Don't call me what?!

When I was a fourteen year old freshman in High School my Literature teacher, Mr. Cornelius, started calling the only non-white person in my class the "Persian playboy". The kid thought it was cute, and would retain a huge grin when Mr. Cornelius would call on him using the name "Persian playboy" on a daily basis, for the entire year. It was a compliment to him, because the kid would always try to act like a ladies man. Me and the other girls all thought he was a little shrimp and a total pathetic creep.

But Mr. Cornelius loved pumping up this kids ego, even though he never seemed to know the answer to the question, or do his homework. Looking back, I had this class with the "Persian playboy" for a year, and to this day I do not know his real name.

Even as a young teenager, I was disgusted by the mere mention of this nickname, and felt it to be both racist and sexist. Though at the time I had no idea how racism or sexism really worked, but in my head I knew giving this kid this label would fuck him up for life, and that it had an effect on the people around him, the way they perceived him. Fuck, it still resonates with me ten years later.

After the first month of class with Mr. Cornelius, he started to become much more comfortable with speaking openly with us and it became clear he was in complete control of this class.
I had mixed feelings about him, part of me was very intrigued by his asshole-demeanor, the other half completely despised this evil evil man.

It became clear which half I was to resonate with, when one day Mr. Cornelius asked me if I knew what a JAP was, in front of the entire attentive classroom.

I hate being put on the spot, and I had no idea, but I guessed, "I don't know. A japanese person?"
He responded, "Well.. no. It stands for Jewish American Princess. Typically a young spoiled Jewish girl from a wealthy family. You're Jewish and from L.A., so JAP is your new nickname."

And from then on, I had absolutely no choice but to allow Mr. Cornelius, the most controlling and intimidating instructor I have EVER had in my life, to call me "JAP" or "Jewish American Princess" (if he was feeling especially wordy), every fucking day.

I was young. Confused. Didn't know yet how to respond. I tolerated it, and at first even got some sense of self-worth from this title. I felt like he liked me and the other students were jealous that they didn't have a nickname.

But after some time I realized that it was just me, the JAP, and the Persian Playboy. He was putting me in the "other" category with this little douchebag. I despised this.

We were the only "others" in the class. We weren't WASPs. So in a way, I started to feel some connection to this young wannabe-player, even though I was a secret uber-feminist, I knew that we both would always be labeled as something other than normal in this insanely critical American society.

I am Jewish. I am female. I am from Los Angeles and an upper-middle class family.
I am automatically shoved into a category and stereotyped based upon this labeled group.
There was no escaping this reality of my religion, ethnicity, gender, and class standing identities and they consumed me and all of my life experiences.

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So how does the rest of society perceive this term??

JAP: Either a derogatory term referring to Japanese people or a modernly used acronym for a "Jewish American Princess".

	Urbandictionary.com describes a JAP as: A Jewish girl who is incredibly spoiled in every way, and gets whatever she wants, whenever she wants. Usually out and about. She knows the latest trends and is always up to date on things going on around her.

Or this definition even has precise details of a JAP's accessories:

• A Jewish American Princess (JAP) owns: Hardtail and/or Juicy sweatpants, UGGs, a black puffy North Face, many cut sweatshirts, 2ct diamond earings, a Michele Watch, many long beaded necklaces, a Longchamp bag to carry books in, a Herves bag to carry laptop, a Louis key wallet for keys to their X5, a black RAZR, many Juicy zip-ups, Burberry scarves (NOT THE ORIGINAL COLORS!) , David Yurman jewelery. Dior or Chanel or Gucci sunglasses, 575 jeans, Rock & Republics, Seven for All Mankind denim (with Swarovski crystals), Citizens of Humanity jeans.

JAPs come in male form too! wow:

• Jewish American Prince, can also be used for males. These male japs reside in the upper-middle class suburbs of philadelphia. They think they are city people, simply because they eat cheesesteaks and are sports fans. Their families flaunt their pretty much non-existant wealth by leasing expensive Lexus SUV's while telling the rest of the synagogue that they bought it.

How about a JAP joke? :

• Question: What do JAPs and tampons have in common ?

• Answer: They're both stuck up cunts.