ABSTRACT
Imagine Tali, a 17-year-old Israeli high school student, who loves pop music (especially Beyoncé and Rihanna), chats with friends on Snapchat and on her cellphone, and is busy studying for her final exams. But during her last years of high school, while her American and European peers are preoccupied with college applications, Tali prepares for her mandatory military service. She reports to the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) recruitment center for preliminary assessment exams, completes a series of occupational exams, and, finally, weighs her assignment options. Upon graduating 12th grade, she is conscripted by law. She may be satisfied, having landed a position she aspired to, or she might be deeply disappointed, having been assigned a role which, to her mind, is not prestigious or challenging enough. She might serve in a traditionally feminine role (as secretary or welfare non-commissioned officer [NCO]) and be surrounded mostly by women, or she may serve in a so-called “masculine role” (such as infantry instructor, border patrol soldier, or pilot) and spend her military service mostly with men. Either way, as a soldier, she will be subjected to, or witness, some form of the military’s violence. Such experiences are a key part of the normative life narrative of most Jewish women in Israel, where military service is considered a defining life experience, a marker of adulthood, and a major step in negotiating citizenship.
