Stereotypes of Jews are generalized representations of Jews, often caricatured, prejudiced and sometimes of an antisemitic nature.
Reproduced common objects, phrases, and traditions are used to emphasize or ridicule Jewishness. This includes the complaining and guilt-inflicting Jewish mother, often along with a meek nice Jewish boy, and the spoiled and materialistic Jewish-American princess.
Stereotype by type Physical features
In caricatures and cartoons, Ashkenazi Jews are usually depicted as having large hook-noses and dark beady eyes with drooping eyelids.Kenez, Peter (2013) The Coming of the Holocaust: From Antisemitism to Genocide. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 98. . Retrieved 11 December 2016. Exaggerated or grotesque Jewish facial features were a staple theme in Nazi propaganda. The Star Wars character Watto, introduced in The Phantom Menace (1999), has been likened to traditional antisemitic caricatures.
Nose
The idea of the large or aquiline "Jewish nose" remains one of the most prevalent and defining features to characterize someone as a Jew. This widespread stereotype can be traced back to the 13th century, according to art historian Sara Lipton. While the depiction of the hooked-nose originated in the 13th century, it had an uprooting in European imagery many centuries later.Lipton, Sara (14 November 2014). "The Invention of the Jewish Nose". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 29 May 2016. The earliest record of anti-Jewish caricature is a detailed doodle depicted in the upper margin of the Exchequer Receipt Roll (English royal tax record) in 1233. It shows three demented-looking Jews inside a castle as well as a Jew in the middle of the castle with a large nose.Lipton, Sara (6 June 2016). "The First Anti-Jewish Caricature?". The New York Review of Books. The satirical antisemitic 1893 book The Operated Jew revolves around a plot of cosmetic surgery as a "cure" for Jewishness.
Hair
In European culture, prior to the 20th century, red hair was commonly identified as a distinguishing negative Jewish trait.The Jewish Persona in the European Imagination: A Case of Russian Literature, By Leonid Livak, (Stanford University Press 2010). This arose primarily from Christian prejudices inherent within European folklore, where red hair symbolised the fires of hell, as well as being commonly associated with archetypal caricatures of demons. Red hair was especially closely linked with Judas Iscariot, who was commonly depicted with red hair. During the Spanish Inquisition, all those with red hair were identified as Jewish. In Italy, red hair was associated with Italian Jews.Judas's Red Hair and The Jews, Journal of Jewish Art (9), 31–46, 1982, Melinnkoff R.M In Medieval European lore, "Red Jews" were a semi-fictional group of red-haired Jews, although this tale has obscure origins.
In part due to their Middle Eastern ethnic origins, Jews tend to be portrayed as swarthy and hairy, sometimes associated with a curly hair texture known as a "Jewfro".
Hands
During the Nazi-era propaganda campaign against Jews, there were repeated mentions of Jews being able to be identified by their use of hands while speaking, "the Jew moves his hands when he talks". This has evolved into modern stereotypes of Jews, much like others in Europe, namely Italians speaking with their hands.
Behavioral Communication A well-known stereotype about Jewish communication is the tendency to answer a question with a question."Jews Love Questions", 5 March 2011, by Marnie Winston-Macauley In large part, this stereotype arises from the emphasis on questioning in Jewish education; chavrusa partnerships are designed around questioning Talmudic texts, which are structured around questioning different Talmudic texts, which are structured around questioning the Torah. This tradition, among others structured to encourage the value of l'dor v'dor (teaching "from generation to generation") such as the four questions of Passover, have helped create a culture of structured debate.
Jews, specifically Ashkenazi Jews, are also stereotyped as being melodramatic and over-zealously (and sometimes comedically) complaining. The Yiddish word for this behavior is to kvetch. Michael Wex, in his book Born to Kvetch, notes that this can be a real cultural phenomenon of Yiddishkeit; "While answering one complaint with another is usually considered a little excessive in English, Yiddish tends to take a homeopathic approach to kvetching: like cures like and kvetch cures kvetch. The best response to a complaint is another complaint, an antiseptic counter-kvetch that makes further whining impossible for anybody but you."
Greed and usury
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). Jews were legally restricted to occupations usually barred to Christians and thus many went into money-lending. This led to, through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the association of Jews with greedy practices.
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. Furthermore, the character of Mr. Riah in his later novel Our Mutual Friend is a kindly Jewish creditor, and may have been created as an apology for Fagin. Lesser references in Arabian Nights, The Three Musketeers, and even Hans Brinker are examples of the prevalence of this negative perception. Some, such as Paul Volcker, suggest that the stereotype has decreased in prevalence in the United States. A telephone poll of 1,747 American adults conducted by the Anti-Defamation League in 2009 found that 18% believed that "Jews have too much power in the business world", 13% that "Jews are more willing than others to use shady practices to get what they want", and 12% that "Jews are not just as honest as other businesspeople".
Jewish frugality, thriftiness, and greed are among the typical themes in jokes about Jews, even by Jews themselves.
Intelligence
A stereotype exists suggesting that Jews (often particularly Ashkenazi Jews, though historically sometimes Sephardi Jews) are more intelligent than other people. This idea, also called "Jewish Genius", emerged during the 19th century within the context of scientific racism. Some 20th and 21st century publications, notably the highly controversial book The Bell Curve, have suggested it is supported by the results of IQ research, though the idea has been thoroughly criticised by Sander L. Gilman, who has described it as a "racial myth".Gilman S.L., (2008), Are Jews Smarter Than Everyone Else? In: Medicine, Mental Health, Science, Religion, and Well-being (A.R. Singh and S.A. Singh eds.), MSM, 6, Jan - Dec 2008, p41-47.
Stereotypical characters Belle juive
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. An example of this stereotype is Rebecca in Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe. Another example is Miriam in Nathaniel Hawthorne's romance The Marble Faun.
Jewish mother
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 stereotype generally involves a nagging, loud, manipulative, highly-talkative, overprotective, smothering, and overbearing mother, who persists in interfering in her children's lives long after they have become adults and is excellent at making her children feel guilty for actions that may have caused her to suffer. The stereotype is described in detail in Dan Greenburg's best-selling 1964 humor book, How to Be a Jewish Mother: A Very Lovely Training Manual.The Bookseller ("Non-Fiction. The bestseller of the year in non- fiction was a book called How to Be a Jewish Mother, by Dan Greenburg")
The Jewish mother stereotype can also involve a loving and overly proud mother who is highly defensive about her children in front of others. Like Italian mother stereotypes, Jewish mother characters are often shown cooking for the family, urging loved ones to eat more, and taking great pride in their food. Feeding a loved one is characterized as an extension of the desire to mother those around her. Lisa Aronson Fontes describes the stereotype as one of "endless caretaking and boundless self-sacrifice" by a mother who demonstrates her love by "constant overfeeding and unremitting solicitude about every aspect of her children's and husband's welfare[s]".
A possible origin of this stereotype is anthropologist Margaret Mead's research into the European shtetl, financed by the American Jewish Committee.The Jewish Mother, Slate, 13 June 2007 Although her interviews at Columbia University, with 128 European-born Jews, disclosed a wide variety of family structures and experiences, the publications resulting from this study and the many citations in the popular media resulted in the Jewish mother stereotype: a woman intensely loving but controlling to the point of smothering and attempting to engender enormous guilt in her children via the endless suffering which she professes to have experienced on their behalf. The Jewish mother stereotype, then, has origins in the American Jewish community, with predecessors that originated in Eastern European ghettos. In Israel, with its diversity of diasporic backgrounds and where most mothers are Jewish, the same stereotypical mother is known as the Polish mother (ima polania).Amy Klein, Different cultures produce different Jewish mothers Jewish Journal 10 May 2007Barry Glassner (2008) The Jewish Role in American Life: An Annual Review p.75
Comedian Jackie Mason describes stereotypical Jewish mothers as parents who have become experts in the art of needling their children that they have honorary degrees in "Jewish Acupuncture". Rappoport observes that jokes about the stereotype have less basis in antisemitism than they have in gender stereotyping. William Helmreich agrees, observing that the attributes of a Jewish mother—overprotection, pushiness, aggression, and guilt-inducement—could equally well be ascribed to mothers of other ethnicities, from Italians through Black people to Puerto Rican people. In the book How to Be a Jewish Mother, the author says in the preface that it is not necessary to be either Jewish or a mother to be a Jewish mother.'