Recent years have seen a significant increase in the use of postage stamps as agencies for commemoration and nation branding. In this study we focus on the role of gender and ethnicity in the decision-making process regarding the production and design of all Israeli postage stamps devoted to notable women from 1948 to 2020. The study is based on analyses of the social role of the women commemorated in the stamps in Israeli historiography and public discourse and on how the stamps’ design constructs gendered memory. The research further relies on archival documents from the Philatelic Service and State Archives, as well as interviews with key figures that were involved in issuing and designing the stamps.
Our findings suggest that postage stamps as representatives of a cultural and official arena are committed to the national Zionist narrative. This is evident in the decision-making process, which generally dictates the commemoration of hegemonic mainstream figures. As a result, women, and especially women from ethnic minorities, are marginalized. However, gender diversity combined with ethnic differences emerged during the last decade, reflecting the evolvement of feminist discourse in Israel alongside a prominent multicultural agenda. Nevertheless, an emphasis was given to commemorating Mizrachi women of Yemenite descent, noted for their activities in the realms of song and dance, thus suggesting that their legacy was appropriated by Israeli mainstream culture as an Orientalist gesture. Postage stamps depicting women personages thus construct identity politics that mirror national narratives and their changes over time.