Archive to the Second. <-this one is an opinion article (that’s fucking shitty) and I’m not going to talk about it much other than the editorial staff’s opinions were antisemitic and that it did in fact, affect the story they ran with later.
Now I did find an article from the NYT that’s from a few weeks after #2 that’s a news article (archive here) on what the opinion piece was unhappy about.
Now, there’s some interesting differences here between the first and the 3rd…
Let’s check out the Titles.
The 1st-In Toronto, a Neighborhood in Despair Transforms into a Model of Inclusion
The 3rd-Pool Rules: No Running, No Eating and, Three Times a Week, No Men
We’re already off to a piss poor start. The 1st is framed as empowering for Muslim women, the 3rd framed as sexist despite the Orthodox Women having similar reasons for pool time just for them.
(Side note-do not assume my opinion on the matter of having times for only women. I am not saying one way or another as that’s not the point, the point is the reporting.)
Take note how Ms. Hassan (1st) is described compared to the start of the 3rd. Not only is the 1st article far more focused on the individuals, there’s not really anything commentary on what she wears other than she wears a hijab. The same for the other named women-though they aren’t there for swimming but instead other activities. They have names-Ms. Ibrahim, Ms.Diallo, Ms. Elmi and Ms. Majeed.
3rd article doesn’t name any Orthodox Women or has them speaking until towards the end of the article (Ms. Khan then Ms. Kahan); the women prior are just described and there. Their suits are described in rather…demeaning detail in my opinion.
“Under slate-colored light slanting from the skylights, the women entered the city pool on Wednesday morning, its oxidized copper ceiling lending a mint-green cast to the water’s surface. Their swimming outfits would have been considered prudish even by the standards of 1922, when the pool was built. They swam in dresses, some with long sleeves. One paddled in thick black tights. Inside the locker room, wigs sat upside down on window ledges and benches while their owners swam with heads under ruffled swimming caps or knotted silk scarves.”
Other than describing if the woman was wearing something like a hijab in the 1st (and what color it was), there’s nothing on their swimsuits, yoga gear, etc so I cannot quote what’s not there.
Next part-there’s nothing about any issues in the Toronto Community on women having their own hours (swimming, yoga, etc) so the focus is how empowering it is for Muslim women. Whereas due to an anonymous complaint to NYC’s Human Rights Commission, that is the focus of the 3rd article.
Of note-the Toronto Center is new (relative to when the articles were published), the NYC center has been doing the women’s only hours for 20 years (again, relative to when the articles were published). Interesting on how the newer one is seen as progressive and the older one backwards.
“For 20 years, the center has blocked off female-only hours to accommodate the area’s large Hasidic population. The pool has no male-only hours, and some Hasidic men swim during the hours that are open to all genders. An anonymous complaint was lodged recently with the city’s Human Rights Commission, which sent a notice to the parks department this spring saying that the policy might violate a city law barring gender discrimination in public accommodations.
A public furor soon ensued.
For critics, the pool’s segregated hours inappropriately create a religious exemption at a public facility, a violation of the separation of church and state. But defenders of the hours contend it is a fair accommodation for a minority group, akin to wheelchair ramps, that truly makes the pool a municipal space for all — at least at their appointed hour.”
Yet again, it is interesting that Muslim women following rules on modesty in Islam are good and empowering but it’s a matter of church and state for Orthodox Jewish women-who, like the Muslim women, are following the modesty laws of their religion.
In fact, the 3rd article references the 1st.
“Other cities have accommodated religious preferences for single-sex swimming. In Toronto, a similar program at a public pool that catered to Muslim women drew praise for offering that population a rare chance to learn to swim. There are similar programs elsewhere in the United States.
Only 45 swimmers at a time are permitted at the pool in Williamsburg. Most days, Ms. Kahn said, there is a line of women waiting their turn, including the occasional Muslim woman. On Wednesday, the lanes were full of women in calf-length, denim-colored dresses with three-quarter sleeves. The only thing that vaguely identified the outfits as seaworthy was a palm tree or a beach ball embroidered on the chest.”
(Again, there’s that talking about what suits they are wearing and noting on how unusual they are.)
There is something else-the 1st article doesn’t describe any accents that the women have. The 3rd? Absolutely.
Gripping a yellow pool noodle, Miriam Kahn, 77, treaded water in a pink dress and a pink ruffled swimming cap on Wednesday morning. “In our religion, women don’t go to no beach, don’t go to no movies, nothing,” she said in a thick Israeli accent. “Can’t we have this something?”
In a black frock, Tzurtie Kahan, 66, swam up. Hasidic men, she explained, go to synagogue, to Torah study, to work. Women like her have few opportunities to socialize, she said. “This is a freedom country,” she said in English inflected with a Yiddish patois. “Can’t we practice our religion? Can’t there be space for us?”
Taking the two-it gives an impression that the Muslims in Toronto are just Canadian Immigrants with a different religion (Which is true, they are Canadian and should be treated/seen as such by other Canadians!) but the Orthodox Jewish women are foreign and not American (Wrong, these women are American, same as I am!).
There’s more effort to humanize the Muslim women while the effort is spent on othering Orthodox Jewish women.
Now, someone would point out-‘hey, two different countries do things differently!’ This is true-however, there still remains bias on part of the NYT’s staff. Countries having different laws and views do not excuse how the Orthodox Jewish women were described; that’s all on the writer.
