Jewish women at the Super Bowl

I could care less about football, but I look forward to the Super Bowl every year. Super Bowl means super fatty chips, dip and pizza. It's one of those not-so-rare days on the American calendar where it would be socially unacceptable not to stuff your face.

Then there's Animal Planet's annual Puppy Bowl, which I'm watching as I write this. Consisting of about a dozen of the cutest puppies equipped with squeaky toys, a water bowl cam and lethargic bunny cheerleaders, the Puppy Bowl is the exact dose of cuteness necessary to sit through three hours of football.

Finally, there are the commercials. It's the one time of the year when I get up for seconds during the show, and settle into my seat during the ads. I like to say it's because I was a journalism and communications major, and I have a professional interest in the most expensive ad space of the year. But really, I just love the Budweiser Clydesdale commercials.

This year, there was a trend among the commercials that tread a fine line between women bashing and "strong woman." There was the Dodge Charger "Man's Last Stand" commercial, where a man lists all of the tedious responsibilities his wife forces him into. He accepts his fate on the one condition that he can drive the car he wants, this compromise being "Man's Last Stand."

The Dove commercial, selling their men's soap line, follows a man from birth to marriage to all of his "manly duties," like checking out noises in the middle of the night and changing tires in the rain while she waits in the car, that his wife expects of him. It's a far cry from Dove's "Campaign for Real Beauty."

Others include the FLO TV "Injury Report," where a woman surgically removes her boyfriend's spine and forces him to shop with her instead of watching the game, or Bud Light's "Book Club" , where a man and his friends tolerate a woman's book club meeting because they have Bud Light.

It's not that any of these commercials came as a surprise. The dominant woman has been navigating her way through multiple media for the last decade. At first, she was a humorous, respectable character, standing up against the repression of the American housewife of the 1950s. But now she's turned into somewhat of a cliche, stepping out of her boundaries and repressing her man's "natural right" to lead the household.

I wonder how much of these thriving images are based on the long-time evolving Jewish woman. I don't know where or when the Jewish woman as the confident head of the family emerged, but she's something I joke about. Like, when Jeff and I decide to get married, we'll ask our Jewish mothers to exchange phone numbers and send us an invitation. Or, excusing my fifth call to the vet with, I'm a Jewish woman, so it's normal that I'm calling again about the strange noise my guinea pig made this morning.

I have always respected the Jewish women in my life, knowing that I would one day be one. But these main stream, ball busting women are undermining my role models, overplaying their dominance and erasing their wisdom. They should've just left the Jewish woman where she belongs-- with the Jews.