Are Hassidic Women Repressed?

I did not have time to do a roundup today of interesting links, but I would like to point out this one exchange of posts.

The exchange began when a Hassidic woman, later revealed to be a baal teshuva Chabadnik (a point that is relevant to the content of the exchange), named Chaya who wrote a post for xoJane.com entitled "What Women's Media Needs To Know About Chassidic Women". Chaya goes on to describe how Chassidic women are not oppressed, despite common knowledge otherwise. Chaya describes the freedom, the pleasure, the choices she has open to her and concludes that the Chassidic woman is not oppressed.

I thought Chaya's post was a beautiful description, even if not completely representative of all Chassidic women and even if not representative of every persons experiences, and even if perhaps a bit exaggerated in exuberance..

In response, Rabbi Fink wrote a post entitled "Dear Chaya" in which he tempers Chaya's post, describing where her descriptions fell short. Women are opressed and repressed. Most Chassidic women do not have the freedom of a Chabad woman, and definitely do not have the experiences of a baal teshva who has chosen such a lifestyle rather than having been born into it. There are problems, the community is not perfect, and progress on various issues must be made.

While obviously Chaya's post has a far more positive nature and Rabbi Fink's post has a far more tempered tone, both are important.




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