One of the ways the ousted parties are trying to disorient and disrespect the present government is to deauthorize, delegitimize and infantilize the women. The most prominent example is Idit Silman of the Yemina party who has twice been called a ‘little girl’ by members of Knesset while she is trying to run a meeting. Here is a link. It is a terrible way to be treated but for some reason it seems familiar to me. Until recent years this was the way women were treated here. The wording was usually Yiddish. “Meidele, bring us some coffee,” or “Meidele, have you ever driven a car before?” “Be a good girl, let me run the meeting…”

There are all kinds of reasons for this, but none of them hold water. The army, for instance – in the ’40’s women performed all kinds of tasks in the army (and in the goverment). As the situation cooled down, it was almost a sign of victory and social success to have a woman at home, the wife and mother, one of the what Thorsten Veblen called “pecuniary canons of taste.” But now, I think, women have gained a sense of authority and are beginning to fill the same positions as men – and don’t accept the supercilious attitude of the past.

So this behavior in the knesset can not be acceptable today.