“Is Marriage A Prerequisite For Womanhood?”

“On Single Women in the Palestinian Community in Jaffa,” by Amalia Saar, explicates the status of women who are referred to as banat (those who remain girls), signifying—at least officially—that marrying is what makes a girl into a woman. The author explores the reality that some unmarried women are successful in achieving social maturity in the eyes of this community in other ways, including academic and work achievement.