Anti-Semitism has raised its ugly face again Friday – this time, in a quiz published in the New Yorker.
The quiz, entitled “Dog or Jewish Boyfriend? A Quiz” was written by controversial Girls actress Lena Dunham.
In the article, Dunham – who is herself Jewish – makes a number of comparisons between Jewish men and her dog that are apparently meant to be humorous.
The questions play up a number of stereotypes about American Jewish men, including having asthma, being “cheap” (he leaves his wallet at home and never tips, she claims), and being “intimidated” by her father’s “Waspy” (i.e. White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) demeanor.
Several of the “questions” are downright attacks on what she claims are Jewish culture.
“I feel that he is judgmental about the food I serve him. When I make something from scratch, he doesn’t want to eat it, but he also rejects most store-bought dinners,” read questions 8-10. “This is because he comes from a culture in which mothers focus every ounce of their attention on their offspring and don’t acknowledge their own need for independence as women. They are sucked dry by their children, who ultimately leave them as soon as they find suitable mates.”
“As a result of this dynamic, he expects to be waited on hand and foot by the women in his life, and anything less than that makes him whiny and distant,” she adds.
In another question, she quips, “he has hair all over his body, like most males who share his background.”
The quiz is due to be published in the New Yorker’s March 30, 2015 issue.
Its publication immediately sparked backlash.
Kveller author Jordana Horn penned a response Thursday, in an article titled “Lena Dunham Equated Jews to Dogs & That’s Not OK,” noting that statements like hers are a slippery slope into blatant anti-Semitism given a free pass in respectable press.
“To dehumanize people, one of the first steps is to call them non-people or animals,” she noted, adding that anti-Semites have been comparing Jews to dogs for hundreds of years. She also challenged readers to imagine what the response would be if the title was “Dog or Black Boyfriend?: A Quiz.”
