women in the Six Day War through the eye of the media

Women in the Six Day War through the eyes of the media

Einat Lachover*

On the basis of a content analysis of 168 news items dealing with women in the twolargest-circulation newspapers in Israel, this article investigates whether there was anychange in the news media’s representation of women during the Six Day War. Theresults indicate that while there was little change in women’s representation inquantitative terms, that is, their visibility remained low, there were differences inqualitative terms. Whereas women typically appear in the news as victims, this type ofrepresentation was rare in the Six Day War, when women were represented in thecontext of the collective rather than the private sphere. Thus, the image ofthe “egotistical woman” was replaced by that of the “woman volunteer,” while thewife/mother image appeared in the national context during the war. However, oncethe war was over, women returned to their private world, and the image of the womansoldier as a sexual object also reappeared. Rather than enabling women to redefine theirrelations with men, the nation and the state, the war underlined their traditional genderroles.

Keywords: Israeli women; news media; private/public sphere; patriarchal genderroles; Six Day War

What happens to women at a time of crisis? Certain studies indicate that they acquire

greater freedom of expression during a conflict, while others suggest that at such times

they are subject to greater control by bureaucracy and social conventions, which seek to

exclude them from the political public sphere.1 The question considered in this article is

whether the existing gender order was maintained in Israel during the Six DayWar in 1967

or whether the war offered an opportunity to challenge it.

In an attempt to answer this question, the present study examines whether the

representation of women in the news during the Six Day War differed from the peacetime

patterns, and whether it perpetuated or challenged the conventional gender order. This

analysis can further our understanding of gender constructs at the time.

The theoretical basis of the current investigation brings together two primary

disciplines: feminist critique of women’s representation in the media in general, and in the

news in particular; and research into the civil status of women in Israel at the end of the

country’s second decade. The study relies on a quantitative and qualitative content

analysis of the news items relating to women that appeared over the course of a month in

the two most popular newspapers in Israel at the time, Ma’ariv and Yedi’ot Aharonot.

In the mid-1960s, the previously popular party organs began to lose their readership,

giving these two dailies the largest circulation in the country. While Yedi’ot Aharonot was

oriented toward mass appeal, reflected in less detailed reporting and a tabloid-style format,

Ma’ariv maintained higher journalistic standards and a more conservative style.2

ISSN 1353-1042 print/ISSN 1744-0548 online

q 2009 Taylor & Francis

DOI: 10.1080/13531040903169685

http://www.informaworld.com

*Email: [email protected]

The Journal of Israeli History

Vol. 28, No. 2, September 2009, 117–135

Representation of women in the news

Feminist study of representations of women in the media, which began in the 1960s and

1970s, adopts a critical stance which holds that the media not only reflect society and its

many schisms, including those that are gender-based, but also construct a symbolic reality

and mediate between the public and existential reality. In 1978, Gaye Tuchman noted the

exclusion of women from the media in terms of both quantity and quality.3 Since

representation in the symbolic world is a sign of existence in social reality, absence from

the symbolic world is a form of symbolic annihilation. Moreover, representation in the

symbolic world is a source of power. Rather than reflecting reality, the media are involved

in producing or constructing particular versions of reality in order to make them “real” and

persuasive.4 The social hierarchy of power is shaped, reinforced, and maintained by

increasing the visibility of the strong at the expense of the weak, who do not enjoy the

same degree of visibility in the media, just as they do not in the real world.5

Numerous studies offer examples of the quantitative exclusion of women from the

news.6 However, the symbolic annihilation of women by the news media is expressed not

only in quantity – through their exclusion, omission, or absence – but also in quality, the

less explicit level of their coverage. Research based on content analysis and semiotics

indicates that representation of women in the news is restricted and stereotypical,

distinguishing between the “normal” or “conventional” and the “abnormal” or “other.”

Women are generally identified with the private sphere and appear as one of the two poles

of their social stereotype: sex object or mother.7 Studies conducted in Israel reveal the

same symbolic annihilation, in both quantity and quality, which reflects and perpetuates

the marginality of women in Israeli society.8

One of the most prominent features of the image of women in the news is the figure of

the victim. This form of representation promotes the stereotype of the woman as weak and

powerless, and therefore in need of the protection of male entities (e.g. the army, the

police, the legal system).9

How are women represented in the news at a time of crisis? Surprisingly, there are not

many studies that focus on this question. Throughout the world, war and conflict have

always been presented from a patriarchal standpoint. Men are generally those who initiate

violence, organize the aggressive response to it, and present and frame its media

coverage.10 Chava Tidhar and Dafna Lemish’s study of Palestinian and Israeli women in

TV newscasts during the first Intifada painted a complex picture. As usual, in quantitative

terms women were excluded: only 5% of the people represented were women, as

compared to 77% for men and 18% for mixed groups. In terms of quality, however, while

the image of Israeli women bore the same stereotypical characteristics that typified periods

of quiet, the representation of Palestinian women displayed nontraditional features: they

were presented as more active and as acting alongside men, with no clear gender

distinction. The authors contend that their findings lend support to social anthropologist

Rosemary Ridd’s theoretical claim that crisis and conflict enable deviation from the

traditional patterns ofwomen’s representation.11The current studywill examine howwomen

are represented in the newspaper reports regarding a specific crisis – the Six Day War.

The status of women in Israel

In the period under discussion, both the public and the research literature held a shared

belief in the myth of gender equality in Israeli society.12 Jewish women were perceived as

equal to men in terms of their duty to contribute to the Zionist project and their entitlement

to the rights befitting their contribution. According to Orit Kamir, although the myth of

E. Lachover118

equality was an important part of Zionist and Israeli reality, it was no more than a

declarative commitment. She argues that this form of “equal rights” was not the equality

upheld by a liberal world view, but an equality that allowed each individual an equal right

to take part in bringing to life the Zionist project according to the gender (or national) role

assigned to them by political Zionism. For a woman, this version of equality meant that

she had the right to participate in the Zionist project as a “second-class man,” that is, as a

wife and mother.13

Hanna Herzog maintains that this perception of the status of the Israeli woman

changed only after the Six Day War. In the following years, the foundations were laid for

shattering the myth of equality, the birth of the local feminist movement, and a rethinking

of the place of women in society.14 During the Six Day War, however, the ideas put

forward by the feminist movement emerging in the West (second wave feminism) still lay

dormant in Israel.15

The myth of equality was supported by basic laws purporting to afford Israeli women

equal rights. The most noteworthy of these were the Defense Service Law (1949), which

included women among those required to report for compulsory military service, and the

Women’s Equal Rights Law (1951), which declared that women citizens had equal rights

and equal duties. Nevertheless, a critical review of these “equality laws” reveals them to be

grounded in the basic assumption that women are, first and foremost, wives and mothers,

or potential mothers, because the laws mainly address the status of women as related to

these roles.16 Feminist criticism therefore views this legislation as a mechanism for

discriminating against women, since along with protecting and promoting their status, it

also perpetuates their relegation to the private sphere and marginality in the public

sphere.17

In countries like Israel that live under a threat to their security, the exclusion of women

from the civil agenda is made possible by the centrality of the institution of the family.

This is particularly salient in Israel, where ensuring national continuity became a goal in

and of itself, and women were perceived as responsible for achieving this aim, their role

being to give birth, pass on the cultural ethos, and educate the next generation.18

Feminist criticism points to the strong link between militarism, citizenship, and

gender, claiming that it creates a hierarchy between the civil status of men and women.19

In Israeli society and culture, the army is a major genderized arena. This was especially

true in the country’s early decades, when the army occupied a central place in society. The

organizational structure of the army reflects the myth of the strong male protecting the

weak female. In addition, since men are the prestigious warriors, whereas women are their

“helpmates,” military duty not only reflects gender perceptions but actually serves to

reinforce them.20

Research reveals that although women served in combat duty from as early as the pre-

state era in Israel, their numbers were small. Most women soldiers filled auxiliary

positions, providing support and communications.21 During World War II, some 4200

Jewish women from Palestine volunteered to the British army, but they too were assigned

primarily to support functions.22 The War of Independence was the last conflict in which a

significant number of Israeli women played an active combat role.23

While the regulations regarding the establishment of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

recognize the right of a woman to serve in any role (on a voluntary basis), their equal status

in the military has eroded over time, leaving compulsory service for women no more than

a symbolic emblem of equality.24 Compulsory service has always been shorter for women

than for men, and reserve duty in particular is limited to a much shorter period and

required only of women without children.25 In the first two decades of statehood, the

The Journal of Israeli History 119

difference in the roles of men and women in the army increased. The type and location of

postings for women was restricted, and most of them filled administrative positions.26

No official data are available regarding the role of women in the military in the Six Day

War. The evidence in secondary sources is not sufficiently comprehensive to paint a clear

picture of their activities.27 This lacuna can be partially explained by the fact that Israeli

feminist historiography is a relatively recent field of research. It was launched only in the

1980s and focuses mainly on the pre-state Yishuv period.28

The current study

The current study examined the issues of Ma’ariv and Yedi’ot Aharonot that appeared in

the course of one month in 1967, from 15 May, the day after the start of the run-up to the

war known as the “waiting period,” to 16 June, six days after the war ended (a total of 27

editions of each paper). During this period, press coverage focused mainly on military and

political issues and was therefore dominated by men, whether public figures, combatants,

or ordinary citizens. On the whole, women appeared in items relating mainly to the

readiness and functioning of the home front.29

A total of 168 items containing mention of women in the context of the war were found

in the relevant newspaper editions, representing an average of three items per issue.

References to women numbered 370, or an average of two per item and seven per issue.

Not only were the references to women in the war coverage relatively few in number, but

on the whole they were marginal as well. Women featured prominently in just two major

contexts: if they were public figures or if they had a dramatic story. Consequently, there is

almost no mention of women on the front pages of the papers. Only 10 items (6%)

containing reference to women appeared on the front page, and most of those (n ¼ 7)

related to Golda Meir, the general secretary of the ruling Mapai (Labor) Party at the time.

Another front-page item showed a picture of Paula Ben-Gurion beside her husband

David Ben-Gurion. Save for these two public figures, women appeared only twice on the

front page. On 31 May, the front page of Yedi’ot Aharonot carried a photograph of teenage

boys and girls who had volunteered to sort mail, and on 7 July, an article about a mother

and son killed in a landslide while digging a bomb shelter appeared on the front page

of Ma’ariv.

Similarly, women were seldom mentioned in headlines, appearing mainly in the body

of the item, and sometimes buried deep within it. The headlines of only 24 references

(6.5% of the total 370 references) referred to the woman in the article. Here, too, most of

them referred to a public figure. Where “ordinary” women were mentioned in the headline,

the items were not particularly newsworthy subjects, that is, they were human interest

stories as opposed to “important” or “serious” news (e.g. a soldier’s wife who had given

birth to triplets, a mother with nine sons in the army, a woman who had volunteered to

drive a bus). These “small” anecdotal pieces were printed not because of their relevance to

the situation, but merely to add color to the war coverage.

A higher rate of pictures of women was found (n ¼ 41, 11% of the total 370

references) as compared to the other two measures of prominence (mention on the front

page or in a headline). This can be explained by the “decorative” value of the photo of a

woman, which is designed to attract the attention of readers. Similar findings have been

reported by other studies of women’s representation in the media.30 Research indicates

that the status of an individual quoted in the news differs from that of a figure in a

photograph. People are generally quoted when their words are considered to have public

significance. They may also appear in a picture if they hold public office, but in addition,

E. Lachover120

photographs are used to draw the eye as they serve as a means of depicting emotion,

drama, or sensuality.31

The corpus subjected to analysis included all the 168 items relating to the war in

which a woman or women were mentioned, 106 from Ma’ariv and 62 from Yedi’ot

Aharonot. About half of the items contained one reference to women, with the other

half containing more than one.32 The analysis included both quantitative and qualitative

measures:

Quantitative measures. In order to obtain a picture of the extent and prominence of the

coverage of women, five aspects were examined: (1) the total number of items in which

women were mentioned; (2) the total number of references to women; (3) the number of

references to women on the front page of the paper; (4) the number of references to women

in the headline or subheading of the item; (5) the number of pictures of women.

Qualitative measures. An analysis of the roles of women in the newspaper items was

conducted. Each mention of a woman was categorized according to the role in which she

was presented. Twenty-two different roles were identified: daughter; mother; soldier’s

mother; soldier’s wife; volunteer; foreign volunteer; blood donor; baker; professional;

citizen on the home front; citizen near the border; child confronted with war; housewife;

soldier; bride; woman giving birth; Golda Meir; other political figures; victim; “disco

girl”; society woman; and other. Where coverage made reference to more than one role of

a single woman, she was categorized according to the primary role in which she appeared.

These roles were then mapped by thematic categories, that is, larger meaningful

constructs in the representation of women. The analysis produced a typology of four

major figures: the mobilized woman; the wife and mother; the politician; and the egotist.33

Each category was analyzed in the context of the values and myths current in Israel at

the time.

The mobilized woman

The category of the mobilized woman contains three major figures: the solider, the

“enlisted womb,” and the volunteer.

The soldier

On 28 May, just a week before the war, a cartoon appeared on page 10 of Yedi’ot Aharonot

showing a male soldier, a female soldier, a farmer, and a religious man marching shoulder

to shoulder in military-like formation, their fists clenched, and a look of battle-ready

determination on their faces. The caption read: “Together at last.” The cartoon expresses

the spirit of unity between the various sectors of the population that pervaded the country

on the eve of war. The woman soldier is a visual representation of the widely accepted

myth of equality in the army, although as noted above, men and women did not actually

perform equal military service or combat duty before the State of Israel came into being,

and this situation became even more entrenched after the War of Independence.34

Accordingly, perhaps, women soldiers were not featured prominently in the press

during the war, appearing in only 24 references (6.5%). Furthermore, where their roles in

the army are mentioned, they are all administrative, rather than combative, posts.

Their duties are described with the utmost brevity in no more than one or two paragraphs,

and no item whatsoever focuses on their military function.

On the whole, coverage of women soldiers emphasizes the great efforts they are

making (long hours, harsh conditions), at times despite what is perceived as an added


difficulty: the fact that they are married or pregnant. Their representation reflects the spirit

of mobilization and national unity before and during the war, as in the following two

examples:

From the mobile office of the intelligence officer comes the sound of a typewriter. A 22-year-old woman soldier is copying a report. Two other girls, who worked throughout the night, aretaking a short nap in the back of a truck. They are awoken by a sudden call to duty. The threewomen are married – six months, a year, a year and two months – and two of them werecalled up several days before their husbands.35

The regular army clerk in the Southern Command, nine months pregnant, was not feelingwell, but still she was on her feet for forty hours and more “because all these years I have beenworking to prepare for this moment.”36

Items about the activities of women soldiers appear as human interest stories that

appeal to the heart and the eye, serving as a refreshing break from the dry coverage of

troop movements, government statements, and so on. This function is particularly salient

in a series of war photos that appeared in Ma’ariv on 28 May, spread over half of page 3.

They show troops in action, either advancing in their tanks or command cars with the dust

rising around them or loading cannons. But one of the pictures stands out from the others,

depicting a very different sort of military activity (Figure 1). We see a close-up of two

women soldiers in uniform engaged in “improving their appearance.” One is carefully

Figure 1. Women soldiers in the Negev, 25May 1967. Courtesy of Israel Government Press Office.Photographer unknown.

E. Lachover122

combing her hair in front of a mirror, while the other is holding the mirror for her. This

series of pictures frames the contribution of the male soldiers to the war as essential,

professional, and purposeful, whereas that of the women soldiers is marginal, inferior, and

irrelevant to the war effort. They may be present in the public space, that is, on the

battlefield, but their attention is directed to themselves. Within the context of the whole

series of photographs, the picture of the women soldiers provides comic relief, helping to

relieve the tension and afford a sense of normality.

With victory in the war, tension was lifted and there was a rise in national morale. A

new dimension now appeared in the representation of the woman soldier – she was

presented as a sex object, as evidenced by the following example:

In the heart of the desert of tough men and speeding tanks there are four pretty ladies in khaki,members of the Israeli women’s corps, who entered Sinai with the first of the occupationforces. Lieutenant Atara, the armored corps welfare officer, and Nira Tuvi sat in the trackvehicle of Major Oded and advanced with the soldiers in the heat of combat. The others –Hannah Akerman and Ruth Mondik – encouraged the fighters in the short time between theirfinal briefing and the order to move out. They passed through the ranks. A handshake. Aglance. A word or two. The lads dote on them, asking for a memento, handing out candies.As if they, the girls staying behind at the field infirmary, are the ones in need ofencouragement.

When they heard that the Old City of Jerusalem had been liberated, Major Oded pulledout a bottle of whiskey. The four girls sat down with the guys, each in turn drinking fromthe communal bottle, wiping their chapped lips with their hands, and like the fighters,stretching out their tired legs that had not been relieved of their heavy army boots for fourstraight days.37

Although the legs of the men are probably just as tired as those of the women, the male

combat soldiers are portrayed as active (speeding and advancing) and mentally strong

(tough), whereas the women soldiers are attractive (pretty) and in need of encouragement

(the major’s name is “Oded,” a form of the Hebrew word for “encourage”). Moreover, the

description of the girls focuses on the parts and gestures of their body – their legs, hands,

and lips. These features of their portrayal emphasize the physical aspects of the woman,

rather than her qualities.

The “enlisted womb”

A recurrent representation of women during the war, this category refers to the

soldier’s wife who is giving birth (nine items) or the bride of the mobilized groom (14

items). Although the stories of births and weddings constitute only 6% of all references

to women, they were often featured prominently, either in a headline or with a

photograph.

The birth of a child to a soldier on the battlefield symbolizes the cycle of life,

continuity, and immortality. Similarly, the stories of soldiers risking their lives while

simultaneously generating new life through their wives is a metaphor for the military code

of sacrificing one’s life in order to ensure the life of the nation.

One unusual event that featured prominently in both papers was the story of Ezra Hai,

who gave birth to triplets while her husband was in the army. Ma’ariv reported that “Ezra

Hai has brought into the world reinforcements for the mobilized head of the family.

Triplets were born yesterday to a family with five daughters.”38 The editors apparently

noticed the symbolic significance of the mother’s name – Ezra (help); Hai (living) – and

included it in full in the headline, thus affording it the sort of attention seldom granted to

women in the news, who are generally identified not by name, but by gender (“a woman”)

or family affiliation (“the wife of,” “the daughter of,” etc.).39


Inmost cases, it was not themother whowas given center stage in the items about births,

but the soldier and, most particularly, his commitment to the national struggle despite the

pivotal event taking place in his personal life. Themobilized fathers stick their heads into the

delivery room for a brief visit and immediately return to their more natural setting at this

moment in time – the battlefield. Na’im Hai, the father of the triplets, was no exception:

“Early yesterday morning Na’im was granted another short leave. He ran home. They told

him that Ezra was in the hospital. . . . He hadn’t been there for more than five minutes when

he looked at his watch and ran back to the army.”40 Shmuel Mavror did not stay much

longer. Called up when his wife went into labor, he was granted leave, was home long

enough to give his new daughter the name Efrat, and went back to his unit.41

Thefigure of the soldier’swife giving birth embodies the essence ofwhat is knownas the

“womb myth,” a national symbol reflecting the centrality of motherhood and fertility in

Israeli society. The importance of physical continuity is part of the Jewish tradition,

expressed in the Bible and in Israeli mythology. Signifying the connection between the past

and the present, the womb is an ancient metaphor for the cycle of life. In addition, it plays a

role in determining Israeli citizenship, as the definition of a Jew ismatrilineal. The crises and

upheavals that have plagued Israel since its inception only served to enhance the status of the

womb myth, endowing it with political significance in the demographic context.42

The figure of the bride at her wedding is similar to that of the wife giving birth, as the

bride is, in essence, a future mother. Here, too, the presence of the bride is barely felt,

although her role as an “enlisted womb” is readily apparent. The wedding, symbolizing the

creation of a new family, is perceived as a national Jewish duty:

The voice of the soldier and the voice of the bride [an allusion to a phrase in the weddingblessing, “the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride”]. The armored corps soldierhas good fortune and Mordekhai, a sergeant in the armored corps reserves, has Fortuna. WhenSgt. Mordekhai was called up for duty, he thought he would be able to get back to exchangevows with Margalit Fortuna. When he realized it wouldn’t happen, he sent an urgent messageto cancel the wedding. But neither the armored corps nor the Central Command, to which hisunit belongs, agreed to call off the occasion. On alert or not, creating a new family in Israel is acommandment that must be obeyed.43

Items about weddings speak of soldiers taking a short break from the preparations for war

and grabbing a free moment to participate in the rite of marriage, of wounded war heroes

whose weddings are held in hospitals, or of weddings conducted at the Western Wall

immediately after the end of the fighting. They are reported from the perspective of the

soldier-bridegroom, focusing on his determination to go through with the wedding despite

the war, and his plan to return to his unit as soon as the ceremony is concluded. The

accompanying pictures show the groom in uniform surrounded by members of his unit,

with the bride dressed traditionally in a white gown and looking distinctly incongruous. In

the few instances in which the voice of the bride is heard in the item, she reinforces the

message of commitment to the national cause. The following excerpt is taken from an

article headed “Wedding in Khaki – on a Command Car”: “While the guests headed for

the refreshments, the groom was asked when he was returning to his unit. ‘I’m going back

now!’ he replied. She [the bride] stood on his right looking slightly disappointed, but said:

‘The country comes first, and then me!’”44

The volunteer

Reports of volunteer work performed by civilians during the war relate to several different

groups in the population: children and teens; adults; foreigners resident in Israel; and Jews

from other countries who came to lend a helping hand. Items about the activities of

E. Lachover124

volunteers on the home front were meant to demonstrate the strong spirit and unity of the

nation. In quantitative terms, women feature more prominently in these stories than in

other types of press coverage. In fact, nearly one-quarter of all references to women during

the war (85 mentions, 23%) deal with the figure of the volunteer.

Women are reported to be volunteering in a variety of roles. Some of their activities are

traditionally identified as “women’s work”: collecting clothing; sewing sandbags; helping

out in hospitals; baking cakes; organizing care packages for the troops, etc. Many women

volunteered in their specialties, such as retired midwives who set up a local emergency

maternity hospital or nurses who trained women to care for patients. Numerous items also

mention women volunteering, together with other groups in the population such as teens

and the elderly, for jobs not normally considered feminine: filling sandbags; donating

blood; sorting mail, and so on. And female entertainers performed for the troops alongside

their male colleagues.

What is the significance of the conspicuous representation of the woman volunteer?

Although volunteer work is performed in the public sphere, it is not considered to carry

any power. Moreover, it is perceived as an extension of activities in the private space, not

only in terms of content, but also in respect to its very nature: giving with no expectation of

reward, providing assistance and care. Volunteer work is not defined as a political activity.

It is channeled into areas in which men are not involved, and is not associated with status

or resources.45 These features are readily apparent in the coverage of women’s volunteer

work during the war.

One volunteer activity that attracted particular attention was women driving large

vehicles. These stories provide further evidence that the small number of items that

focused on women did so in order to add color to the wartime press coverage,

counterbalancing the articles on military and political subjects that were regarded as truly

newsworthy.

At the heart of the pieces on women drivers was the tension between what was

perceived then (as it still is) to be a masculine job and the femininity of the volunteers.

Thus, for instance, we are told that Bilha the bus driver did better on her driving test than

any of her male colleagues. However, the item goes on to describe her in the drivers’ room

surrounded by men. The reporter’s questions to her are whether the men harass her and

what her parents think of her new job. Similarly, the description of the appearance and

behavior of “Aunt Olga,” a shopkeeper who insisted on driving her own truck when the

army came to “conscript” it for military use, is decidedly unfeminine: “To my surprise, the

person who climbed down from the truck was a short stout woman wearing a cap, a

sleeveless shirt, and work pants. She set to work unloading the truck.” Later in the item, as

if to create a balance, her feminine qualities are stressed: “The soldiers standing around

chimed in: ‘Olga doesn’t only drive. She works in the kitchen. She peels and cooks, loads

and unloads. She does it all’. The group finds a haven with her, as if she were their

mother.”46

The wife and mother

The figure of the wife and mother recurs frequently in the war coverage. She appears 37

times (10% of the references) as a mother (generally the mother of a solider), and 48 times

(13%) as the wife of a soldier. In most cases, she is mentioned very briefly in items about

the soldier himself.

In contrast to the large number of passing references, only a few items actually focus

on the soldier’s mother, lauding her contribution to the nation by raising sons (not


daughters). The following excerpt, for example, comes from an article that purports to deal

with a specific mother, but in effect, she is a symbol of all mothers:

Every soldier carries his mother in his heart. The mother of our regiment commander, Ruth B.,can serve as an emblem of the country, the great mother who sends her sons to war. She hasfive sons, does Mother B., and all five are now serving as officers on the southern, northern, orcentral front, in the paratroopers, the armored corps, the infantry, and the air force . . . “If I’m amilitary man, it’s because of my mother . . . and if my five brothers became officers, it’sbecause of our mother.”47

Thus, the “great mother,” in the words of the reporter, is the one who sends her son to war.

And the more sons she sends, the greater she is. This quantitative estimation of the

mother’s contribution can also be seen in the figure of the “enlisted womb,” where the

ideal mother gives birth to the largest number of sons.

In another wartime article, an interview between the journalist Geula Cohen (a former

member of the pre-state right-wing military organizations Etzel and Lehi) and Mother

Biton, five of whose sons were in combat, the role of the mother is defined not only as

sending her sons to the army but as sacrificing them as well.

She not only gave her son life, she also commanded him to live! Before he ever received hiscommands from the motherland, he received his commands from the first motherland in theworld, the commands he got in his mother’s womb.He has no womb with which to give birth. The command to continue life and creation, the

command to carry on the generations, he can only obey now in the great womb of the nation:Long Live Israel! . . . Mother Biton is a mother. When she gave her children the command tolive, she also gave them the command to make the ultimate sacrifice, to live for, along withthe willingness to face death – to strike it down. . . . It seems to me [Geula Cohen] thatinstead of a face I am looking at a huge, warm, soft womb, generous and alive. With mylowered eyes I see now that this was the face of the world’s first mother, the mother of allliving creatures.48

This interview articulates the culmination of the “sacrifice myth,” with its source in the

biblical story of the binding of Isaac, a motif that is central to Israeli culture, both

explicitly and implicitly. Like God, Zionism promised the land to the nation, and

demanded the sacrifice of its children. Although the demythologization of the act of

binding began to appear in the late 1940s and early 1950s (various painters and poets

describe the binding in an ironic idiom which locates it in the absurd realm of

existentialism), during the Six Day War it was still pervasive, a situation that changed

significantly only after the war.49 The interview with Mother Biton also reflects the

“womb myth” referred to above. A parallel is drawn here between the mother who gave

life to her son in the womb, and the son who gives his life for the womb of the nation.

Thus, when the country was at war, the woman was not a private mother, but a

public, national one.

The figure of the soldier’s wife similarly took on a national connotation at this time.

The song “At Home, Everything’s Okay,” written by Shulamit Livnat and printed in

Ma’ariv during the war, encapsulates her role:

This morning I found a postcard in the mailbox,This morning I was calm and content,I recognized your rushed handwriting,This morning I was one hundred percent.

Edna had a boy,Danny has a new tooth today,I changed a bulb in the lamp in the bedroom,At home, everything’s okay.

E. Lachover126

I baked dozens of cookies on a sheet,Added raisins like I do normally,I brought them like a woman bringing plunderTo the Soldiers’ Welfare Committee.50

The ideal wife does not express concern for her husband in the army, nor does she openly

reveal her private feelings. Instead, she seeks to calm the fears of the man who is

performing the most important and essential job. She therefore reports that life at home, in

the marginal private space, is fine. The wife and homemaker impeccably fulfills her

responsibilities in this space (taking care of her home and children, keeping in touch with

relatives), and even does her part as a volunteer in the public space. The song also refers to

the physical continuity of the cycle of life: a baby is born, a child gets a new tooth.

Just as the representation of the woman soldier changed as soon as the war was over, so

did that of the wife and mother. The following item appeared the day after the war, and

relates directly to the change in this figure.

“Of course I’m happy,” I said to my neighbor, “but I’m also worried. I haven’t heard from myson. . . .” That was the general tone. It seems that after the tension of last week, after thejubilant relief on hearing about the conquests and victories . . . there is now time to turn to theprivate and personal concern for the fate of the son, the husband, the father. Hundreds,thousands, called the liaison officers over the weekend: “Why haven’t I heard from myhusband? . . . ” Women who had held themselves together heroically all last week, nowcollapsed.51

This item speaks explicitly of the distinction between wartime and routine life. As long as

the fighting was going on, the mother’s/wife’s primary concern was the security of the

country, and so she was forbidden from showing concern for the security of her

child/husband. Once the war was over, however, her role as a wife and mother was again

given legitimacy, and it was expected that she would return to the private sphere and show

her inherent weakness.

The politician

Mentions of the woman politician in the wartime press referred mainly to the political leader

Golda Meir. In addition, a single, and rather unusual, item related to women activists.

Golda Meir

Golda Meir is mentioned 17 times during the period covered by the study (5% of all

references), and often on the front page. She appears in the context of the political activity

during the run-up to the war, most particularly because she was opposed to the suggested

change in the country’s leadership: establishing a national unity government with Moshe

Dayan as defense minister. The majority of references to her are brief and formal, relating

solely to her public role. However, one item subheaded “Femme Fatale” reflects a complex

gender perception. Dealing with the question of why Dayan was not being appointed

defense minister at such a time, it states: “Indeed, Golda, and again Golda, and once more

Golda. She is behind all these tactics . . . . She persists in her opposition. After the disabling

of Ben-Gurion comes the disabling of Dayan. She is unstoppable [ . . . ]. A femme fatale.”52

Golda Meir is represented here through the archetype of the siren who, by using

her charms, beauty, and sexuality, leads her lovers (in this case Ben-Gurion and Dayan) to

their death.53This isan ironicdepiction, asGoldaMeirwasperceivedby thepublicasawoman

lacking in charm or femininity, an image reflected in the unflattering use of her name

to describe unattractive clothing, as in “Golda shoes” or “Golda underwear.”54


Activists

During the waiting period before the war, a call was issued by various social and political

circles to appoint Moshe Dayan, then a member of the opposition, as minister of

defense. Prime Minister Levi Eshkol finally yielded to this pressure, which according to

Shabtai Teveth’s analysis of the events, was exerted by soldiers, groups of women activists,

the national-religious party (Mafdal), and the Herut-liberal block, as well as amajority within

Mapai itself, along with efforts by Shimon Peres, the general secretary of the Rafi Party to

which Dayan belonged, and Yigael Yadin, at the time a military adviser to Eshkol.55

Two unrelated groups of women were involved in the campaign for Dayan’s

nomination. The first, closely allied with Dayan’s Rafi Party, organized a demonstration of

women on 1 June that called for a national unity government with Dayan as defense

minister.56 A whole item in Yedi’ot Aharonot was devoted to the demonstration and

accompanied by a photograph of women waving a sign that said “Levi Eshkol, for the

security of the people. We want Dayan.” Although the event was featured prominently, the

women were portrayed in stereotypical fashion, so that the public or political significance

of the demonstration was downplayed.

It was an unconventional demonstration. Several dozen women who gathered . . . came toissue the demand of Israel’s women in these turbulent times. They did not call for bread orrice, or Golda Meir as prime minister. They had only one demand: Moshe Dayan as defenseminister in Eshkol’s government.In flowery summer dresses, short skirts, and trousers, the women sounded very convincing

when they cried out: “We want Dayan!”57

The item does not present the women’s fight as legitimate, ignores the possibility that it

was motivated by rational thinking, and hints that it stems from their idolization of

Dayan because of his male charisma, thus demonstrating the usual tendency to relegate

women to their traditional roles. Had the struggle centered on the female domain of the

household (“They did not call for bread or rice”) or an appeal for sectoral

representation (“Golda Meir as prime minister”), the reporter would apparently have

regarded it as legitimate, but he does not display the same attitude toward their political

campaign. The article therefore reflects the conventional perception that women do

not represent a political force or an integral part of the public sphere, and that any

political efforts on their part defy the traditional distinction between the public and

the private space.

Further on, the reporter notes that the women “charged” the streets and began

garnering signatures on a petition to the president calling for a national unity

government and the appointment of Dayan. In addition to the unfortunate use of the

word “charged,” which frames the women as the enemy, the facts themselves are

inaccurate. The people who collected thousands of signatures on a petition demanding

Dayan’s appointment as defense minister were members of a different group, called the

League of Women Voters, which had campaigned since 1959 for a change in the

electoral system.58 This group was never even mentioned in the leading newspapers.

The political activism of women’s groups was unusual, certainly in the 1960s. News

coverage of the demonstration ignored this significant fact, thereby excluding and

trivializing these activities.

The egotist

The figure of the egotist, the woman concerned only with herself, her appearance, and her

personal pleasure and needs, appears in two forms in the wartime press. In the first, she is

E. Lachover128

young, single, and interested primarily in looking good and going to discotheques. In the

second, she is older, a society woman who spends most of the day over coffee with her

friends. Although she has a family, she also has a cleaner and a nanny, so that her time is

not occupied by the typical chores of a Jewish wife and mother.

During the war, the figure of the egotist, whether young or old, was conspicuous by

its absence. With the onset of the crisis, she disappeared and her other (true?) side

was revealed: she became a woman committed to her country and the war effort.

The following example comes from the prewar period, when the normally light-hearted

disco girl has become concerned about the situation and stops spinning around the

dance floor:

Even Frederika’s “disco-priestess,” a few hundred yards north in Tel Aviv, remainedhunched over her fancy stereo last night. It just seemed that the young woman with the longhair was smoking a little more tonight. . . . On the surface, business as usual. Cheerful soundscame from the record – but she did not show up on the dance floor, which was almostempty.59

Another item, which appeared just a few days before the outbreak of the war, reveals that

an even greater change had taken place in the disco girl. Now she has not only given up her

frivolous routine, she has also enlisted in the national struggle:

The girls who reported for duty with Friday’s spray in their hair and dressed for a discothequehave long ceased to look in the mirror. Their jobs at army headquarters before the zero hourare much harder than in war conditions. Roni, a student of English and Political Science at TelAviv University who is serving as a typist, has tied her hair up in a khaki band and cut herfingernails to avoid getting them dirty. Edna, who was called up to serve in a unit together withher boyfriend Avi and reported for duty in sandals with a purple lace scarf on her head, is nowbending under the weight of a metal helmet and army boots. Instead of Chanel No. 5, shesmells of rifle oil.60

These pieces reflect the urban lifestyle in Tel Aviv in the late 1960s, as studies of Israeli

culture have demonstrated. The research literature points to the influence of American

culture on the behavior of young urban Israelis, who now adopted a Western appearance

(miniskirts, long flowing hair, makeup and nail polish), went out to clubs, and became

sexually permissive. While the women who lived this lifestyle were still few in number,

they were given considerable attention in the daily gossip columns and the weekly tabloid

Ha-Olam ha-Zeh, and consequently had a significant influence on disseminating the new

model of the liberated Israeli woman.61

Such items that appeared on the eve of the war, pointing to the “transformation”

undergone by young Israeli women, stress that the younger generation in general, and

young women in particular, had not forgotten their values and that the whole nation was

doing its part for the war effort. One example is a picture that was featured prominently on

the front page of Yedi’ot Aharonot showing two girls volunteering to deliver the mail. The

caption reads: “Our ‘teenagers who have no values’ show their true character by taking on

more and more tasks. In the photo: 16-year-old Dafnah Lerman and Hannah Shor, high

school students from Haifa, and their friends are ensuring that we continue to get our

mail.”62

The older egotist, the society woman, also underwent a change during the war. An

article on Tel Aviv in the waiting period that examined whether life was continuing as

usual, reported on the wave of volunteers. It included the following description:

Life is going on as usual. Is it really? When you walk past Cafe Roval or Cafe Vera, wherehousewives who have cleaners and nannies sit in the morning, it seems as if it is. But it’senough to listen in on their conversations to realize that something has changed. Now they talk


about the car that was “conscripted” by the army, about the husband who is not at home, aboutwhat will happen. The favorite subjects of hairdos and clothes have been thrust aside.63

But the egotist vanished only temporarily. She reappeared as soon as the war ended, when

the press again turned a critical eye on the “new” urban woman. The following description

was printed a few days after the war.

The home front quickly rid itself of its wartime look: the children went back to kindergarten,the hairdressers continued to dye and perm, and the cafes filled up again. . . . On Dizengoffthey continue to frequent Roval . . .The Dizengoff ladies from the established middle-class setrefuse to part from the healthy routine of “morning meetings” in the cafes, especially sincenow there is plenty to talk about. Like the political situation, for example . . . all the Dizengoffladies have come alive as if they have been subjected to an electric shock.64

The representation of women during the Six Day War: Challenge or continuity?

Quantitatively, no significant deviations were found in the representation of women in the

leading papers during the war. As is typically the case, their relative visibility in the news,

in terms of both volume and prominence, was low. The few high-profile items that focused

on women were human interest stories or anecdotes designed to add variety and color,

embellishing and balancing the war reports.

Qualitatively, the picture is more complex. On the one hand, press coverage of women

during the war deviated from the norm to a certain extent. On the other hand, this deviation

did not challenge the existing gender order, but rather confirmed it.

Whereas one of the common features of the representation of women in the news is

their depiction as victims, this was very rare during the Six Day War. The woman as

victim appeared only nine times, a mere 2.5% of all mentions of women. What is more,

most of the wartime press coverage actually stressed what are considered to be

women’s strengths (fertility, sacrifice, contributing to the community) and refrained

from reference to their difficulties or weaknesses. The tendency to highlight women’s

strengths was especially apparent in the relatively frequent figure of the volunteer, as

well as in the representation of the wife and mother. She is depicted as the collective

wife and mother, a woman who is mentally strong and expresses nothing that might be

interpreted as an indication of frailty, such as concern, longing, or fear for her soldier at

the front.

It would seem that any sort of victimization in the press, even when the victim is a

woman, might be seen as a sign of the nation’s weakness in general. It was therefore totally

avoided at a time of crisis, when the country was fighting what was generally perceived as

a war for survival. In this sense, the news coverage confirms Rosemary Ridd’s contention

that although war is a male territory, women are entitled to lend their support and even join

in if the situation is desperate enough. Under these circumstances, deviations from

traditional boundaries may be expected.65 As noted above, Tidhar and Lemish also found

empirical support for this proposition in their study of the media coverage of women

during the first Intifada, where deviations were apparent in the representation of

Palestinian women, who were under threat, although not in those of Israeli women, who

were identified with the stronger side in the conflict.66 Thus, it appears that in the context

of collectivist Israeli values and the norms of media coverage at the time, the crisis of

the Six Day War allowed the press to deviate somewhat from the traditional patterns of

women’s representation in the news. It is important to note, however, that, as Ridd

maintains, deviations are possible even when obvious hallmarks of traditional

representation are readily discernible, as they were in many of the examples presented

above.67

E. Lachover130

The main feature of the wartime coverage was women’s depiction in the collectivist

context, which was highly valued in Israeli society in the early years, rather than in the

private context, which was considered less commendable. This tendency emerges very

clearly from an examination of the dynamics of their representation in the different phases

of the war. We have seen how the egotist disappeared in the run-up to the war, when she

was transformed into the mobilized woman or the volunteer, and how she reemerged as

quickly as she had vanished once the fighting was over. Similarly, the wife and mother,

presented during the war in the collectivist context, returned to her private world the

moment the war ended. And as soon as the shooting died down, the woman soldier

reappeared as a sex object.

The representation of women mobilized for the national cause during the Six Day War

reflects the borders of the public and private spheres in mainstream Israeli society at the

time. As Hannah Naveh has noted, the hegemonic version of socialist and cooperative

Zionism elevated the life of the community, disregard for the private sphere, and

belonging to the collective to the level of an ideal, thereby leading to a devaluation of the

private sphere and a definition of the forces operating within it as nonpolitical and

powerless, and, inevitably, as “feminine” and, in particular, “maternal.”68

Whereas in normal times, the woman was characterized by the desire to satisfy her

personal needs (as represented by the society woman or disco girl) or by her role as wife

and mother, during the war there was a clear shift in her representation from the private

realm to the collective. This shift was promoted by the media, which, in Israel’s early

years, were a partner in the national effort to strengthen the foundations of the young

country and ensure its survival. At this point in time, the press did not yet regard its central

role as being to cast a critical eye on the government.69 To a large extent, the Israeli media

were allied with the establishment, particularly during the waiting period before the war,70

partly because most senior journalists and almost all chief editors at that time felt an

obligation to what they conceived as a young and fragile state.71

Thus, the deviation from the traditional representation of women in the news that

occurred in the Six Day War did not challenge the existing gender order, but merely

reflected it. Women were presented in the national context as part of the collective within

the framework of the traditional gender roles typical of social reality at the time: as a

womb or a wife and mother. During the war, the ideal woman was the helpmate, the

mother of the family in the private space, and the mother of the nation in the public space.

The war did not, therefore, serve as a real opportunity for women to redefine their

relationship with men or with their nation and country. Rather it underlined the existing

gender limits and definitions: men were seen to be the protectors of home and state, while

women were perceived as mothers, wives, and homemakers. In other words, the

representation of women in the press served to perpetuate the prevailing patriarchal order.

Acknowledgments

I am very grateful to Dafna Lemish, Anat First, and Hagar Lahav for their help in preparing thisarticle.

Notes

1. Ridd, “Powers of the Powerless,” 1.2. Caspi and Limor, Ha-metavkhim, 57–63.3. Tuchman, “Introduction,” 40–46.4. Gill, Gender and the Media, 44.5. Kama, “Kri’ah pe’ilah,” 159–62.


6. Byerly and Ross, Women and Media, 40–44. Gallagher, Global Media, 4.7. Byerly and Ross, Women and Media, 40–44.8. First, “All Women Should Cry,” 35–61; Lemish, “Exclusion and Marginality,” 42–43.9. Gallagher, Global Media, 43–47. This was found also in Israel: Lemish, Osim ve-osot, 5.10. Lemish, “Media Gendering of War and Conflict,” 275.11. Tidhar and Lemish, “Women in the Intifada,” 116–41.12. Fogiel-Bijaoui, “Nashim ve-ezrahut,” 50.13. Kamir, Kvod adam, 76–78.14. Herzog, “Likrat shihrur ha-ishah,” 419–436.15. Safran. Lo rotzot, 69.16. Berkovitch. “Ezrahut ve-imahut,” 206–43.17. Herzog, “Yeda,” 270–71.18. Ibid., 281.19. Sasson-Levy. Zehuyot be-madim, 15–20.20. Helman, “Tzva’iyut ve-militarizm,” 349. Herzog, “Migdar,” 225.21. Tydor-Baumel. “‘Hayinu sham’,” 439.22. Tamar Lubushinski-Katako, “Dmut ha-lohemet ha-yehudiyah be-milhemet ha-olam ha-

shniyah: Skirah historit (The image of the Jewish woman fighter during World War II: Ahistorical survey) [January 14, 2004], available at http://www.aka.idf.il/yohalan/main/main.asp?catID¼26223 (accessed 29 December 2008); Tydor-Baumel. “‘Hayinu sham’,” 439.

23. Ibid., 440.24. Jerabi, Ha-mehir ha-kaful, 66–72. However, more combat roles are becoming available to

women now. See Sasson-Levy. Zehuyot be-madim, 42–48.25. Buber Agassi, “Matzavan shel nashim,” 227.26. Sasson-Levy, Zehuyot be-madim, 43–45.27. For example, Segev, 1967; Bar Zohar, Ha-hodesh.28. Bernstein, “Heker nashim,” 24.29. As this study was primarily interested in a qualitative examination, references to men and

women were not compared in quantitative terms. As noted above, numerous studies conductedin Israel and elsewhere over the years clearly indicate the quantitative exclusion of womenfrom the news.

30. Gallagher, Global Media, 52–53. Lemish, Osim ve-osot, 6.31. Gallagher, Global Media, 52.32. Each reference to a different woman was counted. Multiple references to the same woman were

counted only once.33. The four figures accounted for 17 of the 22 roles identified.34. Tydor-Baumel. “‘Hayinu sham’,” 439–41.35. Ma’ariv, 28 May 1967, 7.36. Yedi’ot Aharonot, 25 May 1967, 3.37. Ibid., 12 June 1967, 11.38. Ma’ariv, 30 May 1967, 3.39. Ariel, “Female and Male Stereotypes,” 147–69.40. Ma’ariv, 30 May 1967, 3.41. Ibid., 26 May 1967, 19.42. Shachar, “The Israeli Womb,” 22–26. For more on the meaning of the womb in Israeli society,

see Lemish and Barzel, ‘“Four Mothers’,” 147–69.43. Yedi’ot Aharonot, 4 June 1967, 7.44. Ma’ariv, 31 May 1967, 7.45. Herzog, “Nashim ba-politikah,” 335.46. Ma’ariv, 5 June 1967, 15.47. Ibid., 31 May 1967, 5.48. Ibid., 2 June 1967, 17.49. Zanger, “Hole in the Moon”, 95–102.50. Ma’ariv, 9 June 1967, 14. The lyrics and music were written during the war, and the song was

recorded by the Israel Broadcasting Authority after the war; telephone interview with ShulamitLivnat, 29 September 2007. (English translation by Sarah Kitai.)

51. Yedi’ot Aharonot, 11 June 1967, 6.52. Ibid., 1 June 1967, 2.

E. Lachover132

53. She was often referred to in the press as the “castrating woman” in the context of her relationswith Yigal Allon and Dayan. Shapira, “Golda,” 62.

54. Almog, Preidah mi-Srulik, 880.55. Teveth, Moshe Dayan, 567.56. Ibid. Chazan, “Me’oravuto shel iton Ha’aretz,” 116–75.57. Yedi’ot Aharonot, 2 June 1967, 4.58. Telephone interview with Herzliya Ron, one of the founders of the League of Women Voters,

18 September 2007.59. Yedi’ot Aharonot, 28 May 1967, 7. Frederika Segal, an architect, bohemian, and celebrity who

owned a discotheque in north Tel Aviv, was nicknamed “the queen of Tel-Aviv’s night life.”Almog, Preidah mi-Srulik, 886, 1141. It seems that the term “disco-priestess” refers to awoman who spent most of her time at this discotheque.

60. Ma’ariv, 2 June 1967, 16.61. Almog, Preidah mi-Srulik, 886.62. Yedi’ot Aharonot, 31 May 1967, 1.63. Ma’ariv, 30 May 1967, 4.64. Yedi’ot Aharonot, 13 June 1967, 13.65. This has been demonstrated by a variety of examples from different parts of the world; Ridd,

“Powers of the Powerless,” 1–24.66. Tidhar and Lemish, “Women in the Intifada,” 142–59.67. Ridd, “Powers of the Powerless,” 4.68. Naveh, “Ha-havayah ha-yisre’elit,” 316.69. Limor and Mann, Itona’ut, 47.70. Barzilai, “Medinah, hevrah,” 180.71. Zemer, “Beterem,” 236.

Notes on contributor

Einat Lachover is a lecturer in the School of Communication, Sapir College, Israel. Her principalteaching and research interests relate to gender issues in media representations and news making, aswell as the news and elections.

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