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From: peter@unm-la.UUCP (bill peter)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject: Re: On J.A.P. jokes
Message-ID: <427@unm-la.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 18-Sep-86 22:40:34 EDT
Article-I.D.: unm-la.427
Posted: Thu Sep 18 22:40:34 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 24-Sep-86 19:55:50 EDT
References: <5132@decwrl.DEC.COM> <829@mhuxi.UUCP> <5@andromeda.UUCP> <834@mhuxi.UUCP>
Organization: still in New Mexico
Lines: 50

Well, I wasn't going to get involved in this one, but what the heck...

In article <834@mhuxi.UUCP>, dsg@mhuxi.UUCP (David S. Green) writes:

>Well, I guess our experiences have differed because I have only met
>a few Jewish NEW YORK women who don't fit the stereotype.  

I have to agree.  I think that there is a justifiable reason for the
stereotypical N.Y. Jewish woman.  On the other hand, I have always heard from
these women that they think that many American Jewish guys are
immature and that the guys are looking for wives which spoil
them and dote on them just like their mothers did.  Hence, they seldom
look for real feminine companionship on an equal-responsibility basis.
(present company excepted :-))

>I guess should have put some (-: next to the above line, but on
>further reflection many  JAPS that I know (some of my best friends
>are JAPS)  would rather vacation at Club Med than Israel - assuming
>equal costs.

Yeah, and it's tragic.  Having been born in Israel, and still having all
my immediate family there, I sometimes feel foreign to the American 
Jewish scene, but it does seem to me (as someone else earlier pointed
out) that American Jews tend to be more immature than other Jews.
I don't know the reason why.

>If anything, one can
>condemn or condone JAPs or whoever as a group but I highly
>resent reading an article with some rather erroneous asumptions
>about me that I am not going to dignify with a reply.

I agree.  The poster who flamed you was unfair, but in a way, his
mentality was also symtomatic of an attitude I find in the American
Jewish community: insecurity in being Jewish.  Another insecurity I 
seem to see more in American Jews than other Americans is constant
worry of not having enough money. 
 
In my more religious moments, I recall the Torah's prediction that
Jews in the galut would be "tender and delicate" [Dvarim, Ki Tavoh],
and that the women would be "b'choser kol" [wanting of all things].

But, in general, I think it is unfair to label all American Jews
as such, and that when a guy talks self-righteously about J.A.P.S.,
he should also realize the stereotype that he himself conveys.
--

bill peter             

Los Alamos National Laboratory             ihnp4!lanl!wkp
University of New Mexico                   ihnp4!lanl!unm-la!peter