The silent women: The representation of Israeli female soldiers in Israeli women’s films

Abstract

Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Israel has known seven wars, seven prominent violent operations and numerous military conflicts. During this period (1948–2019), 86 Israeli screen stories have engaged with the motif of Israel’s military/wars. However, only two of them were written by women and focused on the female Israeli soldier. The marginal position of screen stories based on Israeli women’s experience in the military presents a unique opportunity to unravel the notions female screenwriters have of women’s conduct in a patriarchal military culture. Our findings suggest that female Israeli screenwriters (a) propose a dual vision for women – on the one hand, they are portrayed as silenced, while on the other they use silence as a coping tactic; (b) represent the hegemonic male as silencing women’s voices even though in some cases women silence hegemonic men; and (c) depict military service as an opportunity for women to unravel their femininity.