Golda's Ambiguous Legacy

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-1979

ISSN

0146-2334‎

Publisher

Lilith

Language

en-US

Abstract

In her early childhood she experienced miserable poverty; over and violent anti-Semitism; the absence of a father, who had gone to America, the "goldene medina," to earn a living; and a tense, sometimes hostile relationship between her mother and her elder sister. Sheyna. Sheyna, nine years older than [Golda Meir], and according to Golda "one of the great influences of my life," was a political revolutionary. "Goldele," by the age of five, alert and eager to understand, had already been exposed to political meetings where socialism and Zionism were heatedly debated.

Why did Golda oppose feminism so vehemently? Was she really, as she asserted in the Fallaci interview, never hindered by the fact that she was woman? One is tempted to answer with Golda's favorite word - "nonsense." For who learned, at age 14, that married women were not allowed by a state law to work as teachers? - Golda. Who could not enter Canada because married women could not take up their own citizenship then? - Golda. who was barred from speaking in the synagogue because she was a woman? Whose candidacy was originally rejected by the kibbutz because an American girl neither "could...[nor...would do the extremely tough physical work..." and because the kibbutz's 30 bachelors wanted single, not married women? Who lost the municipal election in Tel Aviv, as late as 1955, only for the reason that she was a woman? - Golda, and again Golda.

Another possible explanation which may throw light on the evolution of her attitude to feminism from indifference to opposition relates to her experiences and feelings as a mother. Golda had acute guilt feelings toward her children which became increasingly pronounced as she grew old. When they were young and needed her attention most, especially since their father was not at home, she was either preoccupied with her work or away. Golda was deeply disturbed by the deprivation she felt she had inflicted upon them, although she also felt that she could not have done otherwise. One way in which she tried to redeem herself was by carefully cultivating the image of a devoted grandmother. Her emphasis on the "natural" traditional sex role went well with her rejection of feminism. One wonders if these guilt feelings did not lead her subconsciously to use her powerful position to prevent other women from repeating her "mistakes."

Comments

Also published in Jewish Digest 23 (Apr 1980).

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