Matzav Inbox: Why Do the Frum News Sites Post Pictures of Women?

Dear disgusted. Calm your liver, and get your news from what you consider a “kosher” news outlet. Noone asked you to connect to YWN, Matzav or anything outside of print. That you do, speaks to your level of inconsistency. Work on yourself.

I did not read the letter but I saw the it sign by disgusted, so I am not reading it.
That said it would be nice that if women are posted much more care should be taken about their tznius – something not really being done enough.

Anyone that is using the internet for recreational purposes i.e reading news etc is not becheskas kashrus to begin with. So instead of viewing material on a non jewish websites which is complete forbidden matzav does those people a favor by having tzenius pictures. However the majority readers of hamodia do not use the internet for recreational purposes to begin with so for them they are becheskas kashrus so it makes sense not to allow images of women

Because bottom line everyone does whatever sells. The periodicals adopted a stricter outlook because it sells. The online versions assume they are catering to a different clientele. If you are not concerned (in contradiction to what mainstream orthodoxy preaches) to be online then don’t be appalled by what they do.

This is the internet. It’s not for the faint of heart. I know it’s assur in many circles. If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen. Btw, open up any of our so-called Heimishe magazines, and especially the big fat Yom Tov editions, and you will see one lavish, in your face-must have item, shaitel or luxury, after another after another. You have to turn about 50 pages until you get to the editors message and the table of contents. It that considered tznius?! So this is the metzius of what is out there. If it’s too much to handle, so don’t go online or buy any magazines. You will be just fine.

My wife has been pretty bothered by the exact same point.
I justify that I’m only using the frum sites, but it makes her very uncomfortable (and understandably so)

Could not have said it any better, perhaps just a little shorter.. You are right on the money!! Im sure that many will agree with you and of course there will be some and perhaps more than some that will vehemently disagree with you and they will tell you to get a life ……. and if you have a problem with a woman’s face than you need help etc. and all the rest. So to those that criticize you, to them I say this letter is for you! because that’s exactly the point of your letter..

To Disgusted:
You complain about Frum newsites showing pictures of women. Well your hypocricy baffles me. The jewish print media does respect this issue. But if you don’t like the online media, GET RID OF YOUR SMARTPHONE as daas torah has dictated!!!!!

Well said!

“It’s time to call out the hypocrisy and demand consistency. Our community deserves better, and our values deserve to be protected.”

Absolutely right!

IT is well past time that print media prints pictures of women

while this “inconsistency” has been pointed out for years, surprising that you think this has been ignored. Also bizarre that yo u think they are all run by the same people and serve the same clinetel . But hey even a bizarre guy can be right and on th is you are right. Tiem for consistency, all should print pictures of women

Are the pictures the only issue? 90% of the content is problematic. Who introduced Tucker ימ”ש to the Frum olam? Who introduced owens?

Pictures of modestly dressed women are one thing but all too often videos are posted of newscasts with immodestly dressed women. What possible justification could there be for that??
On a similar note, how did we descend to the point where frum people think it’s appropriate to share pictures or video clips with immodestly dressed women on their Whatsapp status just because it’s news related or it’s entertaining??

By reading the news on frum websites, we (myself included) have already breached the guidelines of the Gedolim to use internet solely for business. So the audience online is by nature ‘deserving’ a lower standard. May Hashem help us!

Agreed.

I wonder who “disgusted” really is. Is he from a Yeshivish background, MO, Chassidish, who? He certainly is not very knowledgeable about Torah law, nor about the historic synsethis of the Jewish print media.
The simple answer to his problem is that those who are “sensitive” to seeing ladies’ faces shouldn’t go to these online sites. Beyond the scope of the author’s obvious limited understanding, one would hope that anyone ehrlich enough to understand the value of not randomly seeing women’s faces is not going on any sites, including these. So there really is no problem, is there. So why is Matzav printing the letters of fools?

It seems simple.
The very fact that you are online means that you are already a different type of clientele than the print readers.
Even if you have a bazillion filters, you are guaranteed to be exposed to much more than someone who doesn’t leave their neighborhood or read non-frum publications.
Online readers have self-identified as less concerned with these issues,
why should Matzav care any more than you do?

Matzav is the proper role model as-is

100%. Last week there was an article about Jared Kushner and when you clicked on it, a picture of Ivanka came up…..WHY WHY WHY?
I suggest to everyone to sign up with https://vayimaen.org/

Why do Frum sites posts pictures of people?

It’s quite simple: the chassidishe oilam gets the print versions but avoids the internet. The publications want to keep the chassidishe market who had historically been more makpid, as opposed to the litvishe who have no issues publishing pictures in Artscroll and the Jewish Observer of old.

This article is putting it mildly. Lack of tznius, nival peh, ad pop-ups with the worst shmutz, all is fair game. They don’t care.

So why am I here? That’s another problem….

With all due respect I actually think it is a pure hypocrisy not to show TZNIUS pictures of women especially well-deserved respect and admiration whether in the frum newspapers or the media outlets such as this one which, in my humble opinion does it right. Do you walk with your eyes closed?! Don’t pretend that women don’t exist…

While I don’t agree with the sentiment of the article’s author, I am curios as to what the response from the Frum digital media will be.
I do believe an answer should be given.

Thank you!! I was thinking the exact same thing, and the biggest hypocrisy is still that when there’s a Rebbetzin that passes away and they publish an article, then there’s no photo, but all the despicable rashantas plus the regular shiksas … no problem! It’s beyond unacceptable to me, and I’m a Frum woman!

Your frustration might begin with the desire to believe that objective parameters can be placed around “our frum values”. The “frum media” you note are businesses like any other. They make a determination along with rabbinic guidance what standard they need to maintain in order to attract their target audience. There is a wide spectrum of frum standards and rabbinic guidance. Many in our community are on a madreigah at which they would never consider wasting a moment reading the content of any of these publications. The gross majority of which is at best time-wasting silliness that usually comes with the added expense of energy, emotions and brain cells that can tremendously detract from avodas Hashem. Conversely, there are those coming from a place of being steeped in secular media and are now attempting to slowly scale back. For this second group, using this “frum media” to keep away from the alternative is a very act of self-growth. You write that the inclusion of photos of women is crossing a boundary that print media has drawn. Is print media the determiner of frum boundaries? Perhaps Matzav will decide to pick your standard but ultimately these media businesses decide what’s right for them and we each decide what is right for us.

I agree 100%

I always send emails to Matzav editors to edit out inappropriate things from articles, which they usually do pretty quickly.

click bait

Is this satire? If not, I wholeheartedly agree. I’d like to expand the situations where I never have to see a woman (regardless of how she’s dressed) to include websites, Shabbos meals, the workplace, and beyond. This is totally a halachic requirement (or “sensitivity”) and not a neurotic obsession.

Visiting the sites is voluntary. Stay off – problem solved

well said! absolutely sickening. were not talking about just regular pics. matzav please set a standard.

Please!
Mishpachas has drawings of women. Why is that better than pictures?

I do think the pictures shown should be as modest as possible but please.

If we demand it, they will stop. Everybody speak up please…

Maskim! I’ve been saying this for years. You’re saying what everyone else is thinking!

Isn’t Matzav owned by Yated?

In online media, the choice to exclude pictures of frum women or replace them with flowers or symbols can have unintended effects, particularly in shaping the values and aspirations of the next generation. Unlike the consumers of print media, many of whom live in highly insulated communities, online readers have already chosen a level of interaction with the wider world and its culture. Even with internet filters, they have a broader exposure than traditional print media readers, and the approach to imagery in online spaces should reflect that distinction.

Many frum families without internet access may indeed find any image of a woman in print media objectionable, and print publications cater to that community’s sensitivities. However, online spaces reach a different audience—one that, by nature, is already engaging with a broader scope of content. For this audience, blotting out the images of modestly dressed frum women can send a skewed message. If the only women they see are public figures in mainstream media, such as models, actresses, or prominent political figures, these are the faces and images that become their points of reference.

For example, if our daughters are only exposed to pictures of women like Melania Trump in mainstream news outlets but never see a picture of Rebbetzin Batsheva Kanievsky, who do we think they will end up looking up to? By omitting images of modest frum women, we deny them the opportunity to see themselves and their values represented in the visual world.

Including pictures of dignified, modestly dressed frum women in online media can serve as a source of inspiration, providing role models who reflect their own values and aspirations. Instead of erasing the presence of frum women, online platforms can responsibly integrate these images to enrich the experience of frum readers in a way that aligns with their own community’s standards and dignity.

Im shocked that you are surprise. Although obviously you are 100% correct that they should not be showing these pictures, they will respond that anyone with any Yiras Shomayim about seeing women is probably not on news sites…. But the REAL QUESTION YOU SHOULD ASK which is THE REAL HYPOCRISY is why almost all of these sites (besides HAMODIA which unfortunately requires a subscription) are ANONYMOUS. If MATZAV truly is “the voice of torah jewry” as they claim to be, why wouldn’t the owners family put their name on it? What are they scared or embarrassed of?? The answer to all questions is very simple. it is a Possuk in Mishlei- HAKESSEF YAANEH ES HAKOL- free translation for 21st century, “whatever brings in more clicks can be posted”. Thanks for bringing up this important topic- although there is no chance in the world they will listen and address your valid concerns.

I can’t agree more.

These same websites and social media platforms, which hold themselves out as paragons of frumkeit, have no problem crossing boundaries that their print counterparts have consciously drawn

Putting everything else aside there is no such thing as a website let alone a social media platform which hold themselves out or can be regarded by anyone else as paragons of frumkeit. (unless the it is a website exclusively devoted to non controversial Torah topics)

You insist on consistency?
Have your wife cover her face.
Please explain the difference!
If a picture of a woman is Halachically forbidden, which it is not, why should her real face be uncovered?

In halachah, we generally do not try to control other people over a midas Chassidus (personal stricture.) If the photo is tsniyus (modest) it is OK for a Jewish man to look (glance) at the photo, without gazing excessively. Where are you getting your “halachic guidelines of tznius” from?

The Shulchan Aruch instructs us that a man may not focus on a random woman’s beauty, (and a woman may not attempt to make a random man focus on her beauty,) for immoral purposes. But please understand, that a woman’s face is not automatically in the classification of a place of nakedness.

As long as a photo is not in the classification of that, then there is no issur (prohibition) to post it, even publicly. The media sources that have a more strict policy than this are following an extra strict policy, not a commandment of the Torah, nor of the Sages.

While it is commendable to speak up for a perceived violation of Torah, especially in matters of modesty, it must be done in a way that accurately represents Torah law, lest it risk perversion of the law, in the other direction. At that point you can take a stricture upon yourself if you feel the need, and for some that may be the best policy, but that does not automatically make it a stricter law for the world at large.

The Torah, when taught correctly, is invigorating, and not oppressive. We are commanded repeatedly in the Torah, to not veer from the Torah path to the right or left. Such is the ideal expression of the awe of Heaven.

It doesn’t matter whether you agree , or disagree , or have a different opinion than Disgusted . Have respect & love your fellow Yid . We could sure use some of that .

To all the “frummies”, let me tell you something. As a child of holocaust surviivors who grew up in the 60s, this was never an issue or a halacha. We saw pictures of family members who were murdered in the Shoah, as well as living family members. Newspapers always had pictures of womem, and everyone read them, include Rabbonim.
Only with the explosive growth of the yeshivish community did this become an issue. Translate “Lo Sosuru” and way you want, but realistically, if a woman’s face bothers you, how the heck do you walk the streets? The same applies to black pants and white shirts – the yeshivish community thinks this a halacha. Its a lakewood man made halacha, not a real one. When I went to Yeshiva, white shirts were for Shabbos and Yom Tov. To most of us, the 5th volume of the Shulchan Aruch is “Common Sense”. To the Yeshivish community, its all the crazy chumrahs.

False !All photos that were printed then were vague black & whites.& That was it.The only pics that were in color were in movie posters & the like. In the very modern magazines. To the older generation that represented to them everything that was bad with treife America !!

False! All the photos that were printed then were vague black & whites.& That was it.The only pics that were in color were in movie posters & the like. In the very modern magazines. To the older generation that represented to them everything that was bad to keep away from in treife America !!

Matzav,
THIs was the last half-decent site without these pics in everybody’s faces
PLEASE keep it that Way

Please ask yourself these questions:
The answers are different for each individual?

Why don’t you have a TV?
Why don’t you go to the movies?
Why don’t you go into McDonald’s?
Why don’t your kids go to public school?
Why do you use public hospitals?
Why don’t you work for the sanitation department?

Why does matzav have to be your conscience?

Get your own yiras shamayim!

https://cleanbrowsing.org/help/docs/disable-images-in-browser/