The Begetting of America's Jews: Seeds of American Jewish Identity in the Representations of American Jewish Women


 

Publication Date: January 1993

Publisher: Jewish Communal Service Association of North America

Author(s): Riv-Ellen Prell

Research Area: Culture and religion; Media, telecommunications, and information

Keywords: Assimilation; Feminism; Media

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

It is through the images of the family in popular culture and literature that American Jews give form to the stresses, strains, and anxieties produced by their assimilation into American culture. This ''counter-memory'' is in sharp contrast to the official picture of a love affair between American Jews and American society. The cultural representations of the Ghetto Girl and the Jewish American Princess are examined in detail for what they tell us about American Jews' feelings about living in middle-class American society.