The invitation to an event at the Israeli embassy in New York has raised some eyebrows — because it featured a bikini-clad woman as a way to “celebrate” the women of the Israeli Defense Forces.
“We found that Israel’s image among men 18-38 is lacking,” David Saranga, consul for media and public affairs said.
“So we thought we’d approach them with an image they’d find appealing.”
I don’t deny that a solid contingent of under-40 dudes find chicks in bikinis appealing. But, damn, I’d be pretty insulted if I were a guy and an advertising exec thought he would best appeal to me by having a beauty queen lay out in a bathing suit. It’s a little sad, isn’t it?
Needless to say, some women didn’t find the invitation particularly inviting.
That’s the wrong image, said Zahava Gal-On, a Knesset member and chairwoman of the Meretz Party.
“It’s unfortunate that the Israeli consulate chose to emphasize Israel’s relevance with a portrait of a half-naked woman, instead of with one of women of substance and accomplishments,” she told Yediot Achronoth.
Of course, a woman can be half-naked and be a woman of substance and accomplishments, but that certainly wasn’t what they were emphasizing.
Critics said the promotion is particularly inappropriate because it follows the resignation of senior government officers, including the Israeli president, after they were charged with sexual impropriety.
“Israel’s image has been tainted by sex scandals involving high-ranking officials as it is,” Avital said. “I wonder if the best way to encourage tourism is by advertising sex.”
In March the Israeli foreign ministry encouraged Maxim to send a nine-member team of photographers, hair-stylists and makeup people for a five-day picture shoot in the Tel Aviv area.
Officials said then they wanted to show the diversity of Israel and change the perception that it was a land of conflict.
“Israel is viewed as a very macho society. We want to show that we are a normal society like others,” Saranga said.
I suppose if the goal is to prove that a society is “normal” and “like others,” then misogyny is an excellent way to do it. Although I’m not sure how leering at hot chicks somehow battles accusations of machismo.
Thanks to Ari for the link.
What really gets me is that the invitation is to a party celebrating a collaboration the Israeli consulate did with Maxim! The invitation is bad enough. But doing an entire spread with Maxim! What PR flunky came up with this and somehow didn’t think it was going to piss a lot of people off?
Doesn’t Israel have a fairly large Orthodox Jewish Community? It seems like they wouldn’t be too thrilled with this either.
[...] on its border, but there’s no fun in talking about that. UPDATE: Jill at Feministe takes the other track in discussing this entire situation. Apparently the Isra [...]
Sex sells everything! Really! Put a picture of a sexy half naked woman on Diapers and watch the sales go up!
/end snark
The way to show Israel is not macho and misogynist is to….show a half-naked woman. Well done, pal.
blair: Orthodox Jews represent about 15% of the Israeli population, IIRC.
The state rabbinate has a few perquisites that go back to the founding of the state, such as control over Jewish marriage and divorce in Israel. Orthodox communities within Israel set their own rules, e.g., closing down the streets in their neighborhoods during the Jewish Sabbath. There is a separate state-run school system for Orthodox Jews, and various Orthodox religious institutions get state funds.
My impression is that as long as the Orthodox communities continue to get those benefits from the state, the religious parties don’t care what their secular neighbors do–and as long as the Orthodox leadership doesn’t try to meddle any further in the average Israeli’s life, the secular Israelis are willing to keep letting their tax money go for those benefits.
So I expect that when news of the Maxim event reaches Orthodox Israelis, it will lead to a lot of eye-rolling and comments about the loose morals of the secular world, but no political action.
(Disclaimer: I am not Israeli and do not live in Israel.)
[...] Girls and Maxim Magazine Filed under: Uncategorized — eteraz @ 10:20 am Jill has more. No Comments [...]
Woeful. My wife and I are going to Israel later this year for our first visit; we work a lot around Israelis. I spend a lot of time around secular lefties who are very anti-Israel, a few are bordering on anti-Semitic.
And dang, what a tone-deaf, clueless move this was.
Oh, Orthodox Israeli Jews care very much what their secular countrymen do:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19352812/
They care even more what their Arab countrymen do, hence the leftie Israel hatred.
Women of the IDF
A few years ago, a set of cousins of a cousin (we met them at Thanksgiving) had an Israeli au pair. She was about 5’1″, nice but very quiet, professional, and obviously muscular but not overtly jacked. I asked if she had served in the IDF. Yes, appar…
Yeah — turns out not so much with the non-meddling in secular lives.
Oh, sorry, it was probably anti-Semitic of me to even mention that there are religious fanatics in Israel who beat women for not taking their “proper place” at the back of the sex-segregated bus.
This is just odd on so many levels. Are they trying to compete with Thailand for all those sex tourism $$?
Also, making a point about these women being in the IDF is kind of silly considering that Israel has mandatory military service – practically every young Israeli is or has been in the IDF.
No, it’s not. While there is certainly plenty of anti-Semitism on the American left, there’s nothing anti-Semitic about pointing out fanaticism and facts. Why the snark?
I don’t deny that a solid contingent of under-40 dudes find chicks in bikinis appealing.
I would hope that they’re overshadowed by the contingent of somewhat feminist — or simply cynical — under-40 dudes who automatically think “cheap marketing ploy” when they see chicks in bikinis in advertisement. What were they thinking? I’m now waiting for US Army recruiters to crack out the “Babes With Guns”-type videos to lure folks into the military.
Re the examples that Frumious B and Mnemosyne gave: individuals on contested turf (e.g., a secular woman on a bus where everyone else is ultra-Orthodox) face harrassment or even violence, but by and large, religious and secular communities move in separate worlds and like it that way.
There’s a Gay Pride march every year in Tel Aviv and the religious parties don’t lift a finger against it. By constrast, conservative Christians in the other forty-nine states care very very much about same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.
But they do lift a finger (sometimes even a knife) against a gay pride parade in Jerusalem. Actually last year the parade was cancelled because the UO were rioting and this year it was only a 500 metre march, and they caught some guy with a pipe bomb who planned to “scare” the people in the parade…
You are only partly right. UO in Israel interfere when it seems to them that it can serve as leverage in advancing thier agenda or gain wider support in the general population (more secular people are opposed to gay pride parade in Jerusalem than in Tel-Aviv). They’d definitely interfere with public transportation on Sabbath or civil marriage (both of which generally don’t exist in Israel).
This all is so called status quo between religious and secular :-)
Actually most women who serve in the IDF are non-combatants and get only two weeks of basic training – which is the only time in all their service there they do any sort of physical training or hold a gun. Very few combat positions in the IDF are open for women – and except pilot’s course they aren’t “hot” or what you’d call “special forces” – those are artillery, field intelligence, NBC (a reallly small and not “hot secret” unit :-)) and naval officers (this is an “elite” force, but not a “hot” one). Those are just positions to which there aren’t enough male candidates, because they aren’t prestigious.
But generally, Israely army hotness is overrated :-)
The specific women in the picture is former “miss Israel” beauty contest finalist and didn’t serve in any sort of combat unit.
All this is in response to the quoted post, which links to some some baseless speculations about israely women soldiers.
And then I hear some Israelis sit there and complain about the way “those Arabs” or “those Muslims” treat women…..sheesh :/