What is Jewish hair?
Photo: "Great Jewish Hair" by Sashinka-ukFor more about Jewish Hair, check out Episode 5: "Jewish Hair" of Can We Talk, JWA's podcast.
The buzz about Good Hair, Chris Rock's new documentary about Black hair, has got me thinking about "Jewish hair": what it is, what it means, and where I -- a straight-haired woman -- fit into this curious piece of Jewish identity.
"Jewish hair" is a tricky thing to define, since Judaism can include people from any racial or ethnic background. And while Jews are known to have a variety of haircolors, as well as levels of curliness, "Jewish hair" seems to refer to dark, curly, and often frizzy, hair.
The first time I became aware of “Jewish hair” was when I went to an overnight for prospective students at Brandeis University. Up until that moment, sitting in a crowded upperclassmen dorm, I had never really thought about my hair as a part of my Jewish identity. But as I looked around the room, a sea of dark curls, I couldn’t help but notice that I was one of the few people with straight hair. With my light eyes and straight, brown hair, I found myself wondering if I "looked Jewish." And even more troubling, did I want to "look Jewish?"
The introduction of Rebecca Rubin, the Jewish American Girl Doll, sparked conversation about this question a few months ago. Some were upset that the doll looked "stereotypically Jewish," while others thought she didn't "look Jewish" enough. Like many minorities, we are stuck between the desire to celebrate our ethnicism and embrace our diversity as a community.
While the politics of Black hair and Jewish hair are not comparable, it is safe to say that many Jewish women have felt the pressure to look like the mainstream images we see in magazines. This reinforces the idea that one must look "white" to look beautiful. Judith Rosenbaum touched on this in her post about Patrick Swayze, and what it meant for frizzy-haired Jennifer Grey to be the object of his sexual desire in Dirty Dancing. Many curly-haired Jewish girls straighten their hair, and some use chemical treatments for more permanent results. I think the only time I have ever seen my older cousin's naturally curly hair was in her Bat Mitzvah photos from 1988.
The "Jewish hair" issue is also gendered. Curiously, or perhaps not, it seems only Jewish women straighten their hair. Jewish men with "Jewish hair" can choose to keep it cropped short, or let it grow into a "Jew-fro," which has been recently popularized by Jewish comedy stars like Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill. Thanks to those high profile Jews, the Jew-fro has become the mark of the "funny guy" who gets laughs making fun of himself and his Jewish heritage. The Jew-fro's resurgance has done little to challenge stereotypes of Jewish masculinity. We may see a Jew-fro on an action hero someday, but I'm not holding my breath.
This is particularly interesting when you consider that the Jew-fro was first considered a "style" in the 60s and 70s, when the Afro was worn as a mark of ethnic pride, and was sported by Jewish folk icons like Bob Dylon and Art Garfunkel. Was the Jew-fro meant to be a mark of solidarity with the Black community during the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, or was it merely a fashion statement? And why do Black women participate in the Afro, while Jewish women with big, curly hair do not usually appropriate the term "Jew-fro" to describe their 'do? The fact that we find ourselves thinking about "Jewish hair" within the context of "Black hair" suggests that Jews strongly identify with the Black community when it comes to the issues surrounding "looking ethnic" in America.
I cannot speak for curly-haired Jewish women, since I have had a different experience with my "Jewish hair," if you can even call it that. (We not only must define our own identity, we must define our hair's identity!) For this reason, I would love to hear some stories from women with different hair and different experiences. What's your Jewish hair identity?
Visit our Flickr group "My Jewish Hair," and share a photo of your great, Jewish hair!
In reply to <p>Jews do have some African by Dafydd
I am according to Ancestry DNA, 100% Eastern European Jewish No ties to Africa at al.
White people call themselves Jewish because they wish they were Jews. Ì¡üèÏÛ_Ì¡üèÏå_Ì¡üèÏÛ_Ì¡üèÏå_Ì¡üèÏÛ_Ì¡üèÏå_
"Jews have African Ancestry"...Which is why most jews carry the gene for dark eyes and dark "ethnic" (frizzy/coarse) hair. It's part of the DNA they carry from their black ancestors. http://forward.com/culture/140...
In reply to <p>"Jews have African by i thought so
We all originally came from Africa. You should look it up.
In reply to <p>We all originally came by Julia
We all originated in the Middle East...
In reply to We all originated in the by Scott
We all originated from the Big Bang
In reply to <p>"Jews have African by i thought so
Nonsense most Jews have zero African ancestry. Many people with dark eyes and hair don't have African ancestry either. .
In reply to <p>Nonsense most Jews have by Gian Luca
Egypt is located in Africa. The Hebrew people, later called the Israelites, fled Egypt in the Exodus and were scattered after wandering in the desert for four decades.
My family has Tunisian heritage that is identified as North African on modern DNA kit tests, because Sicilian Jews were captured and brought from Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Yemen by the Greeks in 4th century BCE to plant henna crops. Sicilian Jews are Sephardim ethnicity and Italkim sect of Judaism. Many Jews do not know their heritage because we have had to constantly flee from enemies and live in the lands of strangers, but as it is written, the child will teach the parents the way of the LORD. I am now teaching my family our lost traditions. There were always customs that we had that no one could explain, different from other Italians, such as family names (Lopresti which means the Kohanim of the Levites), eating lamb and koshering meat, women in my family covering the hair after marriage, needlework and dyeing wool, henna use for hair and skin, and carnatic singing. Some Hellenistic societal customs also remained such as music and dance.It is up to this generation of twenty year olds to keep Jewish Italkim traditions alive, and much of it requires re-learning and careful Torah study.
In reply to <p>"Jews have African by i thought so
that's ridiculous !!!!!!
the jews have noooooooo African heritage
In reply to that's ridiculous !!!!!! by Anonymous
AMEN! None!
In reply to AMEN! None! by Joyah
Absolutely no ties. We are a separate and distinct ethnicity
I'm not entirely sure how Jewish I am, as it was hidden pretty well after my family left Germany, but I know that a Jewish woman looked at my hair and could tell that I was Hebrew by my hair. LOL It was awesome, though, because I've struggled my whole life with my hair. My mom has very fine hair and so I've always treated my hair like it's 'normal', and at this point in my life I just keep it in a pony tail. She suggested that I start finding hair dressers with experience dealing with what she called 'ethnic' hair and that I do some googling. lol That said, my hair is only slightly curly - it's more frizzy than curly which frustrates me to no end. Oh, well, I'm learning!
In reply to <p>I'm not entirely sure how by Melinda Hicks
Hebrew is a language. how can you be "a hebrew"??? Judaism is a religion, you can be Jewish if you want, but only if you follow the religion. it's not an ethnicity or race. The sometimes large nose and the fizzy hair are a predominant genetic factor of the inbreeding that occurs in families which follow the religion. Geneticist.
In reply to <p>Hebrew is a language. how by Laura
Hebrew is also a group of people - it's what the 'jews' called themselves before Jerusalem was a city.
"HeÌâåábrew noun 1. a member of the Semitic peoples inhabiting ancient Palestine and claiming descent from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; an Israelite." Dictionary.com
The word was used in the Bible as early as Genesis.
"A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew." Gen 14:13
In reply to <p>Hebrew is a language. how by Laura
Study more Laura.
In reply to <p>Hebrew is a language. how by Laura
I thought the same also, apparently it is a race, not just a religion. I don't know why? When Jewish families have babies, just like black families have spacific testing, Jewish people are asked if they have Jewish ancestry because children can inherit Tay-sachs disease, Canavan, and many others. Apparently, Being Jewish is not just a religion, it is a race. Noting also that DNA test results single out Jewish European as a genetic trace.
In reply to <p>I thought the same also, by Michelle Johansen
Ethnic group not a race. Of course many exceptions
In reply to <p>Hebrew is a language. how by Laura
Judaism is a religion, as well as an ethnicity, it's genetically possible to be Jewish without practicing the religion, and you can practice the religion without being genetically Jewish. You can take a DNA test and get a percentage of just how Jewish you are because it *is* an ethnicity. I don't follow the religion, but fsr I'm still Jewish. Neither does my mom or her grandmother, but they're both Jewish. I wonder how that works?? According to you, that's impossible. According to 23 And Me, it's not.
Following a religion doesn't change your genes and it's impossible to pass smth on to your kids (like hair or nose) because of a religion you follow, that's just silly man. If I were Catholic, does that mean my kids' noses would be smaller or straighter? That's not how DNA works, Laura. It's basic biology, it's not influenced by religion. If I suddenly stopped practicing Judaism, that doesn't mean my hair would go straight.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrews says:
"In Armenian, Italian, Greek, the Kurdish languages, Old French, Serbian, Russian, Romanian and a few other languages the transfer of the name from Hebrew to Jew never took place, and "Hebrew" is the primary word used for a Jew. The translation of "Hebrew" is used also in the Kurdish language and was once used also in French.
With the revival of the Hebrew language and the emergence of the Hebrew Yishuv, the term has been applied to the Jewish people of this re-emerging society in Israel or the Jewish people in general."
The word "Hebrew" when describing this ethnicity is synonymous with "Jew". You learn something new every day, Laura. Have a good one.
I am 50% Ashkenazi Jew and I have curly, fizzy, thick and dry hair. It is impossible to manage. It is way easier to manage now because I have straightened, thinned, and layered my hair. I also use anti-frizz spray. Just because I change the way that my hair naturally looks doesn't mean that I am not proud of my Jewish heritage. I still look very Jewish with my facial features and my name! I am very proud of where I come from.
In reply to <p>I am 50% Ashkenazi Jew and by Esther
Esther
This channel has done wonders for me. My hair is a 'fro, but now I can do simple twist-outs before I go to sleep and have beautiful, soft, pre-Raphaelite looking hair with NO frizz. You can too. It's for Black hair but works great for us too. Good luck.
Also we really need our own channels!
http://www.youtube.com/results...
In reply to <p>I am 50% Ashkenazi Jew and by Esther
No such thing as 50% you are either jewish born from your mother or converted
In reply to <p>No such thing as 50% you by Josiah
She probably means that only one of her parents is Jewish. It doesn't have to be her mother either. Her father could be Jewish and still pass along the physical traits to his daughter.
In reply to <p>She probably means that by Marybeth Sanady
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M...
In reply to <p>No such thing as 50% you by Josiah
No, today we can objectively measure degree of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry in someone w/a simple ancestral genetic test, and there are people who ARE scientifically (measurably) 50% Jewish, regardless of the Jewish parent's gender.
This practice about the mother supposedly having to be Jewish is a recent - not the original - belief, and one that NOT all branches of Judaism follow. It used to be that by Jewish law it was the father who had to be Jewish. Now that we're blessed with DNA science, we get to come out of the dark ages and work with those ancestral facts, instead of trying to "decide" for other Jews who is Jewish, how much so, and what it's based on. Our reputation as Jews is that we are curious and intelligent. That's a stereotype, but let's try and live up to it Ì¢âÂå_ So we can honor God, but facts need to prevail once revealed, even if (flip-flopping) traditions run counter to those DNA facts. We are each as genetically Jewish as our DNA reveals, no less, no more.
In reply to <p>No such thing as 50% you by Josiah
Wrong on all counts.. Biblically, tribal status came from your father ( Jewishness coming from the mother was a later rabbinical addition).Secondly, there is a genetic basis to Jewishness, so you CAN be partly Jewish.Lastly, all Jews by your reckoning are not Jews at all, as most Ashkenazi Jews, for example have semitic , Israelite haplogroups on their paternal side, and have Mt DNA from Europe ( mostly Italy ). In other words , hardly any European Jew has genetically Jewish maternal ancestry, or at least, not purely so..
In reply to <p>I am 50% Ashkenazi Jew and by Esther
good for you esther
I know it was a while ago now, but Andre the Giant (Roussimoff) was a hero with a Jew-fro and the highest paid wrestler in his time. Later on he became a villain without it. Also, Lou Reed had one and he's not exactly the cute, funny type of Jewish guy. Cool, rude and intimidating would be more like it. Action films would have to be the most low-risk, formulaic type of film there is. So if we were to see a "hero" with a Jew-fro that would mean the 'fro has been back in fashion in a major way or the guy playing the lead is also the executive producer.
In reply to <p>I know it was a while ago by Wrestlefan
the only female I've ever seen with natural hair was Barbara Streisand, and that was for a short time
I'm a full-blooded Ashkenazi Jew and I have straight oily hair that's wavy towards the bottom. Both of my parents and all of my siblings have straight hair, yet we all "look Jewish." I think the stereotype comes from the fact that Hasidic Jewish men curl their peyot with curlers or hot tools. The majority of Ashkenazi Jews I've met do not have curly hair. I think that physical trait is more common among Sephardic Jews, yet I've seen Sephardic Jews with straight hair. Ironically, a lot of Jewish girls I've met complain about how thin and oily their hair is.
I'm a former New Yorker, having lived in New York (Midtown West Side, Queens and Long Island) for 28 years. My mother is Sephardic Jewish, my dad was Cherokee/Choctaw/Jamaican. My mom's family made aaliyah from Spain to Ellis Island, NY; then settling in Philadelphia, PA. Her hair is long, thick and curly. My dad's hair was thick and nappy (bush city)! My Jewish hair identity: I'm a mixed chick...and proud of my Jewish heritage. I have very curly hair. My mom didn't know what to do with its thickness, so she resorted to using a hot pressing comb followed by hot curlers on a gas stove. She wanted me to "fit in". Being transferred to an all-white middle school in a then-Jewish area of Philadelphia, I had lots of Jewish friends. But I noticed their hair was either wavy or straight; mine was curly to the point I was teased in school. In the late 60s-early 70s, it seemed curly hair was out; straight hair was a more acceptable standard of beauty. Although my hair's length was to the small of my back, it was shampooed, toweled dry with NO CONDITIONER! All my mom did was fry it with a greasy pomade. Comb out was horrendous. From there, after college I got my first relaxer. That lasted for over 20 years. Until I found Curly Like Me by Teri LaFlesh in July 2013, I thought of going curly anyway. I was sick of putting my hair care in the hands of unscrupulous beauticians, suffering from a sore scalp after each touch-up, burns on my earlobes, etc. On Aug. 3rd, an aneurysm was detected on the left side of my brain, needing immediate surgery. My doctors (neurosurgeons) somehow cut the length of my hair in the back; as well as the front left side. I was a bit angered by the unnecessary cutting in the back. Prior to my surgery and following Curly Like Me techniques, my hair had grown right past my shoulders. Now I have to start all over again...thankfully, it grows fast. After my release from the hospital, I was seduced into relaxing my hair again. Thankfully, I resisted the temptation. My hair has been off the hair crack (relaxers) for 7months now. Having saved a lot of time and money, I vowed to NEVER damage/hurt my curls ever again.
I am so relieved to see others share what I have felt my whole life. I have dark brown super curly ringlets with blond baby hairs that frame my face. Im the oldest of 4 siblings but look nothing like any of them. They have dark skin and smooth waves for hair. Thanks to a knawing feeling in my gut and an arabic husband, a little research online and the knowledge of my mothers 1st marriage I was able to to find out her 1sthusband is my real father. I grew up thinking I was mixed(black-and-white ),come to find out my father is russian jewish. I have light skin and hazel eyes. I never knew other jewish women were being mistaken for mixed girls too. Thank you to all of u who shared your stories here : )
I am man, currently researching my ethnic origins. My grandmother came over from Vilnius, her and my father had very black wavy hair. It would be interesting if hair type proved to be the basis of a currently speculative hypothesis.
This article, although well intentioned and written by a woman with straight hair, classifies most Jewish women with curly hair. Jewish people are the wandering people of the earth and come from all places and therefore have every hair type. I myself am 50% Slavic Jewish. My roots lie in Lithuania (most of the Jews who were there during WWII were murdered by the Nazis) and I have hair straighter and finer than anybody you can find on this planet. Funny thing is my non-Jewish European mother has very curly hair. But the straight hair gene from my fathers Jewish side is quite strong. Nobody from this blood line can even hold a curl, even with all the mousse, curlers, hot round irons in the world!!! I remember crying to my mother as a child because I wanted waves and curls so bad!!! My hair is also very light brown which I highlight and looks light blonde and I'm extremely fair. I have the look of a waspy California girl and nobody would ever guess I was Jewish, but I love to tell people to prove stereotypes wrong. Jews come in all packages!!!
It really doesn't make a difference what hair we got. I work at a hair salon with a lot of young clients who are Jewish. Many of them are from Eastern Europe, even from Africa, Asia and Latin America and they all have different hairstyles and hair textures. I'm Jewish Eastern European and Hispanic, and I've got green eyes and black hair.
I am half Russian Jewish an half Jamaican. All my Jewish family have dead straight hair. Even my hair is not that curly and I'm half black. Not all Jewish people look the same or have the same hair.
I remember once when I was about 8 and had plastered my head with vaseline and then sat on the edge of the bathroom sink and admired my glossy,straight dark brown hair. So far from the cropped curls I usually had - constantly being chopped off as my mother, blessed/cursed (depending on viewpoint) with ordinary straight brown British hair - had no idea how to deal with curls. It wasn't until the late 60s, when I was a rebellious teen and insisted on letting my hair grow, that I discovered how thick, curly and sexy it could be. Anyway now I am 60, and still the lucky owner of a full head of shoulder length dark brown curls - sometimes ringlets, sometimes straighter, and sometimes a puffy mess - depending on the weather. All this I can thank my fathers Italian Jewish genes for. Of course I did end up marrying a super Aryan looking northern European and none of our kids got the curls. So, thanks Pappa!
I'm 50% Jewish and 100% European. I'm really light skinned, maybe with a hint of yellow. People think I'm white and sometimes Spanish when my hair is wet. I have soft hair with thick wiry hairs on the outside. Its very thick and I have a lot of it. I live in Florida and sun turned it a sort of reddish brown. My hair is very frizzy and is wavy when I brush it out, but curly if I wet it. Its getting long and I love it. My hair may not look sleek and perfect but its definitely some form of Jew hair. Rarely, I straighten it and when I do, I think it looks nice and I don't have to worry about it frizzing. But with the right product, I like it curly too (but the products are veryy expensive and I can't afford them). Anyway, no matter what you guys look like, love yourself! Because they're only one you and we're all beautiful in our unique way!
I work as a hairdresser and see so many hair types on people of every heritage. Generally people have good hair only if they take a real interest in it! Curly hair is amazing when its well conditioned and the right products are used, same goes for silky straight hair, if its treated well its beautiful but when its dry and neglected it snaps, thins out, loses color and life MUCH quicker than thick, strong curls. I know quite a few "white" girls that would trade flat mouse hair for thick, richly colored manes that Jewish girls are blessed with, and would kill for olive skin, fake tan is always just a bit to orange! I have so many clippings of Bar Rafaeli that have been brought in its not funny!
I'm a mixed ancestry African American with kinky hair and my ex is of Ashkenazim ancestry with curly hair. Our little girl has almost straight hair. Her hair came from my half-Native American great grandmother.
There is no such thing as a definitive "Jewish hair." Jews have all kinds of hair types. I've known and known of Jews with blonde, red, brunette, brown, black, straight, curly, and/or frizzy hair. To suggest that there is such a thing as "Jewish hair" is to give into the racially classifying Jews...something from history that we don't want to repeat!
My dark, curly hair (and many of my other features) have always been seen as being very "Jewish looking" when it fact this trait (and many of the others) actually come from my half-Italian father and not my Jewish mother.
I've seen the American Girl doll and must agree that if we are following what this article proclaims the Jewish look to be, she is pretty close. But how can you say what a Jew looks like when they are found everywhere from Eastern-Europe to North Africa to the Middle East and so on.... I think that Rebecca (doll's name) was an immigrant from Russia. So maybe her look reflects on Russian jews. I, however, admit that I fall into the Jewish looks category too. And I've never foudn myself longing to look Arian in any way.
I love my Jewish curls :) I wasn't raised Jewish as my family became Catholic while leaving Holland in the 1930s. But I love my heritage and my curls connect me to my family history.
Did you try a mild relaxer or a texturizer? I'm Black with type 3b/4a hair. There are so many products out there for curly hair. Have you tried those? There are even shops that specialize in managing curly hair. I love my curly hair. I'm glad that you sound like you have learned to embrace yours.
For practically my entire life, I've hated my hair. Stumbling across this article enticed me to watch Good Hair, and after viewing, while I can't entirely relate to the black experience, I can attest to the torture that is a chemical relaxer.I'm a German and Russian non-practicing Jew and my hair has always been thick and curly. But from kindergarten until 4th or 5th grade, my mom always blew dry my hair in the morning and it ended up straight. Elementary school was fine. But the hormones of junior high kicked in, and my mom stopped blow drying my hair and POOF. Boy, do I mean poof. I didn't know what to do with it, and while I grew up in NJ and there were other Jews around, they all had beautiful straight hair. The beauty parlor my mom and I went to was temporarily hosting a black salon part time as they looked for a new storefront to rent and I desperately wanted my hair straightened. My white hairdresser had a black hairdresser coach her through the entire process of relaxing my hair. It was frightening, smelled horrible, burned my scalp and didn't even end up straightening my hair. Half of it was straw and half of it stubbornly kept the kinky curl. From then up until a few years ago when an ex convinced me to wear it down, I kept my hair tied up tightly. I used to read beauty magazines and feel awful because there were never any models with curly hair (unless they were black) and there were never any "how to style curly hair" articles, either. Now I use the whole DevaCurl product line and finally have embraced my crazy hair. And you know what? Everyone stops me to tell me what wonderful hair I have. Moms in the mall, guys at the pharmacy, pretty much anyone. It never stops feeling good. Embrace the Jewfro ladies!
I don't have the hair. My three sisters and I all have flaming red, silky straight hair. Our heritage is Eastern European and we are 100% Jewish.
In reply to <p>I don't have the hair. My by LilyKlein
That's interesting! I am Eastern European as well, 100% Jewish and always wondered where MY flaming red hair came from! I'm the only one in my family, however, but have not yet met a fellow Jewish man or woman with naturally red hair. My father believe it's from his mother's side but I'm not sure. It's certainly not silky straight though - very curly, in ringlets of varying levels of tightness - and rather thick. I was lucky though, never really had too much of a frizz problem. Nothing I couldn't handle anyway. I used to try to straighten it in junior high but realized that my hair looked much better in its natural state (and much healthier) and began to save myself the two to three hours of effort in the morning. I would use some "black" or "ethnic" hair product (motions and whatever other brands are deemed only for african americans) to tame it a tad and add some shine. I think Jewish hair is a blessing; I love mine!
In reply to <p>That's interesting! I am by Lindsey
I have it too. More auburn than flaming, but I have the pale freckled skin and green eyes too, 100% Ashkenazim. I used to think I was some odd mutation, then I learned that back in EU Jews were known in history for having red hair. On The Simpsons too I suppose.
...and have no clue about my heritage. My hair fits in with "jewish hair" though so you have me wondering. Interesting thoughts.
I'm Christian and as far as I know, I don't have a Jewish heritage, but I definitely have Jewish hair! It's naturally dark brown, curly, thick and frizzy. I used to pull it back into a ponytail to hide the frizziness, recently I've learned how to get it tame enough to be worn down, although I'm still paranoid of a frizz attack when its down.
It wasn't until I started college that I embraced my curls. While I straighten my hair occasionally, I have learned how to make the most of my curls.