Rice Lecture: Melissa Weininger: Women and War in Israeli Culture

What are the consequences for women of Israeli military culture and the image of the ideal Israeli man, a soldier whose masculinity is linked to militarism, and who is the primary unit of the nation? Several works of literature and popular culture in Israel have recently explored these questions, including Shani Boianjiu’s novel The People of Forever are Not Afraid and Talya Lavie’s film Zero Motivation. Dr. Melissa Weininger, Lecturer in Modern Hebrew at Rice University, will discuss these contemporary representations of women in the Israeli military and the challenge they present to dominant conceptions of Israeli national identity and Zionist ideals of masculinity. Tickets are $10 each.