Fighting to Become Americans: Jews, Gender, and the Anxiety of Assimilation

Rating:
Summary: gender stereotypes are more complicated than they appear
Review: This fascinating book plots the evolution of gender stereotypes among Jews in 20th century American life. Reading this book, I learned that the stereotypes I grew up with, such as the Jewish American Prince and Princess, have a long lineage, dating back to the Swell and the Ghetto Girl in the 1920's. As Riv-Ellen Prell demonstrates, these stereotypes tell us as much about how American Jews struggled with their Jewish identities as they do about male-female relationships and expectations. The book is full of interesting examples, and analuses drawn from the popular press, from literature, movies and art. Reading it will make anyone (male or female, Jewish or not) think about how their own identity is constructed, and how many unexamined stereotypes they carry around in their minds. I recommend it highly!!