Body image

Braving a Botoxed World: A Mother's Tale

In the recent Disney/Pixar film, Brave, a young princess defies an age-old custom and fights to make her mother understand that she is not ready for marriage. I know you’d rather not think of the Disney princesses at all, but we live and breathe, and shop at Target, so I contend---if forced to choose among that whole pastel-clad, sugary lot, you’d want your daughter to be more independent, courageous Merida, less Cinderella waiting for her prince to come, right?

Anime Anastasiya-- Good for the feminists?

“To me, being Jewish has always been aligned with women’s empowerment and multiculturalism.

We've Come A Long Way, Rosa: Title IX and The American Jewess

You didn’t think Title IX would reach its 40th birthday and go unrecognized here at JWA, did you?

How Gilda Radner taught me to love my nose

I have my mom’s nose.

"Jewesses with Attitude" gets a makeover

The team at JWA is excited to share the results of our quick and dirty Jewesses with Attitude makeover! We love the updated look and the new and improved functionality of the blog.

Our Bodies, Our Moms

Last Sunday on Postsecret, someone sent in a postcard (pictured right) about mothers, daughters, and body image. I think most can relate to the anonymous author of the Postsecret card.

Rachel Berry's nose job

Glee might be a poorly written, pandering, and completely infuriating show, but it remains to be the only mainstream TV show today with a l

My Feminist Nose Job

Yes, I’ve had one.  No I don’t regret it.  

Fetishizing the Jewess


From "The rise of the hot Jewish girl" in Details magazine.

Jewish women are hot right now. According to an article in the men’s magazine Details, “Jewish women have become the ethnic fetish du jour.”  And in true men’s magazine fashion, Christopher Noxon revels in the opportunity to eroticize and exoticize Jewish women; using dehumanizing terms like “cultural mutt” and “JILF,” meaning “Jew I’d like to…” -- you get the idea. 

This article does little more than call attention to the misogynistic trend it then goes on to abuse for shock value, and Irin Carmon does a great job of breaking it down at Jezebel.  Yet the use of the word “Jewess” in the article was particularly troubling for me, as a Jewesses with Attitude blogger.  Given the continued derogatory use of the word “Jewess,” can the term ever really be reclaimed?  And how do Jewish women feel about being the object of a sexual fetish?

What is Jewish hair?

Photo: "Great Jewish Hair" by Sashinka-uk

The buzz about Good Hair, Chris Rock's new documentary about Black hair, has got me thinking about "Jewish hair": what it is, what it means, and where I -- a straight-haired woman -- fit into this curious piece of Jewish identity. 

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