Revisiting the Jewish American Princess: Jewish Girls, The J.A.P. Discursive Stereotype, and Negotiated Identity Rebecca Starkman, B. A. Department of Child and Youth Studies Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Faculty of Social Sciences, Brock University St. Catharines, Ontario ©2010 Library and Archives Bibliothèque et ?F? 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While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. ¦?I Canada "I never knew you could delve so deep into such a shallow persona" - Emma Abstract This qualitative exploratory research investigates how Canadian Jewish girls understand the discursive stereotype of the Jewish American Princess (JAP), and how they take up these understandings of the JAP in relation to their identities. Three focus groups and six interviews were conducted with girls attending Jewish high schools in Toronto, Canada to explore these questions. From a third wave Jewish feminist perspective, and taking a mediated action approach to identity, two analyses were conducted. A thematic analysis of peer relations, gender, community, and religious understandings demonstrates how aspects of individual identities mediate interpretations of the JAP. A series ofportraits of JAP-related identity were constructed to analyze how the JAP discursive stereotype also functions as a cultural tool that is taken up by the participants to mediate expressions of their identities. These findings establish the contradictory ways these Jewish girls describe, interpret, and utilize the JAP discursive stereotype, and the complex roles it plays in their social worlds. Acknowledgements For the past year, I have been extremely excited about writing my acknowledgements. I am so grateful to have had this opportunity to study at the graduate level in the Department of Child and Youth Studies at Brock University. I have truly felt throughout the process of writing this thesis, that at every stage, my success has been tightly intertwined with the support I have received from so many wonderful people. This is my opportunity to formally recognize my deep appreciation for their support. My first thanks is to my thesis supervisor, Dr. Tom O'Neill, for his flexibility and willingness to support the evolution of my ideas and choices as a master's student. I am grateful to Tom for sharing his perspectives with me, and for pushing me to look at things in new and challenging ways. I also sincerely thank my committee members. Many thanks to Dr. Shauna Pomerantz for her wise questions, and for the enthusiasm that she brought to this project. Her drive and passion for feminist research has inspired me to continue along this path. Many thanks to Dr. Danny Tarulli for his assistance in finding rich resources and providing detailed feedback. His thought provoking questions led me to consider the issues under investigation at an ever-deepening level. I would like to acknowledge Dr. Hans Skott-Myhre, Dr. John McNamara, and Julia Gottli for their work as Directors and Staff of the Child and Youth Studies Graduate Program. Their support and direction were critical to my ability to carry out this work. I would also like to acknowledge my fellow graduate students. Their willingness to share resources, answer questions, and collectively problem solve made all of the difference on this journey. I would also like to thank my research assistants Meredith Herman, Cari Källving, and Hava Glick for their assistance in carrying out the focus groups. Transcribing the group tapes would have been a nightmare had it not been for the speakers' lists they carefully kept during those meetings. I must also acknowledge the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for providing me with generous funding that supported my writing of this thesis over the past year. Through this process, my grandmothers, Theresa and Elva, my grandfather, Salvi, and all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins have shared many insightful anecdotes and their own thoughts on the JAP stereotype, for which I am grateful. Many thanks go as well to my wonderful friends, both near and far, who provided me with invaluable encouragement to overcome the challenges inherent in graduate work. I thank both of these groups for their keen interest, and for allowing family events, birthday parties, car rides, and long-distance phone calls to turn into brainstorming sessions for this thesis. I thank my siblings, Samuel and Hava, for tolerating the stressful phases during this process, and for working their personal networks to help me find participants and feedback to complete this research. Their interest has been extremely meaningful. To my partner, Chaim, I thank him for providing me with the space in which to experience the wide range of emotions that writing this thesis has evoked. I am deeply grateful for his untiring support. I am forever thankful to my parents, Joel and Mary-Martha Starkman. They have continuously encouraged me to think critically, and to pursue learning opportunities for the sake of knowledge alone. It is through their eyes that I have learned to look to the future with excitement and optimism, and to freely imagine all that I can become. Their interest and support in every facet of this journey have enabled me to reach this place of thesis completion. Above all, I thank my participants for the privilege of asking them my questions, and for their willingness to share their stories. I have such deep appreciation for their words. I hope I have done them justice. Table of Contents Page CHAPTER ONE: ORIGINS 1 Research Questions 4 The Girls: A Brief Introduction 5 The Setting 6 The JAP as a Discursive Stereotype 7 My Own Position Within the Research 11 CHAPTER TWO: THE EVOLUTION OF THE JEWISH AMERICAN PRINCESS 13 The Stereotype: Jewish American Princess (JAP) 14 Trend #1: Formulation of the Jewish American Princess Discursive Stereotype ..................................................................................................... 17 Trend #2: The Deconstruction of the Jewish American Princess Discursive Stereotype 18 Anti-Semitic Interpretations 23 Feminist Interpretations 25 Trend #3: The Neo-JAP: The Jewish American Princess Stereotype Revisited...28 The JAP Discursive Stereotype and Emerging Identity 33 Setting the Stage for My Research 35 CHAPTER THREE: THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 37 I. Feminism 39 Second Wave Feminism 39 Third Wave Feminism 42 Second Wave vs. Third Wave 44 Third Wave Feminism vs. Postfeminism 45 Third Wave Jewish Feminism 47 II. Intersectionality Theory 50 III. Mediated Action Approach to Identity 53 A Note on Identity Categories 58 How do these theoretical perspectives apply to my research ? 59 CHAPTER FOUR: PASSIONATE RESEARCH: FEMINIST METHODOLOGIES ANDFEMINISTMETHODS 61 Power and Reflexivity 61 Participants 63 Recruitment 66 The Methods 67 Question Schedules 68 Focus Groups 70 Interviews 74 Information Sheet 77 Consents, Ethics, and Other Things to Consider 78 Data Analysis 80 Conclusion 83 CHAPTER FIVE: DESCRIPTIONS: REVISITING THE JEWISH AMERICAN PRINCESS 84 JAP Appearance 84 CIothing 85 HairstyIe 88 JAP Attitude and Behaviour 92 I. The JAP is Extremely Materialistic 92 II. The JAP Does Not Appreciate the Value ofMoney 94 III. The JAP is SelfCentred 96 IV. The JAP is Girly 96 V. Is the JAP Mean or Nice? 99 VI. Is the JAP Confident! 101 VII. Is the JAP Intelligent? 103 Conclusion 1 03 CHAPTER SIX: INTERPRETATIONS: UNDERSTADNGIN A SOCIAL STEREOTYPE 105 I. Peer Relations 1 06 A. The JAP Stereotype as a Symbol ofSocial Power 107 Social Power Between JAPs and Other Girls 107 Social Power Between JAPs and Boys 108 B. The JAP Stereotype as a Social Monitoring Tool 110 C. The JAP as a Symbol ofSocial Conformity 110 II. Gender