to illuminate a grossly understudied socio-legal arena-the communal Christian courts in the Middle-East. On the theoretical level, it seeks to reclaim the Weberian concept of kadijustiz, which refers to "formally irrational" legal systems. In recent decades, scholars have engaged in a process of "blaming" that discredited the conceptualization of Islamic law as kadijustiz and resulted in the concept's erasure from socio-legal theory. After renaming it to the more neutral and non-Orientalist richterjustiz, we employ this new-old concept to analyze Israel's ecclesiastical courts and demonstrate its theoretical and analytical merits. The article concludes with several theoretical propositions, which draw on the empirical case study and contribute to the refinement of Weberian theory.
Law and Social Inquiry, 2021
The vast multidisciplinary literature on marital dissolution tends to conceptualize divorce as a ... more The vast multidisciplinary literature on marital dissolution tends to conceptualize divorce as a personal, individualist act that naturally resides in the domestic sphere. The article challenges this prevailing scholarly perspective by dissecting a substantially underexplored dimension of divorce as a citizenship-certifying act located squarely in the public sphere. Drawing on a pioneering qualitative study among Palestinian Christians in Israel as a case study, we argue that Israel’s divorce law, which locks Catholics into indissoluble marriages, should be recognized as a key state instrument for delineating the contours of citizenship—a boundary-demarcating apparatus between insiders and outsiders who are excluded from full and equal membership. The article provides novel insights into the complex interrelations between divorce, gender, and citizenship, showing how Palestinian-Christian women pay the price of a purportedly sex-neutral, no-exit regime. The article also illuminates a seldom-studied phenomenon we call “divorce conversion”: the act of changing one’s denomination for the sake of marital freedom, which is a hallmark of Palestinian-Christians’ third-rate status in the Jewish state. We conclude that divorce should be reconceptualized as a right to egalitarian female citizenship, serving as a basic precursor to women’s full participation in all spheres of life.
Yale JL & Feminism, 2008
This work is dedicated to my friend and mentor, Israeli Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel, who h... more This work is dedicated to my friend and mentor, Israeli Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel, who has devoted his life to combating human suffering and who holds the plight of the agunot close to his heart. I would like to extend my deep gratitude to Professors Akhil Amar and James Whitman for their thoughtful comments, and to Professor Shahar Lifshitz, for his seminal scholarship and contribution to the development of Israeli family law in general and to this piece in particular. I am also indebted to former Chief Justice Aharon Barak for stimulating my research and for his patience. Special thanks to Kristin Macleod-Ball and Mark Shawhan for their untiring assistance and dedication, and to Frieda Cohen, of blessed memory, and Benjamin Cohen, for reading and commenting on previous drafts of this piece. Last but not least, I thank the ISEF Foundation, whose generosity, support, and ideals made this work possible.
Yale JL & Feminism, 2008
This work is dedicated to my friend and mentor, Israeli Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel, who h... more This work is dedicated to my friend and mentor, Israeli Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel, who has devoted his life to combating human suffering and who holds the plight of the agunot close to his heart. I would like to extend my deep gratitude to Professors Akhil Amar and James Whitman for their thoughtful comments, and to Professor Shahar Lifshitz, for his seminal scholarship and contribution to the development of Israeli family law in general and to this piece in particular. I am also indebted to former Chief Justice Aharon Barak for stimulating my research and for his patience. Special thanks to Kristin Macleod-Ball and Mark Shawhan for their untiring assistance and dedication, and to Frieda Cohen, of blessed memory, and Benjamin Cohen, for reading and commenting on previous drafts of this piece. Last but not least, I thank the ISEF Foundation, whose generosity, support, and ideals made this work possible.
The legal status of Egyptian women, especially in the domestic arena, has been the subject of con... more The legal status of Egyptian women, especially in the domestic arena, has been the subject of considerable international academic and media interest. Nevertheless, the interplay between the legal regulation of marital dissolution and the Egyptian Constitution, and its influence on women's rights, has never been explored with any rigor. This article constitutes the first study to examine both the constitutional dimensions of Egyptian divorce law, and how the application of that constitutional scheme might better promote women's marital rights. The thesis underlying my study is that marital freedom is an elevated fundamental right, enjoying rigorous judicial protection. This constitutional guarantee, I argue, provides a powerful new strategy to tackle the gendered balance of power in Egyptian marriages, and to combat the Egyptian obsession with female sexuality that permeates the divorce regime. A scholarly examination of a secure right to marital freedom is particularly criti...
University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, 2020
Law and Social Inquiry-journal of The American Bar Foundation, Dec 17, 2021
The vast multidisciplinary literature on marital dissolution tends to conceptualize divorce as a ... more The vast multidisciplinary literature on marital dissolution tends to conceptualize divorce as a personal, individualist act that naturally resides in the domestic sphere. The article challenges this prevailing scholarly perspective by dissecting a substantially underexplored dimension of divorce as a citizenship-certifying act located squarely in the public sphere. Drawing on a pioneering qualitative study among Palestinian Christians in Israel as a case study, we argue that Israel’s divorce law, which locks Catholics into indissoluble marriages, should be recognized as a key state instrument for delineating the contours of citizenship—a boundary-demarcating apparatus between insiders and outsiders who are excluded from full and equal membership. The article provides novel insights into the complex interrelations between divorce, gender, and citizenship, showing how Palestinian-Christian women pay the price of a purportedly sex-neutral, no-exit regime. The article also illuminates a seldom-studied phenomenon we call “divorce conversion”: the act of changing one’s denomination for the sake of marital freedom, which is a hallmark of Palestinian-Christians’ third-rate status in the Jewish state. We conclude that divorce should be reconceptualized as a right to egalitarian female citizenship, serving as a basic precursor to women’s full participation in all spheres of life.
The American Journal of Comparative Law
Israeli legal feminists have largely overlooked the constitutive theoretical developments that in... more Israeli legal feminists have largely overlooked the constitutive theoretical developments that introduced the “third wave” to global feminism. Drawing on the critical insights of black and postcolonial feminist discourse, this Article introduces Mizrahi feminism to Israeli jurisprudence. It aims to lay the groundwork for a new theoretical school of critical legal scholarship in Israel and expose the multidimensional oppression endured by Mizrahi women in Israeli law and history. To this end, the Article focuses on a particular slice of the legal history of the Israeli abortion law reform of the 1970s. Analyzing extensive parliamentary protocols and institutional archival records, the Article pioneers the deconstructive toolbox of Mizrahi feminism in order to extract the subversive ethno-class narrative that has been left invisible in the feminist story of Israeli abortion law—a sorely neglected history of a separatist, quality-control regulatory mechanism that restrains the Mizrahi ...
Law and History Review
The paper addresses the perpetual discontent evoked by the concept of legal pluralism, one which,... more The paper addresses the perpetual discontent evoked by the concept of legal pluralism, one which, in turn, brings about incessant efforts to “rethink” it. We suggest that one of the sources of this discontent is the erroneous view that legal pluralism is a theory, and the consequent misguided expectations that it should provide scholars of law and society with causal hypotheses and explanations. We argue that legal pluralism is not a theory but a research perspective, and, as such, is not meant to provide us with explanatory propositions, but rather to increase our awareness of the plurality and inter-relationality of socio-legal spheres and of the implications thereof. We further identify—and briefly discuss—the four core principles of a pluri-legal perspective: plurality, relationality, power, and agency. Taken together, these four premises constitute a manifesto of sorts for a pluri-legal perspective.
The Hebrew University Law Journal, Vol. 45, 2, 385, 2015
Hebrew Abstract: מאמר זה עוסק ביחס בין מיניות, מגדר ומשפט. בעקבות מחקרים מצטברים בתחומים שונים, ו... more Hebrew Abstract: מאמר זה עוסק ביחס בין מיניות, מגדר ומשפט. בעקבות מחקרים מצטברים בתחומים שונים, ובהם פסיכולוגיה, סוציולוגיה, כלכלה ולימודי התרבות, המכונים "תיאוריות של כלכלת מין", ניתן לתאר את הפעילות המינית ההטרוסקסואלית כמתרחשת בשוק שבו המין הוא משאב, ולמיניות הנשית ערך רב במובהק מזה של המיניות הגברית. אולם, כידוע, הבעלות הנשית האינדיווידואלית והקבוצתית על משאב המין, אינה מיתרגמת למשאבי הון סימבוליים אחרים ולעוצמה כלכלית וחברתית. ההפך. המיניות שימשה מאז ומעולם אמצעי מפתח ל דיכוי נשי, ולפי עמדה פמיניסטית מקובלת היא מהווה את השורש ש מצמיח ומנציח את אי השוויון המגדרי בחברה.המאמר מבקש לנתח ולפרק את האסטרטגיות שבאמצעותן החברה המודרנית, שעדיין לא השתחררה מכבלי הפטריארכייה, פיתחה מערך תרבותי-משפטי מסועף ההופך את כלכלת המין ל"קלקלת מין", חוסם נשים מלעשות שימוש מעצים במשאב המין שברשותן, וממשיך לשמר את יחסי המדרג ההייררכיים בין גברים לנשים. לטענתנו, הציר עליו סובב פרויקט קלקלת המין הוא הבניה של קשר הכרחי בין מין, אישה ובושה. האכיפה הסיסטמטית של הקישור בין מין לבושה נעשתה בעיקר תוך שימוש בכלי ממשטר-מיניות מרכזי, הידוע בשם דיכוטומיית הפרוצה-ברה ומשוואת הקנס-פרס במשפט.על רקע זה, המחקר מניח את אבן הפינה לחשיבה מחודשת על הסדרת המיניות במשפט הישראלי. הוא מציע מתווה ראשוני, שיפותח בחלקו השני של הפרויקט, לפיתוח דוקטרינות משפטיות שימשיגו מיניות אנושית - גברית ונשית - באופן פוזיטיבי, כך שיסייע להמרתה מאתר של סכנה, השפלה וחולשה למקור של כוח, מימוש עצמי והעצמה.English Abstract: This article, the first part of a wide-ranging project, offers an innovative conceptualization of sexuality in law. In line with the accumulated scholarship in diverse disciplines including psychology, sociology, economics and cultural studies, it is suggested to describe heterosexual sexual activity as occurring in a market in which sex constitutes a resource, and in which female sexuality is of significantly greater value than male sexuality. According to such perceptions, often referred to as 'theories of the sexual economy,' it would have been plausible to assume that women could convert their ownership of the sexual resource into other forms of symbolic capital and into economic and social power. This is not the case in practice. Modern society, which has yet to overcome the supremacy of patriarchy, has developed a complex culturo-legal strategies designed to transform the sexual economy into a 'sexual dysonomy,' thus facilitating the preservation of hierarchal gender relations between men and women.The article exposes the latent and sophisticated and ways through which the law . serves the sexualdysoconomic project, and particularly the "price-prize" equation and the virgin-whore dichotomy. Against this backdrop, the article offers an initial outline, to be developed in the second part of the project, for reconceptualizing sexuality in the law. In particular, the research project will provide a theoretical basis for the reformulation of legal doctrines regulating human sexuality in a gender-neutral fashion. Ultimately, the article seeks to contribute to and facilitate the transformation of female sexuality from a site of danger, humiliation, and weakness to a source of power, self-actualization, and empowerment.
Social Science Research Network, 2009
This work is dedicated to my friend and mentor, Israeli Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel, who h... more This work is dedicated to my friend and mentor, Israeli Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel, who has devoted his life to combating human suffering and who holds the plight of the agunot close to his heart. I would like to extend my deep gratitude to Professors Akhil Amar and James Whitman for their thoughtful comments, and to Professor Shahar Lifshitz, for his seminal scholarship and contribution to the development of Israeli family law in general and to this piece in particular. I am also indebted to former Chief Justice Aharon Barak for stimulating my research and for his patience. Special thanks to Kristin Macleod-Ball and Mark Shawhan for their untiring assistance and dedication, and to Frieda Cohen, of blessed memory, and Benjamin Cohen, for reading and commenting on previous drafts of this piece. Last but not least, I thank the ISEF Foundation, whose generosity, support, and ideals made this work possible.
Throughout Israel\\u27s turbulent history, not a week has gone by without her being a focus of wo... more Throughout Israel\\u27s turbulent history, not a week has gone by without her being a focus of world attention.\\u27 The situation of Israeli women, however, has rarely captured the spotlight. In most fields of law, Israeli women enjoy a strong suite of rights and an egalitarian status compared to their sisters in other nations. However, in the domain of divorce law, women are subject to a blatantly discriminatory regime, in which their strictly-limited right to obtain a divorce is grossly inferior to the corresponding right held by Israeli men. Israeli law accords Orthodox rabbinical courts exclusive control over marriage and divorce, and those courts in turn grant full control over divorce to men. No one--not the government, not the courts, not even a rabbi--is authorized to divorce a couple except for the husband. The judicial act of divorce is not constitutive, but merely declarative-the rabbinical court can merely declare that the husband must divorce his wife, and in limited ins...
Social Science Research Network, 2015
Feminism has largely treated men as the undifferentiated dominant gender group, neglecting a disc... more Feminism has largely treated men as the undifferentiated dominant gender group, neglecting a discussion of men's own gender identity. As a result, the legal conceptualization of masculinity is still under-explored; a tapestry of legal doctrines renders inconsistent ideological messages about what it means to be a "man," and especially what it means to be a father. Israeli legal scholarship, in particular, has done little to explore how extensively stereotypes of masculinity permeate existing law and undermine the role of men as parents. This Article fills in this academic void and begins the project of answering the largely ignored "man question," that is, how the law constrains male gender roles and how those constraints inhibit the father-child relationship. Through the critical lens of masculinities theory, I explore how and why male gender identity may frustrate father care in general and to Israeli father care in particular. As I argue, the Zionist conception of hegemonic masculinity promotes a hyper-masculine archetype for Israeli men. The Article then analyzes a diverse body of doctrines, from reproductive technologies law to child custody and support law, to expose the sophisticated ideological work done by the law in entrenching an essentialist form of idealized masculinity through what I term a "bio-economic model" of fatherhood. The Article concludes by promoting a new legal model of "engaged fatherhood" as an integral component of male citizenship in Israel. While the Article focuses on Israel as a case study, entrenchment of gendered parenting roles is a near-universal problem, addressed by feminism and masculinities studies across various legal systems. It is hoped that the t Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law ,University of Haifa. J.S.D., LL.M. Yale University; LL.M, LL.B. summa cum laude, Bar Ilan University. A special thanks is due to Professor Nancy Dowd, who introduced masculinities studies to legal thought, and who so generously shared with me her thoughtful comments and suggestions. I also wish to thank Professor Zvi Triger, whose innovative scholarship inspired this research. Needless to say, all views expressed are my own, as are any errors. My gratitude to Lior Frank, for his excellent research assistance, and for Laura Femino for her superb editing assistance. Also thanks to Arielle Humphries and McKaye Neumeister, the Yale Journal of Law and Feminism editors, for their dedicated work.
<jats:p>The vast multidisciplinary literature on marital dissolution tends to conceptualize... more <jats:p>The vast multidisciplinary literature on marital dissolution tends to conceptualize divorce as a personal, individualist act that naturally resides in the domestic sphere. The article challenges this prevailing scholarly perspective by dissecting a substantially underexplored dimension of divorce as a citizenship-certifying act located squarely in the public sphere. Drawing on a pioneering qualitative study among Palestinian Christians in Israel as a case study, we argue that Israel's divorce law, which locks Catholics into indissoluble marriages, should be recognized as a key state instrument for delineating the contours of citizenship—a boundary-demarcating apparatus between insiders and outsiders who are excluded from full and equal membership. The article provides novel insights into the complex interrelations between divorce, gender, and citizenship, showing how Palestinian-Christian women pay the price of a purportedly sex-neutral, no-exit regime. The article also illuminates a seldom-studied phenomenon we call "divorce conversion": the act of changing one's denomination for the sake of marital freedom, which is a hallmark of Palestinian-Christians' third-rate status in the Jewish state. We conclude that divorce should be reconceptualized as a right to egalitarian female citizenship, serving as a basic precursor to women's full participation in all spheres of life.</jats:p>
University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, 2020
Objective: The aim of the present work was to study the effect of Quercetin on the structure of f... more Objective: The aim of the present work was to study the effect of Quercetin on the structure of filiform and fungiform papillae of the tongue in albino rats with streptozotocin induced diabetes. Design: Thirty adult male Wistar rats were divided into 3 equal groups (10 rats each): Group 1 (control group), Group 2: (diabetic group) and Group 3: (Quercetin treated diabetic group). In both groups 2&3 diabetes was induced by single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (50 mg/kg). After confirmation of diabetes, Quercetin was administrated to group 3 (50 mg/kg/day) orally for 12 weeks. Then all rats were sacrificed and the tongues were dissected out for light microscopic (LM) examination, immunohistochemical examination, histomorphometric analysis and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) examination. Results: LM examination of diabetic group revealed disturbances in filiform papillae with hyperkeratosis. Fungiform papillae exhibited slight elongation with separation between taste bud cells. SEM examination revealed disturbance in the normal orientation of filiform papillae which appeared thin. On the other hand, in Quercetin treated group, there was marked improvement in the shape and orientation of the papillae. However, some changes were observed by LM which included hyperkeratosis and in SEM some filiform papillae appeared thin. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed strong reaction for caspase 3 in diabetic group, while in Quercetin treated group the reaction was mild. Quercetin treatment resulted in significant decrease in both area percentage of immunopositive cells and the optical density of caspase 3 immunostaining which was significantly increased after induction of diabetes. Conclusions: In a rat model, Quercetin can to a great extent overcome most of the detrimental effects of diabetes on the structure of both filiform and fungiform papillae of the tongue.
במאמר זה אנו מבקשות להעשיר את התפיסה הפמיניסטית של המיניות הנשית ולהציע - נוסף על ארבעת המכלולים ... more במאמר זה אנו מבקשות להעשיר את התפיסה הפמיניסטית של המיניות הנשית ולהציע - נוסף על ארבעת המכלולים האסרטגיים שזיהה פוקו כמשמשים בעצם ייצורו של מערך המיניות - עוד מכלול אסטרטגי שאותו נכנה "קלקלת המין".
Hebrew Abstract: המאמר מציע המשגה עכשווית של המיניות במשפט. חלקו הראשון חשף כיצד המשפט תורם להפיכ... more Hebrew Abstract: המאמר מציע המשגה עכשווית של המיניות במשפט. חלקו הראשון חשף כיצד המשפט תורם להפיכת כלכלת המין לקלקלת מין ומהווה גורם המעכב את תפיסת המיניות הנשית כמקור לעונג, כוח והעצמה. חלק זה מזהה "מכלול אסטרטגי" נוסף הפועל במסגרת מערך המיניות, מעבר לאלה שזיהה פוקו, וטוען כי "קלקלת המין" פועלת בתיווכו של מכלול אסטרטגי זה, אותו אנו מכנות "סקאלת ההשפלה". סקאלת ההשפלה היא כלי מודרני למשטור מיניות נשית המושתת על הצמדת מחיר חברתי של בושה לכל פעילות מינית נשית הנחזית כחורגת מגבולות מגדריים מוגדרים. המחקר מזהה כיצד גם במאה ה-21, שבה נורמות של מוסרנות מינית הן לכאורה נחלת העבר, עדיין משמרת החברה, בסיוע המשפט, תיוג של נשים לפי האופן שבו הן נתפסות כמשתמשות במשאב המין, וקונסת מופעים שונים של שימוש במיניות הנשית, החל משימוש "לגיטימי" לכאורה, הכרוך במידה נמוכה של השפלה, ועד לזנות, נקודת האל-חזור שבתחתית סקאלת ההשפלה.על רקע זה, המאמר מציע מיפוי של נורמות משפטיות התורמות לקיומה של סקאלת ההשפלה, ומשרטט מתווה ראשוני להמרת הסדר המשפטי הקיים, בו נשמרת נחיתותן ...
Hebrew Abstract: מאמר זה עוסק ביחס בין מיניות, מגדר ומשפט. בעקבות מחקרים מצטברים בתחומים שונים, ו... more Hebrew Abstract: מאמר זה עוסק ביחס בין מיניות, מגדר ומשפט. בעקבות מחקרים מצטברים בתחומים שונים, ובהם פסיכולוגיה, סוציולוגיה, כלכלה ולימודי התרבות, המכונים "תיאוריות של כלכלת מין", ניתן לתאר את הפעילות המינית ההטרוסקסואלית כמתרחשת בשוק שבו המין הוא משאב, ולמיניות הנשית ערך רב במובהק מזה של המיניות הגברית. אולם, כידוע, הבעלות הנשית האינדיווידואלית והקבוצתית על משאב המין, אינה מיתרגמת למשאבי הון סימבוליים אחרים ולעוצמה כלכלית וחברתית. ההפך. המיניות שימשה מאז ומעולם אמצעי מפתח ל דיכוי נשי, ולפי עמדה פמיניסטית מקובלת היא מהווה את השורש ש מצמיח ומנציח את אי השוויון המגדרי בחברה.המאמר מבקש לנתח ולפרק את האסטרטגיות שבאמצעותן החברה המודרנית, שעדיין לא השתחררה מכבלי הפטריארכייה, פיתחה מערך תרבותי-משפטי מסועף ההופך את כלכלת המין ל"קלקלת מין", חוסם נשים מלעשות שימוש מעצים במשאב המין שברשותן, וממשיך לשמר את יחסי המדרג ההייררכיים בין גברים לנשים. לטענתנו, הציר עליו סובב פרויקט קלקלת המין הוא הבניה של קשר הכרחי בין מין, אישה ובושה. האכיפה הסיסטמטית של הקישור בין מין לבושה נעשתה...
Feminism has largely treated men as the undifferentiated dominant gender group, neglecting a disc... more Feminism has largely treated men as the undifferentiated dominant gender group, neglecting a discussion of men's own gender identity. As a result, the legal conceptualization of masculinity is still under-explored; a tapestry of legal doctrines renders inconsistent ideological messages about what it means to be a "man," and especially what it means to be a father. Israeli legal scholarship, in particular, has done little to explore how extensively stereotypes of masculinity permeate existing law and undermine the role of men as parents. This Article fills in this academic void and begins the project of answering the largely ignored "man question," that is, how the law constrains male gender roles and how those constraints inhibit the father-child relationship. Through the critical lens of masculinities theory, I explore how and why male gender identity may frustrate father care in general and to Israeli father care in particular. As I argue, the Zionist conce...
Law & Society Review, 2022
The article analyzes Israel's ecclesiastical court system through the prism of Weberian t... more The article analyzes Israel's ecclesiastical court system through the prism of Weberian theory to both empirical and theoretical ends. On the empirical level, it aims to illuminate a grossly understudied socio-legal arena-the communal Christian courts in the Middle-East. On the theoretical level, it seeks to reclaim the Weberian concept of kadijustiz, which refers to "formally irrational" legal systems. In recent decades, scholars have engaged in a process of "blaming" that discredited the conceptualization of Islamic law as kadijustiz and resulted in the concept's erasure from socio-legal theory. After renaming it to the more neutral and non-Orientalist richterjustiz, we employ this new-old concept to analyze Israel's ecclesiastical courts and demonstrate its theoretical and analytical merits. The article concludes with several theoretical propositions, which draw on the empirical case study and contribute to the refinement of Weberian theory.
Law and Social Inquiry, 2021
The vast multidisciplinary literature on marital dissolution tends to conceptualize divorce as a ... more The vast multidisciplinary literature on marital dissolution tends to conceptualize divorce as a personal, individualist act that naturally resides in the domestic sphere. The article challenges this prevailing scholarly perspective by dissecting a substantially underexplored dimension of divorce as a citizenship-certifying act located squarely in the public sphere. Drawing on a pioneering qualitative study among Palestinian Christians in Israel as a case study, we argue that Israel’s divorce law, which locks Catholics into indissoluble marriages, should be recognized as a key state instrument for delineating the contours of citizenship—a boundary-demarcating apparatus between insiders and outsiders who are excluded from full and equal membership. The article provides novel insights into the complex interrelations between divorce, gender, and citizenship, showing how Palestinian-Christian women pay the price of a purportedly sex-neutral, no-exit regime. The article also illuminates a seldom-studied phenomenon we call “divorce conversion”: the act of changing one’s denomination for the sake of marital freedom, which is a hallmark of Palestinian-Christians’ third-rate status in the Jewish state. We conclude that divorce should be reconceptualized as a right to egalitarian female citizenship, serving as a basic precursor to women’s full participation in all spheres of life.
Yale JL & Feminism, 2008
This work is dedicated to my friend and mentor, Israeli Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel, who h... more This work is dedicated to my friend and mentor, Israeli Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel, who has devoted his life to combating human suffering and who holds the plight of the agunot close to his heart. I would like to extend my deep gratitude to Professors Akhil Amar and James Whitman for their thoughtful comments, and to Professor Shahar Lifshitz, for his seminal scholarship and contribution to the development of Israeli family law in general and to this piece in particular. I am also indebted to former Chief Justice Aharon Barak for stimulating my research and for his patience. Special thanks to Kristin Macleod-Ball and Mark Shawhan for their untiring assistance and dedication, and to Frieda Cohen, of blessed memory, and Benjamin Cohen, for reading and commenting on previous drafts of this piece. Last but not least, I thank the ISEF Foundation, whose generosity, support, and ideals made this work possible.
Yale JL & Feminism, 2008
This work is dedicated to my friend and mentor, Israeli Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel, who h... more This work is dedicated to my friend and mentor, Israeli Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel, who has devoted his life to combating human suffering and who holds the plight of the agunot close to his heart. I would like to extend my deep gratitude to Professors Akhil Amar and James Whitman for their thoughtful comments, and to Professor Shahar Lifshitz, for his seminal scholarship and contribution to the development of Israeli family law in general and to this piece in particular. I am also indebted to former Chief Justice Aharon Barak for stimulating my research and for his patience. Special thanks to Kristin Macleod-Ball and Mark Shawhan for their untiring assistance and dedication, and to Frieda Cohen, of blessed memory, and Benjamin Cohen, for reading and commenting on previous drafts of this piece. Last but not least, I thank the ISEF Foundation, whose generosity, support, and ideals made this work possible.
The legal status of Egyptian women, especially in the domestic arena, has been the subject of con... more The legal status of Egyptian women, especially in the domestic arena, has been the subject of considerable international academic and media interest. Nevertheless, the interplay between the legal regulation of marital dissolution and the Egyptian Constitution, and its influence on women's rights, has never been explored with any rigor. This article constitutes the first study to examine both the constitutional dimensions of Egyptian divorce law, and how the application of that constitutional scheme might better promote women's marital rights. The thesis underlying my study is that marital freedom is an elevated fundamental right, enjoying rigorous judicial protection. This constitutional guarantee, I argue, provides a powerful new strategy to tackle the gendered balance of power in Egyptian marriages, and to combat the Egyptian obsession with female sexuality that permeates the divorce regime. A scholarly examination of a secure right to marital freedom is particularly criti...
University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, 2020