The “CupGate”
controversy that brewed this week over the holiday imagery that wasn’t printed on Starbucks cups was,
in a word, dumb.
But the holiday message
that was emblazoned on sweaters for sale
at Nordstrom’s—garnering far less media attention—is way more disturbing.
The department store is the
latest to pull offensive Jewish merchandise from its shelves and website. This
time, the item in question was a Hanukkah sweater embroidered with the words
“Chai Maintenance” on the top and “Hanukkah J.A.P.” on the bottom.
Photo courtesy of JTA.
J.A.P., which stands for
Jewish American Princess, is a derogatory term used to attack Jewish women. As
a Jew and a woman—and as an evolved person in general—I’m sick of this
worn-out, gross stereotype, which portrays all Jewish women as spoiled gold
diggers. It's, in fact, the exact antithesis of core Jewish values centered around the concepts
of tzedakah (charity, justice), gemilut hasadim (acts of loving kindness), and tikun
olam (repairing a broken world).
The Nordstrom’s sweaters follow in a long line of major fashion
chains, including Zara and Urban Outfitters, that have messed up and apologized
for offensive merchandise directed at the Jewish community.
In recent years, Zara and Urban Outfitters have done a mea culpa for
selling clothing featuring yellow stars and other designs reminiscent of the
Holocaust. And back in 2004, after being
flooded with complaints, Urban Outfitters discontinued selling its controversial
tee, part of a line of ethnic T-shirts.
One shirt, for example, read: “Everyone
loves a Catholic girl with miniature crucifixes decorating the slogan, while
another declared “Everyone loves an Italian girl,” illustrated with pizza
drawings. The Jewish-themed shirt, with a far less innocuous tone, read
“Everyone loves a Jewish girl,” surrounded by dollar signs and purses.
We in the Jewish
community should worry what these toxic stereotypes represent, concepts synonymous
with money and materialism.
The JAP image has been around a long time. It dates back to the
1950s, when Jews themselves, outsiders in a new land, coined the term as a
defense mechanism, according to Riv-Ellen Prell, a University of Minnesota
anthropologist and professor of American studies. Then, in the 1970s, the image
grew in popularity when consumerism took hold. But today, even though we are no
longer outsiders, the JAP stereotype has stuck.
And the origins of the
rich/greedy Jew, in general, originated even further back—born many centuries
ago when Jews were relegated to occupations dealing with money. Ever since,
throughout history, Jews have been targets of this hateful stereotype, an image
that came to a head in Nazi Germany when Hitler employed it as a tool in the
initial stages of his hate campaign against the Jewish people. The Holocaust is
our most tragic reminder of what happens when a stereotype becomes accepted as
a general truth, an accurate way to portray an entire people. Yet, we seem to
have forgotten the lessons of the past.
In today’s global
climate, when anti-Semitism, cloaked at times as anti-Israel sentiment, is rampant
around the world and on our own college campuses, at a time when we’ve seen a
reemergence of anti-Semitism in a way not seen since World War II, we have even
more motivation to dispel ugly stereotypes.
This obsession with
materialism has no kernel of truth in my circle of Jewish girlfriends. It just gives
my demographic a bad—and false—rap. There’s the argument that some Jewish women
are “princesses.” Yep, that’s true. But there are also Jewish “princes” and
non-Jewish “princesses” and non-Jewish “princes” out there because, well, it’s
a big world with all kinds of people—many of whom I wouldn’t choose to befriend. In fact, there are people of every ethnicity, sex, race, sexual
orientation, and religion that fit every stereotype—and yet those images don’t
creep their way onto seasonal sweaters.
So next time, retailers, you're brainstorming holiday wear, I've got a tip for you: Take a cue from
the most popular coffee chain in the country and consider selling plain, solid-colored
merchandise--even if it is a little more boring.
Because sometimes less is more.
The
Hanukkah sweater, pulled from Nordstrom’s, is still available on Amazon.com
without the J.A.P. reference.
