Is J.A.P. in the dictionary?

When asked what I learned from the past readings, by first reaction was "well, i guess my eyes have been opened even more to the harsh cruelties of life". But of course I knew that this was not only an unacceptable answer, but the easy way out. So I really sat down to think about it and came up with a few things that I honestly would never have known had I not read these, aside from the fact that I read with a white-as-normal and heterocentric attitude without even realizing it.
The first story about the Jewish American Princesses, or J.A.P.'s really threw me for a loop. I had never in my life heard that term, or even thought of it as something that maybe existed somewhere. I thought the entire Jewish hatred era was over, but I guess nothing is ever completely over when you think about it. Basically these girls come from families with money and are ridiculed for it, but the ridicule is doubled for the simple fact that they are Jewish. Jewish stereotypes, they are good with numbers, conservative, and penny-pinchers are not bad things to be looked upon. However, since they are Jewish, this somehow becomes a bad rep to have. If a Protestant were to hold these characteristics, nothing would be thought of it aside from the fact that they are successful, careful, and poised in life. I also learned that the young girls called J.A.P.'s may be proud of it, and parade it around like a title. But, I wrote my first paper on self-hatred and this is a very common frm of self-hatred: accepting and adapting to the persona others build for you from their beliefs.
The second article was difficult to get through because I personally feel that it is a choice to change your sex. Gender, although arguable, is a psychological sense of who you are. Sex is physical. I feel that these transgender people in the article could have made life so much easier for themselves if they had stayed how they were. I understand that it must be difficult to feel that you are someone but look completely different, but everyone goes through identity issues, that's why no one particularly enjoys puberty. However, the title alone "Being Poor and Transgender" says a lot for the topic. At first I saw it as just people trying to change their physical characteristics. After our class discussion, I saw it as primarily "poor" people, not transgender. Being poor means that they simply do not have the means to become who they want to be, while wealthy people do. So they put themselves at great risk for what they want. This part did not seem fair to me, and I did begin to sympathize with them. Rich people can change who they are without anyone ever knowing and go on to lead perfectly normal successful lives. Since these people are poor AND wish to change who they are, they are basically cast out of society and forgotten about.
The final article really opened my eyes to how much I really take for granted as a white person. Even though I am a white female and not a white male, I still have the upperhand in life without even asking for it. The list Peggy McIntosh compiled was longer than I expected, and made me feel guilty as hell for something I cannot control on my own. I know people can make a difference, and I feel as though it is changing a lot, even with my generation compared to my parents'. But, it still exists and probably always will. I just hate knowing that I am one of the many people put first, and especially that I was completely clueless to it before because it was never brought to my attention and is not something openly spoken about. Why? Because I can almost guarantee nearly every white person who read that list felt some pang of guilt at being handed the upperhand without even trying.