Before <i>Those</i> Princesses of Long Island...

Listen, Bravo: Not to pander to stereotype, but I have had my own success playing matchmaker.
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While another group gained far more momentum on Facebook, I too started a page beseeching Bravo TV to cancel The Princesses of Long Island.

Personally, I found the show to be too juvenile for the network's Housewives-loving audience. I mean, would Tamara Barney, the shameless and perfectly blunt OC housewife, deign to drink with these Jewish, 'Jersey Shore' wannabes? (They aren't succeeding in their efforts! I must defend my meatballs of Seaside.) I think not. This has me scratching my head over the fact that producer Andy Cohen, who I adore, approved the series. The median age of the "Bravolebrity" falls somewhere near 42, with a few relatively well-adjusted younger pals (Porsha, Lydia) under the well-meaning (??) maternal wings of their more mature (chronologically) cast mates, and in mid-flight (Lydia, of the OC franchise, in particular, is taking off).

The Princesses give us drunken shenanigans that clearly are directed as Snooki missives but completely miss the mark. These are rich kids from Long Island who were obviously told to Jewy it on up with the dialogue. As my 33 year old sister remarked, "No one below the age of 62 says 'shvitzing' on a regular basis." It seems that chief Princess, Chanel can't stop saying that Yiddish word which means "sweating," and my friend Valerie can't get over Chanel's line about the girls being up to their "mezuzahs with men" on a night spent partying at a club. If you have Jewish friends, you know that no one really speaks like this and have concluded that the Princesses have been coached to amp up the oy factor...Bigtime.

But before these kids made their television debut, offending Jews from Freeport and other parts of Long Island who do not want them as representatives, I knew girls who were proud to flaunt their "Jewish American Princess" stereotype. These young women posted Facebook pictures of their latest Louboutin's, attached to personal trainer-toned, spray-tanned legs under Missoni (NOT for Target) maxis. They too hailed from Long Island and were proud to be princesses - with a caveat. While they copped to showing off, they also hosted charitable functions and were famous for their philanthropic efforts, a component thus far missing on the Bravo series. Instead, the series seems to be about entitlement, living on daddy's dollar, and - well, let's give this to them - two entrepreneurial efforts (the lip gloss line: kosher, but the jury's still out on the need for a drink hanky).

My princesses in Long Island have raised money for a father who suffered a brain injury, they've given couture items to tzeddakah (charity), helping folks greatly in need, and while it's true that some of them do sound like Fran Drescher as The Nanny, I can forgive them for that. They've volunteered time, effort and money to causes that I personally have promoted, like raising money for a family that lost their home to Hurricane Sandy and has to rebuild it to accommodate the physical challenges of a mother with ALS.

I must admit that I've never been prouder to say I'm not a rich girl from Long Island - The ones I know are taking a lot of heat at the moment due to the airing of this series. I am a simple Jewish girl originally from Yonkers, and as my 39th birthday approaches, I better rethink the word "girl" in my self-depiction. I am on a budget and the only couture items that I've bought recently are "Tarjay" or from a consignment store - in Teaneck, NJ. But I can can respect a true princess, someone who is giving of themselves, who works as hard as they play, and can show it off because they've earned it. While there is one character, Joey, on the Bravo series that seems to have worked hard for what she's achieving, I would have been happy to see more of that ethic on Princesses. Overall, my objection is not about the Jewish stereotype - or even about the Princess stereotype - but about the type of Jewish Princess producer's selected.

Listen, Bravo: Not to pander to stereotype, but I have had my own success playing matchmaker. If you would like, I can introduce you to some beautiful,interesting, quality Jewish girls...

and do my part to help revamp the series.

Call me. (oy vey.)

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