Jewish-American princess stereotype
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Jewish-American Princess or JAP is a pejorative characterization of young Jewish-American women. The term implies materialist tendencies, attributed to a pampered background. It is typically centered at those Jewish-American women of Ashkenazim lineage. The term is occasionally used toward Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews and other Jewish women.
Antisemitism
The stereotype is often the basis for anti-Semitic jokes both inside and outside the Jewish community. In recent years the term has been re-appropriated by some Jewish women as a term of cultural identity, especially in areas with high density Jewish populations. “JAP” is sometimes used as by non-jewish women of privilege, but this can seem offensive.
Sexism and Violence
JAP is also viewed as a violent term towards women. During World War II a popular slogan in reference to Japanese men and women was "Slap a Jap." As the term later became an acronym for Jewish American women, newer t-shirts depicted stereotypes of ethnically Jewish women.[1] A Syracuse professor of sociology, Dr. Gary Spencer, noted areas on his campus that students declared "JAP-free zones." He also noted a sporting incident on campus where fans heckled women they deemed to look Jewish, by yelling "JAP! JAP! JAP!"[2] Spencer also mentions the verbal violence against Jewish women during a college fair at Cornell University where signs read, "Make her prove she's not a JAP, make her swallow." In the Cornell University student newspaper, a cartoon went on to offer advice on how to "exterminate" JAPS. [3] Shirley Frondorf wrote of such an incident where the stereotype was used as an excuse for murder and subsequently lead to the perpetrator being exonerated. [4]
Examples in the Media
WHTZ, of New York, recently played a song called "Jap Rap". They also ran a promotion called "Jap For A Day." The ADL complained about the song and its contest. Afterwards, the program director, Mr. Kingston, said, "if it offended anybody, we apologize." .[5]
In 2004 the Style network sent out a casting memo for a show initially called "JAP Squad." The E! executive who sent the memo acknowledged its anti-Semitic overtones, reportedly writing, "I know, it’s an awful name. [But] I need girls who know where to go in NYC for the best deals."
Frank Zappa used "Jewish Princess" as the title and subject of a song on his first independent album Sheik Yerbouti (Shake Your Booty). When the anti-defamation league brought an objection to his attention, Zappa refused to apologize saying “They exist, so I wrote a song about them."
See also
- Ethnic slurs
- Jewish mother stereotype
- Black American Princess
- Frank Zappa's Jewish Princess song, from the album Sheik Yerbouti
Footnotes
- ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,970015-2,00.html
- ^ Spencer, Gary “An Analysis of JAP-Baiting Humor on the College Campus." International Journal of Humor Research 2 (1989) 329-348
- ^ Beck, Evelyn Torton (1992) From 'Kike to Jap': How misogyny, anti-semitism, and racism construct the Jewish American Princess. In Margaret Andersen & Patricia Hill Collins (Eds.) Race, Class, and Gender. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 87-95.
- ^ Death of a "Jewish American Princess": The True Story of a Victim on Trial (Villard Books, 1988)
- ^ New York Times: Tuesday, July 3, 2007.
External links
- Dictionary definition
- The Return of the JAP
- Monica Lewinsky
- The Jewish American Princess and Other Myths: The Many Faces of Self-Hatred (Hardcover)
- That girl is such a Jap
- Can we please not revive that ugly stereotype?
- From 'Kike to Jap': How misogyny, anti-semitism, and racism construct the Jewish American Princess. Beck, Evelyn Torton, Margaret Andersen & Patricia Hill Collins (Eds.) Race, Class, and Gender. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 87-95. 1992
- Celebrating the Lives of Jewish Women: Patterns in a Feminist Sampler,Canadian Jewish Women and their Experiences of Antisemitism and Sexism, by NORA GOLD, edited by Rachel Josefowitz Siegel & Ellen Cole (Haworth, 1997).
- JAP RAP
- JAP FOR A DAY
- Style Network Casts for "JAP Squad."
- When Jokes are not funny