Haredi women all live in countries where they legally have full equal rights, and the recourse to stop being Haredi if they’re unhappy (and some do, but nearly all don’t).
They are also, ironically, more educated than Haredi men - girls’ schools are run almost entirely by female staff and teachers, and they give themselves a good secular education (performing well against national averages of high school education).
It is women who drive the perpetuation of Haredi culture amongst girls and women (and to some extent their boys), and most of them will tell you that they’re very happy to be Haredi.
Interesting, I do not understand how the power dynamics are working in the Haredi community. I also do not understand how they can be primary breadwinners with a TFR of 6.75. Doesn’t seem possible with working environments in most countries, unless Israel is also providing lots of subsidies.
>There is a paradox: on one hand, Haredi women are excluded in the Haredi public sphere. On the other hand, we must remember that Haredi women are the main bread winners of the community since the leaders decided that almost all men need to dedicate their lives to the study of the Talmud.
This is specific to Israel - Haredi men in other countries do work, and to some extent subsidize the men learning in Israel through charity.
Power dynamics and individual rights are nuanced. In Western liberal cultures women were officially given “the right to work”, but what it actually did was remove the right of women to choose not to work and raise kids instead.
Many women in developed countries feel like they can’t afford the children they want, and that is because the cost of living has been adjusted for two working adults per household.
Western liberal cultures are also breeding grounds for modern misogynistic movements and behaviors like the manosphere, (due to a large number of involuntarily celibate and childless men).
While it’s easy to point to traditional ritualistic differences between men and women in Haredi society, in practice it’s hard to be a misogynist when you have like 3 daughters.
>Many women in developed countries feel like they can’t afford the children they want, and that is because the cost of living has been adjusted for two working adults per household.
I don’t know, pretty much all women I have spoken to, almost all in the 90th percentile in income/wealth with the ability to to have more kids and have luxuries still choose to have 2 at most. Maybe 3 if they end up with 2 boys or 2 girls first. And that is because pregnancy and birth and breastfeeding and infant rearing suck.
Hell, as a man, I didn’t have to do any of that and I still wouldn’t want to have more than 2 kids. So whatever mentality leads to financially independent women choosing to have 7 kids is certainly very unique.
>in practice it’s hard to be a misogynist when you have like 3 daughters.
I have seen a lot of people be discriminatory towards groups of people, but choose to treat some members of that group of people better, e.g. if they are useful in some way or perhaps relatives, etc. They can even do it with traits they themselves have!
They are also, ironically, more educated than Haredi men - girls’ schools are run almost entirely by female staff and teachers, and they give themselves a good secular education (performing well against national averages of high school education).
It is women who drive the perpetuation of Haredi culture amongst girls and women (and to some extent their boys), and most of them will tell you that they’re very happy to be Haredi.