Feminist Theory and Jewish Studies

Abstract

This article examines the history of the relationship between feminist theory and Jewish studies; it considers feminist theory's role as a transformational force in Jewish studies. Feminist theory is an approach to Jewish studies that problematizes subjectivity and posits that identities are multiple, shifting, and frequently constructed through social discourses and practices. Feminist theory pays special attention to the complicated intersections between masculinist privilege and the institution of heterosexuality as the normative social relation defining family, community, and national identifications as well as designations of Jews, Jewishness, and Judaism even as it pays attention to other forms of social power including race, ethnicity, and class.