“I’m Different from You but Very Much Like You”: Religious Women Activists and their Father Figures

This study examined activist women in religious society in Israel in order to gain in-depth insights into their lived experience and coping strategies in advocating for change in their society. The article is based on thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with fourteen such women. Contrary to the expectation that there would be a dominant mother figure influencing the activists’ lives, the findings show that the influence of mothers was marginal and even an impeding factor, while father figures were the most significant in these women’s childhood and development into activists. All religious activists perceived their fathers as highly influential, in three contexts: the father as a pioneer, the father as an extraordinary figure, and a strong attachment to the father. Based on these findings, we believe it is important to involve and integrate men in programs that act to promote and empower religious women in Israeli society on both the political and occupational level.