Nice Jewish Girls: A Lesbian Anthology

by Evelyn Torton Beck (Editor)

A stunning collection of angry, bitter, proud, and joyful writing - poetry, stories, history, analysis, autobiography - on Jewish lesbian identity. With a new section on mother/daughter relationships, new and updated material on Israel, and new poetry and photographs.

Genres: Jewish, LGBT, Nonfiction, Lesbian, Queer, Judaism, Feminism

333 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[lil · Rating 4 out of 5]

can’t believe how long this took me to read. so many brilliant musings about lesbian/jewish identities and communities, and antisemitism. especially loved the contributions from irena klepfisz, adrienne rich, judith plaskow. the lib zionist sentiments of the 80s didn’t age well (klepfisz has said this in hindsight) and i had to skip some parts but still so so so worth reading

[ashes ➷ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great! Good vintage Jewish lesbian read, which isn't something I get to say often. Definitely still timely; not much I can say beyond that... I just definitely appreciate it.

[Emmett Dubnoff · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have so many thoughts on this, have been boring my friends with rants about it for days. Am going to use this review as a way to take note of my thoughts for my own interest. I feel overall a lot of missed potential with this anthology. Is it fair for me to feel this about an anthology from the 80s? Maybe.

Key thoughts:
1. Near exclusive focus on oppression and isolation rather than culture: There is a LOT to be said about interesting characteristics of Jewish dykeness, such as how Jewish womanhood interacts with lesbian spiritually and culturally. There is a wealth of cultural material that is interesting relating to the intersection of Judaism and dykness compounded by the variety of ways there are to be either. Instead of exploring much of this, the writers, time and time again, talk nearly exclusively about the isolation they feel expereincing homophobia in Jewish spaces and antisemitism in lesbian spaces. More on the antisemitism in a bit, but overall I found myself tired of this narrative. They mentioned Jewish dyke spaces yet so rarely acually described what such spaces looked like—why in the world would you not actually explore it? I found the lack of exploration of Jewish lesbian cultural production a huge missed opportunity. I don’t mind hearing about the intersected oppression and find that useful to explore but it cannot be the entirety of it.

2. The antisemitism in question: the types of antisemitism complained about in the lesbian feminist spaces discussed in this book would usually fall into three categories: first, non violent but still legit and concerning furthering of stereotypes and conspiracy theories. Fair to be concerned about being branded money hungry and controlling jews. Second: omission of Jewish oppression. While all oppressions must be dealt with in order to resolve any, I don’t find it necessary to discuss every form of oppression when talking about every other, and I don’t think it is antisemitic to not mention Jews every single time. By their logic, I would find it more harmful that indigenous Americans’ oppression was not mentioned more than around twice given that most of this writing is set in American colonized land. Sure, it’s good to acknowledge antisemitism in ones activism but occasional omissions from workshops at feminist conferences does not seem inherently antisemitic to me. Third, of course, so many of the writers would talk of antizionism as antisemitism. They found the presence of antizionist rhetoric in lesbian feminist spaces to be antisemitic, and would bitch about not fitting in because of it. I mostly only find the first type of antisemitism described in these lesbian feminist spaces to be valid complaints against the spaces.

3. The Zionism: if one were to accept the discussion mentioned above on “omission” as a form of antisemitism, than the complete omission of antizionist Jewish dyke perspectives in this anthology is even more irritating. You cannot include even one Jewish lesbian that identifies as an antizionist? Every single writer to discussed Palestine was a two state solutioner. Call me crazy for doubting that every Jewish dyke in the 80s felt this way. I’m not even mad that Zionist perspectives were included as this is an anthology of Jewish lesbian art and thought and some Jewish lesbians are and were zionists (as much of a contradiction I feel that to be) but it’s not monolithic and weird to not expand on that despite the 60 pages on Israel?!!!

Positives of the book: discussions of Jewish motherhood in relation to lesbianism, stories of mothers coming out after already having children because of it. Jewish lesbian siblings to straight siblings. A singular short story. An Adrienne Rich essay. A series of photographs of the Jewish dykes in question. Brief (too brief) discussions on yiddishkayt. Getting to read stories of lesbian holocaust survivors and descendants of survivors more immediate than me, finding connection there.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think I can accurately rate this since I'm not Jewish (but I am a queer woman). I found this book in the "free/discontinued" section of my local library and since I'm always looking for LGBTQ literature I figured I'd grab it and give it a try. The edition I had was from '82. I thought it was neat to read about all these women's perspectives and have an idea of where the women's movement was in the late 70's-80's, even though it's a bit dated. I honestly didn't know a ton about the Jewish community since I grew up in a predominately Christian area, so I'm glad I had the opportunity to read this.

[Nate Merrill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of the I/P stuff is very dated, but still interesting and worth reading. The antisemitism and homophobia stuffis very good, and definitely still relevant today. Irena Klepfisz and Melanie Kaye-Kantrowitz z"l especially remain essential reading.

[Teddy Goetz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A striking panel of diverse, rich perspectives set up in a page-turner of a volume. Remains extremely relevant today.

[Alice Grossman · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful and niche x

[Hal Schrieve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read one of the earlier editions of this book, from the 1970s. It's an incredible historical document, and--thrillingly --includes fairly early work by writers like Adrienne Rich and Elana Dykewomon that would become even more prominent in their circles over the coming generations. In the early edition I read many of the contributors were Holocaust survivors or people whose families had immigrated in the years immediately preceding ; there are also some contributors from Arab countries whose families fled in the wake of anti-Jewish measures their states enacted in the wake of Israel's founding. In addition, there are a couple contributions from black Jewish women. Because the volume I read was from the 1970s, its politics concerning Israel have a markedly different tone, which is useful for me, for context. It's an incredible book that tries to do a lot of things with itself . It doesn't cover all ground , and many of its contributors have been the subject of heated debate and scrutiny, many for good reason, but it was important when it was written and is equally vital now.

[Elianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I have ever read. If you want to learn more about the History of intersectionality, I highly suggest this book. It offers a wide variety of stories and personal anecdotes on the history of intersectionality before intersectionality was even a term.

[Abi · Rating 5 out of 5]

a classic. a must read for Jewish Lesbians and the people that love them.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

pleased to announce that a good, like, nine months after i 1. found this at the hyde park used book sale but didn't buy it because i was just briefly stopping by, not making my Big Haul Purchase 2. made two friends (gay male allies, one could say) hide it for me so no one else would snag it in my absence 3. made a photo of me holding this book my twitter icon after my sister took said photo at a dessert potluck my apartment hosted, i actually read this book. it's...what you would expect of a jewish lesbian anthology from the eighties, as specific as that might seem: something close to but vastly different from a sort of jewish lesbian life now, cute, entertaining, fascinating lives, valuable as history & not really as living guide. the opinions of israel/level of zionist commitment here were rather...unexpectedly positive/high, but that may just be 2017 speaking. all the same, the more-than-once-expressed opinion that one can't disentangle anti-zionism and anti-semitism was startling & disappointing—i pin this on the majority perspective of ashkenazi jews with living experiences of the holocaust & holocaust-related trauma, which somehow as a Dumb Millennial i didn't realize an adult in the 1980s could have...been in and survived. a welcome attempt to attend to the experiences of non-ashkenazi jews & jews of color. some embarrassing fiction. some very embarrassing poetry. (even the irena klepfizs, who i read in a class once and seemed pretty good then. one wishes the adrienne rich essay were accompanied by poetry!) et cetera.

[Rachel Tsipan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is 40 years old yet sounds like it’s written today. Super relatable as a liberal queer Jew, outlining how antisemitism looks on both sides of the political spectrum, the dilemma between holding onto precious tradition vs foraging a new life path, and the courage of Jewish women!!

If you said it’s a good book but that you skipped the parts about Israel, congrats: you’re one of the antisemitic left wingers mentioned in the book 😉

[l · Rating 4 out of 5]

I skipped the part on Israel. Some really great essays.

[Jim Dear · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though dated, I absolutely loved this anthology. I loved reading about the history of my community and being able to relate to so much of it. A worthwhile read.

[Madeleine Wolberg]

Decided I’m not going to rate personal essays/memoirs etc but this was a really amazing and enlightening read and surprisingly still so relevant

[alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

very proud to be a jewish lesbian :)

[HeavyReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an excellent anthology with a lot of good writing.

Recommended

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. Read it.