A Christian woman ignorantly claimed that Jewish men dated her as an “act of defiance,” and Twitter is ablaze

No matter who you are, it’s a fact of life that relationships are a lot of work. And interfaith or intercultural relationships can come with their own unique sets of challenges. But how you handle these challenges are up to you. And in a recently published op-ed for the Washington Post titled “I am tired of being a Jewish man’s rebellion,” one woman, Carey Purcell, writes that she will no longer date Jewish men as a result of the complications of interfaith relationships.

In the article, Purcell wrote that she has been in two serious relationships with Jewish men, both of whom she describes as “culturally, but not spiritually, Jewish.” In the end, Purcell says, both men broke up with her and went on to marry Jewish women. The conclusion Purcell reaches is that dating her had been an act of rebellion for these men, even though they both told her that her different faith was not an issue.

"I guess dating me had been their last act of defiance against cultural or familial expectations before finding someone who warranted their parents’ approval — perhaps the equivalent of a woman dating a motorcycle-driving, leather-jacket wearing 'bad boy' before settling down with a banker with a 9-5 job," she writes.

Of course, Twitter did not agree with Purcell’s conclusion.

Some users noted that, despite Purcell’s claims to be accepting of her exes’ cultural backgrounds, the article uses a number of Jewish stereotypes, such as describing one of her exes’ mothers as “extremely overbearing.” And some parodied Purcell’s stereotypical portrayals with stereotypes of their own. false false

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Some took issue with Purcell forming her opinion of Jewish men based on two relationships.

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https://twitter.com/udfredirect/status/980857542552166400

Some even said that Purcell’s views amounted to anti-Semitism.

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By deciding not to date an entire group of people based solely on two experiences, Purcell is not only limiting her dating options but also jumping to conclusions about all Jewish people. And the idea that having a relationship with a non-Jewish woman is a “Jewish man’s rebellion” is offensive — after all, it’s much more likely that Purcell’s exes dated her simply because they liked her. All relationships require work, and to dismiss interfaith relationships as too complicated really misses the mark — and earns Twitter’s ire.