Women’s Conference Discusses Jewish Identity

Author Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz, co-editor (with Irena Klepfisz) of the Tribe of Dina, led a workshop on “Building Jewish Identity in the Women’s Movement” at the March conference of the South Central Women’s Studies Association. The Conference was entitled “Feminism: Where Are We Going?”

Although there were only three or four Jewish women present out of the 30 women who attended the workshop, it was, as one non-Jewish participant put it, “an opportunity to show support and solidarity for my Jewish sisters and to learn more about the issues they confront.”

In the course of the workshop Kaye/Kantrowitz read her short story “My Jewish Face,” one of the themes of which is being Jewish in a world where most are not. Although some Jews are taught to “have the nerve to speak up,” Kaye/Kantrowitz said, others are cautioned, “Don’t stick out.”

The conference was attended by about 100 women from Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.