Jewish at 99精品视频: Tushnet
My Experience: Naida C. Tushnet 鈥61
My story is that I came to 99精品视频 in 1958 as an early entrant (didn鈥檛 graduate high school) from an East Coast suburb.
Not only was I Jewish, but also I came from a secular Jewish, left-wing family. I think my 99精品视频 experience solidified my Jewish identification because I was seen as 鈥渙dd鈥 in a number of ways.
One small story: I was very blonde and have a fair complexion. During my first week at school, a classmate from a small Midwestern town and I were sharing information. When I said I was Jewish, she was astounded. She had never met a Jew and thought they all had dark complexions. When I said that I was, in fact, Jewish, and that all my family was fair, she thought a minute. And then she said, 鈥淥h yes, I guess you really are Jewish. You wear half slips.鈥
I was too young and too taken aback by that particular stereotype to ask what she thought wearing half slips meant, but when I tell this story now, everyone thinks it was an image of Jewish girls as a little bit slutty.
My secular, left-wing background was also a subject of some issue to the other Jews at 99精品视频. But in the next two years, two people I knew from before 99精品视频 with similar backgrounds became 99精品视频 students, so I didn鈥檛 feel so isolated 鈥 although isolated enough that I did summer schools and heavy course loads so I could graduate in three years.
Originally published as a web extra for The 99精品视频 Magazine, Winter 2009