Danwei has an interesting link on "Israeli women soldiers get warm reception on BBS" leading to a Chinese discussion about photos posted on a China BBS of Israeli female soldiers.
Although I find those girls to be exceptionally ordinary and questionably attractive to the average Israeli male, it is an interesting discussion I often have here in Taiwan regarding the mandatory army service Israeli girls have for ~2 years.
Take my little sister, for example (photo on the right). She finally completed her army service a few months ago, serving as a tour guide for Israeli high school kids showing them around cool places in Israel the army was hoping would help Israeli youth feel more connected to their home-land. Although nothing remotely connected to combat, the responses I get from Taiwanese about my sister serving in the army are nothing short of complete shock and disbelief, sometimes quickly substituted for admiration mixed with sympathy and pity. Taiwanese guys were usually very curious on how this works exactly and how it effects their "femininity".
A few years ago, the Israeli government was trying to show the different side of Israel by promoting a series of sexy ads featuring strong Israeli girls in, eh, inviting poses. The result – "Women of the Israeli Defense Forces" – was published at Maxim magazine :
Nivit
Expertise: Military intelligence
“My job was top secret,” says this Tel Aviv native, who still lives with her parents. “I can’t talk about it other than to say I studied some Arabic!”
Needless to say the Israeli government received some very angry responses from many unpleased Israeli women, but the impact of such photos was apparent. The UK Guardian has a good summary of that.
Rachel Papo is a photographer who did a feature on Israeli girls serving in the army that I believe somewhat transformed their image and contributed to a better understanding of what things look like. I’d say some of those photos leave a lasting impression, even though not nearly as sexy as Maxim’s.
Rachel Papo began photographing Israeli female soldiers in the summer of 2004 as part of her masters thesis project. She continues to photograph in both Israel and New York, pursuing fine art photography and accepting commissioned projects.
Back to the Chinese discussion of the hot Israeli girls, here are some of the responses :
Beautiful, beautiful.
Looking good.
Just because of those beautiful girls, the guys fight so much.
Israeli girls are really sexy.
Russian girls are actually more attractive.
How sexy they are!
They’re such beautiful devils.
You be the judge.
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