Bachelor #1

A good Jewish man may be hard to find, but Jewish women in St. Louis, Missouri, recently had what some might consider the chance of a lifetime. An auction billed as a “Bid for Jewish Bachelors” was held in February at Washington University, where one could “buy a date with one of St. Louis’ 20 most eligible Jewish bachelors.”

The event’s sponsor, the Jewish Community Centers Association, chose men who were “eligible, elite, [and] affluent” as “bait” for single women. Proceeds were to benefit the National Foundation for Jewish Genetic Diseases.

There were no reports of protests by men, unlike the response by women in Israel to a “Miss Beautiful Employee” pageant held in Jerusalem last year. There, women staged a “Mr. Beautiful Employee” contest to point out the sexism of the beauty pageant for women. The first-place winner wore a sign reading: “They won’t advance me, I’m not handsome enough.”