Eugene and Marty (and others who have raised Equal Protection concerns),
Japan and several other countries have for years designated some train and
subway cars (during peak travel times) as women-only in response to rampant
sexual assault of women by men in those confined spaces. Presume that
Ira invited Hillel to say a bit more about the relevant assumptions underlying
Jewish law's views of women's bodies. As a Jewish female with "Conservadox"
leanings, I would like to add my two cents on this particular issue.
As a general matter, the entire area of modesty (which applies to both
I agree entirely with Marty’s astute analysis in items 1 and 2,
and with Marty’s conclusion that women-only swimming hours without
corresponding men-only hours are unconstitutional; more shortly on the
“gerrymander” question.
I should say, though, that I’m not sure whether the
As a conceptual matter, I would describe Chip’s point about justification in
slightly different terms: if the government is indeed accommodating in a
permissible way, by removing a significant or substantial burden on religious
exercise, it is acting to promote or protect *religious freedom*,
Some national attention now --
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/3259421f36124a34be17b68654a7bf4e/no-men-allowed-women-only-pool-hours-draw-complaints-nyc
.
Note the references to Seattle and a Minneapolis suburb, and the ambiguous
position of city wide authorities in NYC (relevant in light of
A few more thoughts:
1. Are there any women participating on this listserv? It seems
remarkable that we have talking about this gender based policy for days and
(unless I missed something, and please forgive me if that is the case) all
the participants are men.
2. The Kiryas Joel problem is
