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Eliza Bayroff

Eliza Bayroff

Eliza Bayroff is an alumna of the 2014–2015 cohort of the Rising Voices Fellowship. She recently graduated from Barnard College, where she studied dramatic literature. She is passionate about volunteerism, sexual and reproductive health, labor issues, and New Mexican Cinema.

Blog Posts

Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams in "Dick," 1999

1999 Watergate Comedy, "Dick," Teaches Us to Take Teen Girls Seriously

Eliza Bayroff

What can we learn from this 1999 coming-of-age comedy in 2020?

Eliza Bayroff

Writing My Identity

Eliza Bayroff

Sometimes, I just wish that life came with a script. Whether catching up with a friend or chit-chatting with a relative, the thought of having well-written, tidy responses laid out for me is a tantalizing prospect. Never again would I have to worry about saying the wrong thing, tripping over words, or completely misusing language in a misguided attempt to sound smarter than I actually am. Alas, life is not scripted.

Topics: Writing
"Orestes Pursued by the Furies," 1921, by John Singer Sargent

Not To Sound Like an Angry Feminist...

Eliza Bayroff

Anger is powerful. Anger is useful. If you insult me at the bowling alley, I am bound to bowl a strike right after. I tend to utilize anger in three areas: passive aggressive, the rare occasions where I engage in competitions, and talking about feminist issues. Not to sound like an angry feminist, but there is a lot to be angry about on that front.

Topics: Feminism
Bitch Magazine Front Cover

Bitch, reclaimed?

Eliza Bayroff

Sometimes, my shame overwhelms me mid-phrase, and I am only able to get half-way through the final word: “What a bi…” before I chastise myself thoroughly. “Stop it. You are a feminist now, Eliza. You are supposed to be better than this.”

Stav Shaffir

“Hatikvah” of Stav Shaffir

Eliza Bayroff

Often, when I see an article about Israel in a magazine or a newspaper, a gnawing sense of despair wells up in my chest. As the country’s political and class conflicts seems to stagnate and worsen, I have found it easier to avoid such news altogether. I don’t like feeling that way. I hate feeling that way. Though I may not always agree with the actions of the state, I am invested in Israel and want her to succeed and thrive. But as I grow older and more aware, my cynicism often diminishes my capacity for hope.

Lysol Advertisement

Seeing is Believing

Eliza Bayroff

These advertisements, written roughly forty to fifty years ago, speak for themselves. (I found them in a blog post called “Vintage Politically-Incorrect Advertising”—never have I been more grateful for political correctness.) Interestingly, all of them seemed to be aimed at men. I suspect the reason for that is a simple one: the men, at the least in the eyes of the ad men, were the ones with the money in their pockets.

Rachel by Joseph von Führich, 1836

Hannah's Ghost

Eliza Bayroff

I love Hanukkah. Always have. Eight crazy nights of games, presents, impromptu dance parties to the songs of Jewish musical maestro Paul Zim, and examinations of a stack of illustrated children’s books about the holiday, among them one very special giant-sized coloring book. (When I tell you giant-sized, I mean the length and width of an average toddler.)

Corset Illustration

Corset On, Corset Off

Eliza Bayroff

For most of my life, my fashion sense has been dictated more by what I don’t want to wear than what I do want to wear. Socks with seams? Nope. Tight jeans? No way. Itchy sweaters? Out of the question! I feel almost nothing towards clothes, and when I do feel anything, it is usually frustration at tedious trips to the mall and or the seamstress shop. Sure, I enjoy looking “good.” But I have never really had any idea what “good” actually means.

Sophie Tucker Portrait

Sophie Tucker: All About That Bass

Eliza Bayroff

Sophie Tucker was a heavyweight performer—in every sense of the word. Right up to her death in 1966 at age 82, Tucker, the so-called “Last of the Red Hot Mamas,” took her act worldwide, combining her singing talents and bawdy humor into a legendary act that would manage to survive the demise of vaudeville and the dawn of the television age—all while remaining determinedly and definitively plus-sized.

Torah

Torah Reading Between the Lines

Eliza Bayroff

As it turns out, reading before my congregation on Saturday mornings gives me far more pride in being a young woman than almost anything else in my life.

Topics: Feminism

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How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Eliza Bayroff." (Viewed on March 19, 2024) <http://jwa.org/blog/author/eliza-bayroff>.