liturgy, Jewish, rites, observances, and procedures of Judaism. Communal prayer, with a quorum of ten men (or in some modern communities, ten people), replaced the priests of the Temple cult. There are three daily services, with additional ones for the Sabbath and festivals. The fixed components are the Amidah (the 18 blessings), the Sh'ma (Hear, O Israel), the Kaddish (doxology), Pesukei d'Zimra (psalms for the morning prayer), and Hallel (Psalms 113-118) on festivals. In addition, there is a reading of portions of the Pentateuch and of the Prophets on the Sabbath and on festivals. Additional liturgical elements, such as hymns, vary with the different Jewish communities. The daily order of service is found in the siddur (daily prayerbook). The holiday prayerbook is called the mahzor. The Jewish liturgy is traditionally in Hebrew, with a few elements in Aramaic. Modern Reform, and some Conservative, movements also include prayer in the vernacular.

Jewish-American Princess or JAP is a pejorative characterization of Jewish-American women. The term implies materialistic and selfish tendencies, attributed to a pampered background.

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. The term "JAP" has been used by some women in order to be identified as privileged but this manner can be offensive as it attempts to reinforce the stereotype.

Sexism and violence

The term "Jewish-American Princess" centers on deprecating sexism, and pejoratively brands Jewish-American women as spoiled, whining, manipulative, narcissistic, materialistic, overbearing, shallow, egocentric, scatterbrained, uninterested in sex with a false sense of entitlement While the full phrase and acronym is occasionally used wryly by Jews of both sexes as a term of Judaism, the acronym itself is considered at best fashionably vulgar if not degrading. T-shirts with the message "SLAP-A-JAP" and the stereotypical image of ethnically Jewish-American women may have been considered briefly fashionable in the early 90's. in the late 80's 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 by yelling "JAP! JAP! JAP! 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.

Discrimination

When researching the stereotype Jill Gregorie noted significant prejudicial and discriminatory actions toward Jewish women who fit the "JAP" stereotype, noting one woman on a college campus who went so far as to avoid contact with perceived JAPs at all. Gregorie cites one college student as saying: "If I see them in an elevator, I always wait for the next one. Alana Newhouse of the Boston Globe also noted housing ads on college campuses that warned No JAPs

Prevalence

Research has found significant levels of JAP-baiting in educational settings throughout the US. Still almost all identified incidents have fallen short of the legal definition of a hate crime. There also seems to be a lesser degree of data and research-driven knowledge concerning the extent of its usage within the broader public sphere.

See also

• Ethnic slurs
• Jewish mother stereotype
• Black American Princess
• Materialism
• Jewish feminism
• Kugel

Footnotes

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)
• This 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
• Jewish Women Campaign Against 'Princess' New York Times,September 7,1987