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Nov. 20, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: How to make every second of your life come first
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Nov. 19, 2009
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Jonathan Tobin: ADL Crosses the Line with Report Bashing Obama Critics
Nov. 18, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: What Judaism has to say about the secret of the Mona Lisa's smile
JWisdom.com: The (Jewish) Dating Game with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
Nov. 17, 2009
Steven Emerson: How Does the 4th Amendment Impact Terror Finance Investigations?
JWisdom.com: If Frank Sinatra married Edith Piaf with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein (2 minutes) Life lessons from what would be regarded as the most inappropriate lyrics ever sung
Nov. 16, 2009
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : When borrowing is stealing
JWisdom.com: Deconstructing faith with Rabbi Warren Goldstein (9 minutes)
Nov. 13, 2009
JWisdom.com Sarah's subjective reality with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 6 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: Obama's failure, Netanyahu's opportunity
Nov. 12, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet By Marialisa Calta : A sweet sweet potato treat
JWisdom.com Does God get tired? with Rabbi Harvey Belovski ( 5 minutes)
Nov. 11, 2009
Rabbi Avi Shafran: Jews and money: When anti-Semitism isn't
JWisdom.com Marriages are not made in Heaven with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (VERY fast 15 minutes)
Nov. 10, 2009
Michael Doyle: Author of book exposing CAIR ordered to remove supporting documents from Web
JWisdom.com If the creation so loudly shouts the existence of the Creator, why aren't more people believers? with Rabbi Naftali Brawer (9 minutes)
Nov. 9, 2009
Mark Steyn: Shooter exposes hole in U.S. terror strategy
JWisdom.com It's never too late to have a happy childhood with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Nov. 6, 2009
Rabbi Berel Wein: Choosing to hear
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick The mullahs' big week
Suzanne Fields A Fallen Wall for Fallen Man
Nov. 5, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet: Three scrumptious -- but simple -- butternut squash dishes
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger: Should prayers be covered?
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
Martin Peretz: Beware, Barack. Beware, Rahm. Beware, Axelrod
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater? With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The Holocaust is now on Facebook
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review June 1, 2006 / 5 Sivan, 5766

Perky people of the world, unite!

By Lenore Skenazy


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | To be perky in America is to be treated like a pet (or pinup): People may adore you, but they're not expecting you to explain the implications of higher grain tariffs. That's why Katie's accession to anchor is so important: Not that she made it to the big time, but that she made it while being perky!


She didn't hide her sunny nature — she flaunted it. She knew she could dress up like Marilyn Monroe and interview a Saudi prince (though, wisely, not at the same time). She could even show us her colon — a brilliant idea but a little wacky, too. She could have become a national joke, but she didn't, because we all knew her personal story — a sad one. And yet, she was happier than most of the folks in TV news. She kicked it up (nice legs!) and smiled shamelessly. As such, she gave new hope to a group long dismissed as lightweights: the perky people.


Katie Couric is the Jackie Robinson of Perky Liberation.


Now, perky folk may seem like the last people to need liberating, but in fact, there's still a heap of prejudice against them.


"I was at a barbecue on Monday and everyone was talking about, 'How can you take Katie Couric seriously?'" says Lois Whitman, president of a PR firm here in the city. "I said, 'You've got to be kidding! Yes, she's perky, but there are very few people on Earth who can take the front page news, understand it and get us all to comprehend it. I was pretty astounded at everyone's attitude just because she's female, pretty and perky."


Well, I wasn't. "Perky" may sound sweet, but it hints of condescension, too. "You never hear anyone lanky called 'perky,'" notes my diminutive friend Marla, who is, in fact, perky. "It's only the short ones."


It's also only the female ones. "I cannot think of any male who'd be called perky," said Nancy Deihl, a professor of fashion history. "It carries a certain cheerleader edge."


A cheerleader edge is not the quality we usually associate with intelligence — or promotion, or leadership.


Or anchorship. Until now, the quality most sought after was (snore) "gravitas," which somehow always came coupled with a deep voice and zero giggling.

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Then along came Katie (never Katherine) — an actual former cheerleader who combined smarts and smiles for 15 years. She showed America that just because you sometimes act silly doesn't mean you're not a heavy, too.


It's called rolling with the punches. It's called intelligence. It's called being perky, and it's something to be proud of.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Lenore Skenazy is a columnist for The New York Daily News. Comment by clicking here.

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© 2006, NY Daily News

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