The actress and comedian Nelly Tagher Got used to living in a world where men dominate the scene, especially in the stand-up scene in Israel which is mostly dominated by men. In an interview with TMI she talked about female empowerment, what is her opinion on the project of Natalie Dadon “Woman to Woman Queen” and what a change of perception we need to make as a society regarding women.
“Real female empowerment? We haven’t gotten there yet. Female empowerment is tested in male categories. We look at other women the same way men look. We try to fit into the club. It’s like a woman trying on a suit. I’m not saying, you can look good in a suit, and we’ve seen girls , but still a man will always look better in a suit and a woman will look better in a fluttering dress. We put ourselves on trial, instead of really helping each other, like men help each other all the time and we don’t.”
Why do you think it is like that?
“We got used to it. Maybe in a generation of younger people it will look different. We got used to the fact that there is the “chamber quintet” there is one girl and four boys and also in the “night club”. We got used to fighting for the same place with the boys, instead of saying: ‘Wait, sorry, why is that Won’t it be half and half or four women and one man?’. We got used to it and it takes time, even for me, to change this perception.”
What do you think of Natalie Dadon’s venture ‘Woman to Woman Queen’?
“The project itself is blessed, of course. I’m not really familiar with the details, Natalie, my friend. We were used to not favoring each other, that’s the education we received. There’s the ‘Bachelor’ and there are 20 girls fighting for someone’s heart. There’s a job in the army and there’s a standard for one woman, there’s armor And there is a woman. Instead of us being truly full partners and not always being allowed. We don’t want women to have power. There aren’t many girls in stand-up either.”
It is also considered a male profession.
“Unequivocally. Because they say: ‘Woman, what will you tell me? She digs. She teases me in my head, the man is funny and the woman digs me.'”
Nelly Tagher (Photo: Amir Meiri)