Jewish Women: Annoying, but Hot

There are times in life when I’m going about my business, attempting to do my job on very little sleep, reading about Jewish history and thinking, wrongly, that I am fully prepared for an onslaught of stupid at every turn. The times when I have been lulled into a false sense of security, of complacency, when I wrongly assume that I can face the stupid in the world with dignity, these are the times when I come across this type of statement: “Jewish women have a cultured look to them… Some men find their intelligence, their talk, their chatter appealing, and some men find it annoying — Jewish men in particular.”

The context? An article in the Forward, a publication I enjoy regularly, about a reality T.V. show attempting to find the country’s Hottest Mom. Don’t think you misread that sentence. Executive vice president and principal of the marketing firm Buzznation Jeff Greenfield, to whom the above quote may be attributed, organized auditions across the country for hot moms and he thinks that maybe, just maybe, a Jewish woman may win. Shock of all shocks.

Just in case you think that the contest is limited to looks alone, Greenfield would never be that shallow. He says, “A hot mom is someone who can balance family and time for herself. And then, of course, there’s beauty — and hygiene is always important.” Brush your teeth and pull on your skinny jeans, we're going to Hollywood! To review, for those of you who missed it: a hot mom is a woman who is hot and a mom. Deep. Even the logo reflects the many levels on which the contest will judge these women. The Forward reports that Greenfield plans to have an animation of a woman “cooking and patting a child, and then she takes off her apron and she’s wearing sexy jeans…Because that’s hot.”

But let’s get back to the comment that initially struck me dumb. I’ve often heard of Jewish women eroticized as “ethnic,” but to reference our “chatter”? And to assert that “Jewish men in particular” find it annoying? How do I even address this level of stupidity? Although, I suppose writing a five hundred word rant about calling Jewish women annoyingly chatty hardly bolsters my case.

Sigh.

For a more considered and considerably better written post, read Yo, Yenta's Who's Hot? Your Mom.

(For the uninitiated, the woman in the picture is none other than the fabulous Judy Gold, who is not only hot and a mom, but who's show "25 Questions for a Jewish Mother" opened this month to rave reviews.)