Anti-Semetism Just isn't Funny......

In contrast to being flashy with money, greedy, and wealthy-- apparently, Jews are also cheapskates. It's hard to keep up with the multitude of contradictory and ridiculously generalized stereotypes of Jews and money. When looking up Jewish jokes, I found a common theme... Jews are cheap. The following are just a few examples:

Q. How do you start a Jewish Marathon?
A. Roll a Penny down a Hill.

Q. How was copper wire invented?
A. Many years ago, two Jews found the same penny.

Q. What's the object of Jewish football?
A. To get the quarter back

Q. What time is bed time at the Jew's house?
A. When electricity is too expensive.

The Greedy Jew

The translation of the caption is as follows:

Money Is The God Of The Jews : "The God of the Jews is money. To earn money, he commits the greatest crimes. He will not rest until he can sit on a huge money sack, until he has become the king of money."

The source of this picture and caption is children's book Der Giftpilz written by Ernst Hiemer in Germany. It was used as propaganda during the time of Nazism. It found it very unsettling and shocking that children during this time would read books like this. The Jewish man looks very shifty, is holding a book with the Star of David and guarding a massive bag of money. It depicts Jews as greedy, disgusting, money-hoarders.

"All Jews Carry Gold in a Little Bag Around Their Necks"

This scene from episode 8, season 9 of South Park is very telling of Jewish stereotypes and represents the power of media on popular culture. While it is meant to be satirical and funny, this scene especially was used against me a lot in high school. People would make joking comments about my "Jew gold" and while I could suck it up and laugh with them sometimes, it grew old fast. The danger of satire is that some people can take it as truth. I have noticed this a lot through my research especially on youtube. For example, in Borat there is a scene where he sings "throw the Jew down the well." Sasha Baron Cohen (actor of Borat) is Jewish, so it is meant to be satire, but many youtube users seem to misinterpret the humor. I've seen some extremely horrible and offensive comments agreeing with satire. It is important to remember who the audience is, and what the consequences of producing satire can be.

SUSHI WITH MY GIRLS!!!!!!

http://sushiwithmygirls.com

This blog, religiously followed by JAPs across the country (and probably across the globe) begins with a definition of what it means to be "sushi"

Sushi (adj) – Someone who is A-MAZING, possesses all of the qualities of what is stereotypically jappy, but is not necessarily Jewish. Obviously, this person LOVES sushi. You don’t have to be female to be sushi, but you almost certainly have a direct relationship with a member/ thousands of members of the Sushi 12 Conference:

UPenn

Cornell
Emory
Michigan
Wisconsin
Indiana
BU
Wash U
Syracuse
GW
Arizona
Maryland

It goes on to list 99 disgustingly shallow and obnoxious qualities of a "sushi girl." To list a few applying to money--

1. “I went to Zona.” Translation- I am rich and from Southern California.

2. Private equity. Not sure what it is, but I so want to date a guy who does it!

3. Handbags- at least one for every day of the week.

4. For bros who crave the continuation of the frat life- until their job and their Sushette turn them into their dad- we’ll see you on the StuyTown basketball courts this weekend.

5. First apartment in NYC- The Caroline or Windsor Court.

While this blog is extremely amusing, it portrays JAPs, and JAP culture as flashy, outlandish, obnoxious, and shallow. Repeatedly labeling Jewish youth as "living off their Daddy's money" and having mindless and extravagant lifestyles is dangerous considering the deep rooted stereotypes already embedded in our society. It only validates myths that originated in Medieval moneylending and scape-goating.

My Jewish friends and I laugh at these sites. We find them funny because to some extent, they are true. I know these JAPs from camp, my Israel program, and even college.

BUT.... these are not all Jews.

This is the point of my paper. As long as society recognizes that not all Jews are JAPs, we can laugh at these sites and videos and jokes. When JAP culture becomes JEWISH culture, there are serious consequences.

JAP Culture at University of Michigan

This music video was created by University of Michigan students and was meant to humorously highlight JAP (Jewish American Princess) culture. Urban Dictionary quotes that the "Jewish American Princess [is] a bitchy, spoiled, gold digging Jewish female raised in a wealthy household..." The video features this rich, snobby culture by referring to brand name clothing, weekly brunches, ray bans, north face, uggs, exotic spring breaks, blackberry phones, fro yo, golfing in Boca Raton, using a laundry service, little dogs, expensive cars, tans, and in the end throwing money in the air. This stereotype of Jews being rich and flashy is just one of the many I will be exploring in my essay.