I wrote this ethnography in Spring 2017 on current Reform Jewish dating.
Abstract:
My project looks to explore if Bourdieu’s “Symbolic Violence”, the internalization of dominant social norms, is present in dating culture among young adults within the Reform Jewish community. In this process, I will be exploring my own relationship to this topic, as well as friends of mine who grew up in the Jewish Reform Movement. These interviews aim to understand the imposed pressures relating to dating and marriage, or a lack of thereof. This looks to understand a potential conflict between a progressive religious movement and its older instilled values relating to Jewish relationships. These conversations will also discuss the influence of the institutions such as Temples, summer camps, youth groups, NFTY (National Federation of Temple Youth), and Birthright Israel. Five recorded conversations with people, ages 20-23 will be included, as well as an art workshop on the topic of personal dating values. In the conclusion, differentiating symbolic violence is demonstrated to be unattainable and the Union of Reform Judaism community is shown to both inflict and reject symbolic violence towards dating and marriage.
Glaser Media + Writing 