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Mother knows best — blame a serious issue By Allison Kowalski The history department’s second annual Robert Marcus Memorial Lecture was held Wednesday, April 2 in the Cooper New York Room. Marcus was the chair of the history department from 1998 until his unexpected death in 2000. Marcus was a child of the Depression and earned degrees from Colombia University and Northwestern University. Dr. Owen Ireland of the history department said Marcus exemplified “rare talent.” “His death shocked and saddened us all,” Ireland said. For the past two years, the department has hosted lectures in his honor, and this year’s presenter was Dr. Joyce Antler with “You Never Call, You Never Write: A Historical Perspective on Mother Blame.” Antler is the Samuel Lane Professor of American Jewish Studies and Culture at Brandeis University. She also serves as the undergraduate advising chair of the American Studies department. Though Antler has more than 10 books under her belt, she is the co-author of the historical drama, Year One of the Empire: A Play of American Politics, War and Protest. The play opened off-Broadway in March 2008 and was successful. This year’s memorial lecture was particularly special because Antler was a student of Marcus’ at SUNY Stonybrook. Antler said Marcus encouraged her throughout her studies. “Bob was my teacher, my friend, my neighbor,” Antler said. After sharing fond memories of Marcus, Antler began her presentation about mothers, specifically the Jewish mother, which can be used universally for all mothers. Some people see their mothers as overprotective and always mockingly joke about them, Antler said. Antler proceeded to play off a few Jewish mother jokes such as: “What is the difference between a Jewish mother and a rotweiller?” “A rotweiller will eventually let go,” Antler said. After breaking the ice, Antler posed the question whether there is reality to the Jewish mother jokes in society. “There is a lot to laugh at, yet this topic must be taken seriously,” Antler said. The idea of the Jewish mother is that some people don’t understand they are true women who are unfortunately mocked or remain invisible. Antler’s mother was a stay-at-home mom who helped her husband run his two doctor’s offices. Though her mother took care of the house, family and business, she remained invisible and her hard work was not recognized, Antler said. Especially in modern television, Jewish mother figures are laughed at and not recognized for their contributions. “The Nanny,” a popular television show in the ’90s, showed a hilarious, often ditzy Jewish nanny who looked after her employer’s two daughters and one son. Though “The Nanny” provided a great deal of laughs and the purpose of the show was comedic, “The Nanny” was never recognized for her work in raising children. In reality, Jewish mothers are underappreciated as well because they are stereotyped. Some of the stereotypes include overfeeding and overprotecting children. Sons and daughters avoid their mother because they know they will be reprimanded, Antler said. To end the evening, Antler left the audience with one last Jewish mother joke — A Jewish mother calls her daughter and tells her to put on extra layers of clothing because it is snowing outside. Yet after reflection, the Jewish mother says its better to not go outside at all so the daughter does not become ill. A Jewish feminist mother also calls her daughter and tells her it’s snowing. Instead of telling her to not go outside, she tells her daughter to go out and shovel the sidewalk because she doesn’t need a man to do it for her. |
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