Saturday, November 15, 2008

hot chani

why is everyone talking about 'hot Chani's' lately?

FrumSatire wrote a post about girls who are considered 'hot Chani's' with a picture showing girls, who in my opinion do NOT actually fit the description. (http://www.frumsatire.net/2008/11/13/what-is-a-hot-chani)

The first time I heard this term was in Israel, when those Mir boys (who weren't for mir: http://materialmaidel.blogspot.com/2008/07/mir-boys-are-not-for-mir.html) called my friends that. We were like 'huh?'. I just thought it was only a term used by guys around other guys. Until recently.

Then I did a little more research.

Little Frumhouse wrote about what it takes to be a 'hot Chani' back in 2007: http://frumhouse.blogspot.com/2007/03/do-jewish-women-have-chiyuv-to-be-hot.html
She refers to a post written in 2006 by Ask Shifra(http://askshifra.blogspot.com/2006/10/chol-hamoad-at-six-flags-part-two.html).

So what do I think?

First off - I should start by telling you that all my friends are hot chanis! Seriously. My friends are all babes - gorgeous girls, with amazing personalities, with good jobs and/or college degrees who also happen to be frum. Some are even named Chani.




I'm talking about the single girls here. The married ones often stay hot, but don't often stay in touch and tend to move away :(


So is there anything wrong with being frum and looking good at the same time? I don't think so. As long as you're within the limits of tznius, why not try to dress well?



I have a good friend who majorly flipped out in seminary. Like major. She went from dating non-Jews one month to measuring skirt lengths the next (in case you're wondering, they must be kaka length, anything too long or too short was considered immodest for where she went for sem). She was always one of the most fashionable girls in my class. She loved reading Vogue, drawing sexy clothes, keeping up on the latest trends.


Then when she come home from seminary one summer - I barely recognized her. She would only wear button-down shirts (buttoned way, way up) and ugly skirts, with thick pantyhose and ugly shoes. Very Israeli Charedi. Definitely not Hot Chani. She didn't even pluck her eyebrows or comb her hair anymore - she said those things were not important and got in the way of her spirituality.


But does Hashem really want you to look ugly?
I don't think so.


I think it's true that some people go a little overboard with their looks. Like getting too much Botox - in the end, too much of it will only make you look worse! Whenever I'm in Flatbush (home of many Hot Chanis) I actually get grossed out by some of those women. It seems to be a fad over there for women to wear too much makeup, too much jewellery, just too much of everything. I'm not dissing Brooklyn. It just seems to be so much more of a trend over there.


There is a fine line between looking good and looking gaudy. And gaudy women are not Hot Chanis. At least not in my books. But there is nothing wrong with looking good!

15 comments:

Squeak said...

I personally think that when it comes to tznius, everyone should mind their own business. Tznius is so subjective, and there are so many different views on what is allowable. I'd like to think that I wouldn't judge someone by how they are dressed (just like I don't want people to judge me by what I wear), but it's really hard.

Here's what I commented on frumsatire's post:

The basic rules of hot chanies (IMHO):
1. Porn star sheitel - Long and a little curly.
2. Tight skirt - Must cover knees while standing, but more importantly, MUST ride up and show some thigh while sitting.
3. SERIOUS heels
4. Designer bag
5. Lots o’ bling

Anonymous said...

You're absolutely right. Nothing wrong with looking good. But the women in frumsatire's post who were deemed "hot chani's" were, in my opinion, those gaudy people who overdo it that you were talking about. Also, while the short jean skirt with boots look might be like, totally in right now, it usually does not fit within the confines of tznius. When you sit down, those kinds of skirts do not cover your knees by any means.

Anonymous said...

knees, shmees.

Anonymous said...

Eh, I'm not a fan of the hot chanis. I don't even understand the mentality.

Maidel said...

what's not to get frumpunk?

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

I guess the idea of being frum and married, yet dressing for sex appeal in your general life (ie, around town when your husbands at work or whatever).

But I'm not female, so I wouldnt have an insight into that anyway.

Dina said...

There's no way to win, is there: if you dress well you're a "hot Chani" or, worse "sheitel hooker;" if you don't dress well, you're frumpy, you have let yourself go, and it is no wonder your husband is looking at other women.

And, of course, people enjoy talking about this: men like to talk about women, and women like to talk about other womens' outfits.

I have a feeling all of this is inexorably driving me towards radical feminism.

Anonymous said...

Dina: There is an in-between space between "Hot Chanie" and "Frumpy". Its called normal, and its what the average frum woman looks like.

Its not quite an either/or.

Anonymous said...

dina - I was going to say pretty much the same thing frumpunk said. As a married woman with many married friends, most of us are not in the category of "hot chani" or "frumpy". We're in that "normal" spot that frumpunk was talking about.

Frum Librarian said...

I disagree with you, FP. I probably dress close to "normal" on a daily basis and I know I am thought of as a shlump or not caring about how I look, especially by my more Brooklyn-y friends. And my mother. I like to be comfortable and that does not include make-up, heels, and a full wig every day, yet these are the things women my age wear.

Anonymous said...

You missed the best hot Chani link of all:
The Hot Chani Field Guide

Maidel said...

wow i cant believe i missed that - its awesome!

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

I've never heard the term "Hot Chani" till reading it online somewhere.

But really, the way I see it, is that married woman with families have so many more important things than clothes and looks, that they really don't think about this, and no one really looks as much what your wearing and stuff, unless you really stand out.

Y. N. said...

One Hot Chanie I know ended up having adultery. Shortly afterwards, she turned up dead.


Served her right. Adultery is a capitol offense.