Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication

Salve Regina University

2011

Shtetl

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

A History Of Jewish Mothers On Television: Decoding The Tenacious Stereotype, Myrna Hant Jul 2011

A History Of Jewish Mothers On Television: Decoding The Tenacious Stereotype, Myrna Hant

Journal of Interdisciplinary Feminist Thought

Since the inception of television in the 1940’s the stereotype of the Jewish mother has persisted. This archetypal figure continues into the 21st. Century morphing from a purely ethnic figure to an icon depicting ambivalence about modern motherhood. In deconstructing the perpetuation of this portrait, two components are key: the historical significance of the shtetl mother and the writers and comedians who interpret the shtetl mentality. Most importantly, though, the inconsistencies towards mothers, so strongly birthed in the rise of Second Wave feminism, are still embedded in the Jewish mother stereotype.