Front and Rear: the Sexual Division of Labour in the Israeli Army

Abstract

In recent years the role of women in the military has been widely debated. While some feminists are opposed to women’s participation in military activity of any kind, others favour the integration of women into the ‘male domain’ of the armed forces. The largest feminist organisation in the United States, the National Organization for Women, for example, argues that if men are drafted into military service, women should be as well. In NOW’s view, women’s equality means an equal share in both the ‘rights’ and the ‘duties’ of society.²

The first draft of this paper was presented at the conference on Women in Militaries at the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam, out of which came the book Loaded Question. edited by Wendy Chapkis. I would like to thank the participants in this conference, especially Cynthia Enloe, for their useful comments. The same goes to all others who gave their time to read and respond to the paper — Prof. Ben-Yoseph and Prof. Lisak of the Hebrew University, Daphne Izraeli from Tel-Aviv University, Floya Anthias and Nance Goldstein from Thames Polytechnic and the members of the Feminist Studie. collective, especially Ruth Milkman. I thank you all but hold only myself responsible for what has eventually emerged. A more expanded version of this is being published by Feminist Studie., Fall 1985, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 649–76.