Stock Images: What Cookbooks, Advertisements, and Chicken Soup Recipes Tell Us About Jewish America

The Jewish Mother

Sarna writes about the "post-war Golden Age" of security and social acceptance for American Jews. WWII ushered in a turning of the tide as Jews became integrated into White America - and at the same time, the Jewish Mother stereotype took on a new form. The Jewish Mother was not just a manifestation of Old World versus New World, but rather of "ambivalence about joining the American middle class— reflected in ongoing debates about suburbanization, the conflicting demands of leisure and work, and changing child-rearing styles" (Antler). As before, Jewish Mothers were both “sentimentalized and vilified” (Prell), but this time, it's because they want to work, or work too much; they want children, but not too many; they need to give, but they give too much. They have too much time on their hands, now that they're middle class and living in their own home - so they turn to nagging, and feeding, and moralizing, and fretting. They were culturally constructed - largely in the New York comedy scene - as "excessive givers," “arrogant, spoiled and exceptionally aggressive” (Antler, Kranson). They're the mother looking through the white picket fence to ensure her children make it to school on time. They're the PTA mom, demanding teachers support their children as they see best fit. They're inherently suburban - not interesting and individual, but monolithic and cookie cutter. One Jewish mother could be substituted for another, just as one suburb could stand in for the next neighborhood over. No matter who she really is, she comes across as the nagging, "are you hungry?," "where are my grandchildren?" stereotype that still resonates today.

WWII also led to de-facto affirmative action programs for Jews, who had been excluded from government programs and education systems for decades. Some of that comes through the G.I. Bill, which afforded my great-grandparents enough support to buy a single-family home, but it also comes through the FHA redistricting maps and starting to grant loans to Jewish Americans. They could move outside of the city, could afford to have land. Even William L. Levitt of planned community infamy was Jewish! The suburban population of Jews doubled between the 50s and 60s, outpacing other groups' suburbanization, which averaged 29% (Prell). 

This page has paths: