To voice or not to voice? Israeli women activists' paths to voice

In view of the recurrent feminist calls for women to voice themselves, one of the intriguing questions is: What are the challenges in women activists' road to discovering their voice and using it strategically? This study addresses this question based on qualitative methods of interpretative analysis of personal semi-structured interviews. It explores in-depth the voices of 31 women activists and their experiences related to the topic of voice and silence in their activism. The interpretation of the findings led to the formation of a Four-State Model in Women's Path to Voice that consists of: The Missing Voice, where women feel that they don't have a voice of their own; The Safe Voice, where women who found their voice make themselves heard; The Hidden Voice, where women choose not to voice themselves in hostile environments; and The Defying Voice, where women express critical opinions in the face of opposition. The findings strengthen the understanding of various states of voice among women and the role of women's movements as catalysts for women's sense of voice, identity, and belonging. It depicts the tension between The Spiral of Voice and Persisting Selective Silences as a social phenomenon, whereas women with voice and higher positions succumb to existing social structures that marginalize them.