For the final paper, I want to revisit conceptions of Jewish identity in regard to appearance-and/or-gender-based stereotypes. This would involve a couple readings that we have discussed as a class, particularly those brought up by the recent reading of McGinity’s “Shiksappeal.” I intend to put McGinity’s ideas in conversation with those of either Bear Bergman and Laurel Richardson, who both discuss various stereotypes about Jewish looks and behaviors. If this paper were of a larger scope, I would include both of these authors and possibly more, but considering the length of the given prompt, I will resist temptation. Bergman, Richardson, and McGinity all discuss how Jewishness is defined, and what happens when people meet some of those expectations, but go against others. If I were to use the Bergman piece, I would focus on gender stereotypes about Jews and the reality of typical Jewish gender roles. Alternatively, if I were to follow up on Richardson’s essay, I would discuss interfaith marriages and the children they produce, as well as the roles of Jewish parenthood.
As far as the development of ideas, I think I am slightly disappointed by what we were able to cover over just this semester. While had many discussions on gender and race and how they play into definitions of Jewishness, we did not have much in depth discussion on how sexuality (in reference to both sexual activities and orientations) and non-cis-normative gender identities are understood across contemporary Jewish communities. I am left with questions about how issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage, gender-nonconformity, and others are treated across various fields of Jewish thought. I think the ideas that interested me the most were those about people who met some aspects of defined “Jewishness”, but defied others. This includes the women in “Shiksappeal” who acted as Jewish mothers regardless of whether or not they converted, the Mizrahi women who were “Jewish” enough to be in Israel but not enough to keep their children, and Laurel Richardson and her experiences with “looking Jewish”. The notion of feeling pressured to “prove” one’s Jewish identity catches a lot of my attention.
While the semester in leaving me with issues and topics I would like to know more about, it has also given me tools with which I can think about my own answers to these questions. I understand that it is important to examine not only what people say about themselves, but the narrative it is forming and why they are telling it that way, as in our discussion on Finkelman’s essay about Haredi gender ideology. It was helpful to write out my ideas in response to our readings, and I only wish I had made time to write reflections after we discussed readings as a class, to better see the development of my thoughts. In the writing I did in relation to class essays, in which I necessarily returned to ideas post-discussion, I can see a marked improvement in my thinking as well as my writing.
