Serial No. 3817131 (A photographic essay of women in the IDF)

http://www.rachelpapo.com/ ^ | 2005 | Rachel Papo

[FreedomCalls]

The life of an eighteen-year-old girl in Israel is interrupted when she is plucked out of her environment at an age when sexual, educational, and family values are at their highest exploration point. She is then placed in a rigorous institution, where individuality becomes a secondary matter, making room for nationalism. “I solemnly swear…to devote all of my strength and to sacrifice my life to protect the land and the liberty of Israel,” repeats the newly recruited soldier during her swearing-in ceremony. She enters the two-year period in which she will change from a girl to a woman, a teenager to an adult, all under a militaristic, masculine environment, and in the confines of an army that is engaged in daily war and conflict.

I decided to portray female soldiers in Israel during their mandatory military service as a way for me to revisit my own experience. I served as a photographer in the Israeli Air Force between 1988-1990. It was a period marked by continuous depression and extreme loneliness, and at the time I was too young to understand these emotions. Through a series of images showing female soldiers in army bases and outside, individually or in groups, I attempt to reveal a facet of this experience that is generally overlooked by the global community.

~Excerpted

[FreedomCalls]

I found this photo essay on the net and I find the photos of life in the IDF for women fascinating.

Click here for the thumbnail page.

Here are some examples:

[ThreePuttinDude]

Now that looks like a group hug I could get into....LOL

[stm]

Some a dem wimminz iz hot!!!

[Tailback]

I found myself cracking up thinking of a US military officer looking at these photos and blowing a gasket because there was no uniformity.

Seriously though, if this isn't a perfect example of why not to have conscription I don't know what is. What a bunch of rag bags.

[txroadhawg]

Another good reason to visit Israel
The women are HOT

[txroadhawg]

... and ARMED

[stm]

Girlz and Gunz. What a great combination!!!

[jim-x]

ping

[LongElegantLegs]

Soldier girl pictures

[Delta 21]

I would bet these ladies are a bit tougher (and better) than you give them credit for.

Its not all Dress Blues and Tennis Shoes (or a light coat of grease).

[Vor Lady]

Interesting ping! Make you homesick for the 4th Battalion?

[txroadhawg]

Great pictorial
Our youth need immersion like this, it will change their lives for the better.

[Tailback]

I would bet these ladies are a bit tougher (and better) than you give them credit for.

Yeah, they're probably a little better than WAVE's or WAC's because of more practical levels of training.

[nralife]

I first noticed the rust on the bunks. Kinda odd, but I don't think we should judge them by US standards. Agreeing with Delta 21, I would imagine the Israelis place more emphasis on training and survival, than spit and polish. And I think with the right training, almost anyone could become a good soldier.

[FreedomCalls]

Some a dem wimminz iz hot!!!

You can say that again.

[freedom44]

ping

[stm]

Ok, some a dem wimminz iz hot!!!

[stm]

I notice some of them have different colored berets under their epaulets. I wonder what the significance of that is.

[stm]

This little cutie is no slouch either.....

[LongElegantLegs]

Exept for the total lack of starch & creases, it reminds me a great deal of boot camp. :-)

[Born Conservative]

Except for the moustache...

[stm]

That's why hydrogen peroxide was invented!

Here's a whole gaggle of them:

[SevenofNine]

OH CANTEEN MEMBERS LOL!

[Delta 21]

Nice Uzi!

[FreedomCalls]

I just noticed by clicking through some of the links on her web page, that these pictures are currently on exhibition at the Paul Kopeikin Gallery in Los Angeles until the 15th of April.

[finnman69]

compare to these women

[HitmanLV]

I surrender!!!

[Delta 21]

I bet they dont shower with their weapon.

These girls look like they are getting some real world training.

[FreedomCalls]

More here. 377 more pages of pictures of women in the various armed forces around the world to be exact.

[FreedomCalls]

I bet they dont shower with their weapon.

It certainly seems to be not ever too far from their reach.

[StarCMC]

WOW!! Thanks for the ping!!

[unixfox]

Sorry, but I just don't feel that safe with a bunch of women thinking they can defend themselves much less an army of men that WILL kill them at the drop of a hat.

[Delta 21]

I was referring to the lovelies in #26.

It looks like these Israeli girls took a Marine Corp-esque creed to their weapon.

[monkeyshine]

ping

[FreedomCalls]

Oh, sorry. I misunderstood. I guess this is basic training or some other type training they are in.

[SevenofNine]

OMG only NAG gang would hit on those ladies LOL!

[SWAMPSNIPER]

"What a bunch of rag bags".

---

I would rather train them to fight than to parade down the street. A couple of years of this wouldn't hurt our kids.
Fort Dix sure was good for my little daughter. I take some of the credit, she was making head shots on squirrels with a .22 by the time she started 4th grade.

[Robert A. Cook, PE]

Here's a whole gaggle of them:

A whole giggle of them?

[Robert A. Cook, PE]

The 11th Commandment at boot camp:

Thou shalt keep the strap of thy weapon across thy shoulder at all times, and down thou shall point it, lest the wrath of thy drill sergeant be held against you, and mighty be her wrath.

[Gay State Conservative]

Basic Training wouldda been a lot more fun if my "fellow" trainees had looked anything like that.

[SaltyJoe]

Why do the tomboy and tough girl have so much appeal to guys?
I suppose it reminds us of how, as a child,
our mother could scoop us off our feet a 100 times a day
and tickle us against our will
and even catch if we tried to run away.

I never thought that O.D. green could look so feminine.






I've very thankful that G-d created me in His image, but I'm even more thankful for His creating Woman.















Here eye's look like this when she's shooting a rifle too.






Little known fact that the IDF also has an
underground female break dancing team...undefeated record in every championship by the way.















I wonder if she like big hair rock bands from the 80s?

Finders keepers?

[SaltyJoe]

The secret is out...



Beauty tips from the women of the IDF

[litehaus]

Don't mess with TEXAS?....Make that ISRAEL!

[SaltyJoe]

Eye liner cuts down on sun glare when your sighting in your rifle. Football players use the same technique, but put it on their upper cheeks. It's obvious from the photo that this young lady must be going to the range for more shooting practice.

[stm]

They're cute, even covered with mud!

I smell a calendar in the making...."Girls of the IDF"!!!!

[SaltyJoe]

HOLY SMOKES, look at the pipes on these pythons!



USMC, less we forget our loyalty.

[SaltyJoe]

This is a VERY bad hair day.

[SaltyJoe]

Maybe it's just a guy thing, but if I were to be shot...accidentally of course...then I'd find it easer forgiving her if she were the shooter.

[ccmay]

Well done everybody. My favorite thread of the week.

I have been a fan of the female sabra soldiers ever since reading a couple of Leon Uris novels as a kid.

God help us if we ever betray these magnificent people to the bloodthirsty swine who surround them.

-ccm

[Richard Kimball]

She scares me. In one photo, she's got the rifle pointing at her foot, in the other, at the camera. Texas girls don't do that.