Jewish women in the south: a phenomenological investigation

In this study, the experience of being a Jewish woman in the South was investigated using the research methods of phenomenological psychology. The researcher interviewed 10 women in order to explore their experiences in-depth. Five of these women were native-bom southerners and 5 were born in the northern and/or western United States. All of the participants' interviews were audiotaped and then transcribed. These transcribed interviews were then analyzed in conjunction with members of the University of Tennessee Phenomenology Research Group and by the researcher working alone. The thematic structure that emerged from this analysis was comprised of three themes and their related grounds. The three themes were: 1) Same and Different, 2) Knowing, Being Known, and Understanding, and 3) Defensiveness and Pride. Each of these themes was described in terms of the ground of both the Jewish and non-Jewish communities. Each theme was found in most of the interviews, and participants frequently used similar words to describe their experiences of being a Jewish woman in the South. Results indicate that participants' awareness of being Jewish was the most figural aspect of their experience of being a Jewish woman in the South. Though gender was notable for a few of the participants, all of the women interviewed described situations in which being Jewish was their primary identification. It seems that for the women interviewed, being Jewish in the South absorbs and contains all other aspects of their experiences, including gender.