The perception of "Jewish facial features" is a complex topic, often intertwined with stereotypes. While there is no single definitive "Jewish look," certain facial characteristics and genetic predispositions are more commonly observed among Ashkenazi Jews. It's crucial to approach this subject with sensitivity, avoiding generalizations and recognizing the diversity within the Jewish community.
Pigmentation and Ancestry
Anthropological studies have attempted to categorize Jews based on physical traits like hair and eye color. The concept of "racial qualities" suggests that individuals with correlated hair and eye color (fair hair with blue eyes or dark hair with dark eyes) are typical representatives of their race. Those who do not exhibit this correlation are considered "mixed types."
Historically, Jews have been classified as a brunette type due to the prevalence of dark hair and eyes. However, extensive investigations, such as those by Virchow on German schoolchildren, reveal a more nuanced picture. Virchow's research indicated that only 46.83% of Jewish children had both dark hair and dark eyes, while 11.17% were blond, and 42% were of the mixed type. Similar studies in Austria and Bulgaria showed varying percentages of brunette, blond, and mixed types among Jewish children. Even in North Africa, where the dark type predominates, a significant percentage of Jews exhibited blond or mixed characteristics.
A study of pigmentation in Jews from various countries revealed a range of phenotypes. The percentage of brunettes varied from 43% among Galician Jews to 74% among Lithuanian Jewish women. Blonds were rare among Polish Jews but more common among Little-Russian Jews. Mixed types were consistently found in 30-40% of those examined.
Origin of Blond and Mixed Types
The origin of blond and mixed types among Jews has been a subject of debate. Some attribute it to intermixture with European populations, while others point to the presence of blonds even in Jewish communities that have historically lived in isolation from blond races.
Read also: Get Rid of Facial Hair
The argument that intermixture with northern European races is responsible for blondness in Jews is challenged by data from Virchow's census of hair and eye color among German schoolchildren. This data shows that provinces with a smaller percentage of brunettes among Christians had a higher percentage of brunettes among Jews, and vice versa.
Further analysis of Jewish blond and brunette types in Germany and Austria reveals that the percentage of brunettes decreases and the percentage of blonds increases as one moves south and east in Europe, which is the opposite of the trend observed in the non-Jewish population. This suggests that factors other than simple intermixture with northern European populations are at play.
It has also been suggested that the blond type among Jews is due to intermixture with the so-called Aryan, or north-European, races. However, studies examining the correlation between blond hair, blue eyes, tall stature, and dolichocephalism (long-headedness) have yielded conflicting results. Some studies have found a relation between blondness and long-headedness among Galician Jews, while others have found no such relation or have even found the opposite trend.
Fishberg concluded that the ideal Aryan type is not consistently observed among Jews and that the data tends to exclude the hypothesis that Aryan influence is the primary cause of the Jewish blond type.
The "Jewish Type" and Facial Expression
What is popularly known as "the Jewish type" is not necessarily a correlation of specific anthropological measurements or characteristics. It often manifests as a peculiar facial expression, immediately and unmistakably recognized as "Jewish," even by children. However, a significant proportion of Jews may not exhibit any distinctive features that definitively mark them as such. It has been observed that the "Jewish expression" often becomes more pronounced with age.
Read also: Choosing the right facial peel mask
The precise nature of this "Jewishness" is difficult to define. It does not reside in any single feature, as any assumed characteristic trait can be easily disproven. One attempt to scientifically analyze the "Jewish expression" was made by F. Galton and Joseph Jacobs in 1885 through composite portraiture. By superimposing photographs of Jewish boys with typically Jewish appearances, they aimed to emphasize common characteristics while blurring out individual variations.
The resulting composite portraits revealed distinctive features in the eyebrows, eyes, nose, and lips, as well as the position and contour of the cheekbone. The eyebrows are generally well-defined and somewhat bushy near the nose. The eyes are often brilliant, with heavy and bulging lids. The upper eyelid may cover a larger proportion of the pupil, giving a nervous or furtive look. The lymph-sac beneath the eye is generally fuller than among non-Jews. The high cheekbone contributes to a hollow cheek. The nose is characterized by flexible nostrils. The upper lip is generally short, and the lower lip projects. The chin almost invariably recedes. The ears may project.
With age, the Jewish expression becomes more marked, particularly in males, due to the appearance of the mustache and beard. The mustache may be sparse, and the beard may be thick, curling, and parting naturally.
Genetic Ancestry and Bottleneck
Like other Jewish ethnic groups, the Ashkenazi originate from the Israelites and Hebrews of historical Israel and Judah. Beginning in the fourth century BCE, Jewish colonies sprang up in southern Europe, including the Aegean Islands, Greece, and Italy. Jews left ancient Israel for a number of causes, including a number of push and pull factors. Jews migrated to southern Europe from the Middle East voluntarily for opportunities in trade and commerce. Following Alexander the Great's conquests, Jews migrated to Greek settlements in the Eastern Mediterranean, spurred on by economic opportunities.
The first and second centuries CE saw a series of unsuccessful large-scale Jewish revolts against Rome. The Roman suppression of these revolts led to wide-scale destruction, a very high toll of life and enslavement. The First Jewish-Roman War (66-73 CE) resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple. Two generations later, the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-136 CE) erupted. Judea's countryside was devastated, and many were killed, displaced or sold into slavery. Jerusalem was rebuilt as a Roman colony under the name of Aelia Capitolina, and the province of Judea was renamed Syria Palaestina. Jews were prohibited from entering the city on pain of death. With their national aspirations crushed and widespread devastation in Judea, despondent Jews migrated out of Judea in the aftermath of both revolts, and many settled in southern Europe.
Read also: PRP Facial Recovery Tips
Factors like disease outbreaks, geographic isolation, mass migration, and persecution can all contribute to population bottlenecks. This was particularly true for Ashkenazi Jewish communities, who faced centuries of discrimination and displacement. Such events drastically reduce a population’s size, limiting its genetic diversity. That happened among Ashkenazi Jewish communities in Central and Eastern Europe. Then - in the Middle Ages - many Jewish people living in southern Europe moved north. They primarily settled in northeastern France and western Germany near the Rhine River.
Starting in the 11th Century during the Christian Crusades, Jews living in primarily northwestern Europe were not just persecuted but, in some communities, massacred. Fleeing from that violence and persecution, many Ashkenazi Jewish people migrated east to places like present-day Poland and Lithuania. Some estimate that it plummeted by close to 90 percent. To illustrate the impact of that isolation, two people of Ashkenazi descent in 14th-century Germany were more genetically distinct than the average two Ashkenazi Jewish people living today. In the 20th Century, more than six million European Jewish people were systematically murdered in the Holocaust.
The largest study to date of ancient DNA from Jewish individuals reveals unexpected genetic subgroups in medieval German Ashkenazi Jews and sheds light on the “founder event” in which a small population gave rise to most present-day Ashkenazi Jews. Erfurt’s medieval Jewish community existed between the 11th and 15th centuries, with a short gap following a massacre in 1349. At times, it thrived and was one of the largest Jewish communities in Germany. Following the expulsion of all Jews in 1454, the city built a granary on top of the Jewish cemetery.
Stereotypes and Misrepresentations
It is important to address the harmful stereotypes associated with Jewish facial features. Caricatures and cartoons often depict Ashkenazi Jews with large hook-noses and dark beady eyes with drooping eyelids. Exaggerated or grotesque Jewish facial features were a staple theme in Nazi propaganda.
The idea of the large or aquiline "Jewish nose" remains one of the most prevalent and defining features used to characterize someone as a Jew. This stereotype can be traced back to the 13th century.
The term "Jewface" refers to negative or inaccurate portrayals of Jewish people and has been a feature of anti-Jewish propaganda for centuries. Jewface occurs when non-Jewish actors play Jewish roles employing exaggerated and inauthentic stereotypical Jewish physical features and mannerisms. It is important to distinguish Jewface from an accurate portrayal of a character. While it is offensive for a non-Jewish actor to wear a prosthetic nose just because a character is Jewish, it is not offensive for actors to be given makeup and prosthetics to make them appear more like the characters they are playing.
Other Stereotypes
Jews have often been stereotyped as greedy and miserly. This originates in the Middle Ages when the Church forbade Christians to lend money while charging interest (a practice called usury, although the word later took on the meaning of charging excessive interest). Publications like The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and literature such as William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice and Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist reinforced the stereotype of the crooked Jew. Dickens later expressed regret for his portrayal of Fagin in the novel, and toned down references to his Jewishness.
A stereotype exists suggesting that Jews (often particularly Ashkenazi Jews, are more intelligent than other people. This idea, also called "Jewish Genius", emerged during the 19th century within the context of scientific racism.
La belle juive (French, "the beautiful Jewess") was a 19th-century literary stereotype. A figure meeting the description is often associated with having and causing sexual lust, temptation and sin. Her personality traits could be portrayed either positively or negatively. The typical appearance of the belle juive included long, thick, dark hair, large dark eyes, an olive skin tone, and a languid expression.
The Jewish mother stereotype is both a common stereotype and a stock character that is used by Jewish as well as non-Jewish comedians, television and film writers, actors, and authors in the United States and elsewhere. The Jewish mother stereotype can also involve a loving and overly proud mother who is highly defensive about her children in front of others.
Jewish-American princess (JAP) is a pejorative stereotype that portrays some upper-middle-class Jewish women as spoiled brats, implying entitlement and selfishness, attributed to a pampered or wealthy background. This stereotype of American Jewish women has frequently been portrayed in contemporary US media since the mid-20th century.
The nice Jewish boy (NJB) is a stereotype of Jewish masculinity that circulates within the American Jewish community, as well as in mainstream American culture. Jewish men have been historically viewed as effeminate, especially in contrast to the more violent masculinity of the Roman society where Rabbinic Judaism emerged from. Jewish masculinity puts more emphasis on studying and academic pursuits than on physical strength.
tags: #ashkenazi #jewish #facial #features #characteristics