Feminism in Action

“If it weren't for the brave women before us who fought for the right to study, choose, work, build careers, and have financial independence, we would not be where we are today. Therefore, we do not have the privilege to stop. We owe it to our daughters, and to all who will come after us.”  

So said Dafna Meitar-Nechmad, a key initiator of Tel Aviv University’s annual Feminist Leadership Conference, organized by TAU’s Alumni Organization. Last week, the third conference entitled “Functional Feminism” was held at ANU: Museum of the Jewish people on the TAU campus. Audience members heard from impactful speakers, most of them women and TAU alumni, who are advancing gender equality through research, political activism, industry and art. 

The Gender@TAU Initiative 

Ms. Meitar-Nechmad, TAU’s Board of Governors Chairwoman and an activist for women’s equality herself, opened the conference outlining the state of women in Israel and TAU’s efforts to improve it. She highlighted Gender@TAU, a new initiative for empowering women on and off campus with four goals:  

• Funding female-driven and gender studies research 

• Influencing discourse and activism in the public sector by connecting research and policy advocacy 

• Creating connections and joint programs with civil society organizations that support women and girls 

• Building feminist leadership among University graduates—including those sitting in the audience 

Who Calls Themselves a Feminist?  

The conference's keynote speaker was Eti Abadi, CEO of the Israeli chapter of McCann, one of the top advertising agencies in the world, and an alumna of TAU’s Coller School of Management. Ms. Abadi, as an advertising expert, showed through a 7-year research project and extensive data how a change in branding could help advance feminism. Because of prejudice, “feminism” as a label has accrued negative associations; further, in recent decades the movement has splintered into many different groups with different goals, making it hard to pin down what the word really stands for. As a result, the number of people who call themselves feminists has actually declined in recent years. 

Eti Abadi, CEO of McCann Tel Aviv, asks a tough question: what's wrong with feminism? (Photo: Yael Tzur)

To remedy the problem, Ms. Abadi suggests a cultural rebrand and an effort to unify feminism around the most impactful issues. She identified four that need special attention at this moment: 

• Establishing equal paternity and maternity leave for fathers and mothers: Ms. Abadi helped implement such a policy at McCann, creating the opportunity for fathers to establish a close relationship with their children just as mothers do. This change ripples outward: when men are involved in caretaking from the beginning, both parents are seen as primary caregivers—which also means both parents have equal opportunities to return to work. 

• Closing the wage gap: Even today, when women are on average more educated than men, and just as qualified and successful in their jobs, they are paid less for equal work. Financial equality is one of the most potent tools for empowering women in every facet of society. 

• Getting women into leadership positions: Inequality in centers of decision-making leads to policies that do not take into account the diverse needs and circumstances of the many groups whom the policies affect. Additionally, research shows that women’s leadership empowers not only women but everyone around them. 

• Breaking down gender roles: Gender should not determine one’s opportunities. When prejudice about how each gender is “supposed” to act is eliminated, people will be more free, happier, and better at whichever role they choose to play. 

Making Change on the Ground 

Participants were also treated to two panels: “Women Generating Change” featuring experts in industry and activism, and “Art Creating Social Change”, featuring successful women in creative fields. Speakers included Ester Barak Landes, a seasoned leader, investor and entrepreneur, president of women’s leadership organization PROWOMAN, and alumna of the Buchmann Faculty of Law; Hanan Alsanah, a Bedouin activist, attorney, and social entrepreneur who has made important and tangible strides towards bettering the lives of Arab women, also a TAU Law PhD candidate; and Sari Golan, alumna of the TAU Katz Faculty of Arts and the Chief Curator of the Ramat Gan Museum of Art, the only museum in Israel focusing on Israeli art.  

Ms. Golan and her co-panelists pointed out that while art has the power to create social change, in much of the art world men are at the forefront of the business side—even though many of the artists themselves are women. Because of this, men continue to control art’s potential for impact. 

Conference participants were treated to a tour of ANU's exhibition, A Lens of Her Own. (Photo: Yael Tzur)

Helping fight this aspect of inequity, ANU is currently running the exhibition A Lens of Her Own, featuring the photography of 20 contemporary Jewish women photographers and 20 from the post-WW11 era. The exhibit honors the women who pioneered the field of photography, and restores credit to their contributions which were largely erased as men took over the field.  

Conference-goers were treated to a tour of the exhibition. The viewing, talks, panels and connections contributed to each alumna’s ability to continue empowering women and others in their lives, working toward an overall more equal society.