Jewish nose

Joseph Jacobs's explanation of the caricature of a Jewish nose (Fig. 1), as described in Jewish Encyclopedia

The Jewish nose or Semitic nose is an element of the racial stereotype of the Jews.[1][2] Typical descriptions: "has a very slight hump, somewhat broad near the tip and the tip bends down" (Jerome Webster, 1914),[1] or "a large, massive, club-shaped, hooked nose" (Robert Knox, 1850).[1]

The Yiddish slang words 'schnozz', 'schnabel', 'schnobel' for "big nose" derive from the German/Yiddish "Schnabel" for "beak".

Hooked shape

Statistics cited in the article "Nose" from 1901–1905 Jewish Encyclopedia demonstrate that, contrary to the stereotype, the "hooked" nose in fact belongs to the minority (20–30%) of the Jews, with vast majority having straight noses.[2]

Felix von Luschan suggested that arched noses in Jews is not a Semitic trait, but is a consequence of the intermixture with the Hittites in Asia Minor, noting that other races with Hittite blood, such as the Armenians, have similar noses.[2] The same theory was held by Houston Stewart Chamberlain.[3]

Nostrils

On the other hand, the impression of the "Jewishness" of the nose significantly depends on the accentuation of the nostrils. Joseph Jacobs wrote: "A curious experiment illustrates this importance of the nostril toward making the Jewish expression. Artists tell us that the best way to make a caricature of the Jewish nose is to write a figure 6 with a long tail (Fig. 1); now remove the turn of the twist as in Figure 2, and much of the Jewishness disappears; it vanishes entirely when we draw the continuation horizontally as in Figure 3. We may conclude, then, as regards the Jewish nose, that it is more the Jewish nostril than the nose itself which goes to form the characteristic Jewish expression."[4] The Nazi propaganda anti-Semitic children's book Der Giftpilz describes a lesson where children are taught to recognize the Jews. One "good Aryan boy" describes the Jewish nose as follows: "It is similar to a '6' and is called Judensechs ("Jewish Six"). Even some non-Jews have a hooked nose, but it is bent in the upper part, not in the down part. Such noses are hooked noses or aquiline noses. They have nothing to do with a Jewish nose."[5]

Plastic surgery controversy

Since early 20th century the rhinoplasty to alter the "Jewish nose" were sought for social and business reasons, in particular, due to anti-Semitism. It is argued that as a result, plastic surgeons contributed to the perpetuation of the idea that a "Jewish nose" is a kind of deformity, either unwittingly or for commercial reasons.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Beth Preminger, "The "Jewish Nose" and Plastic Surgery: Origins and Implications", Journal of the American Medical Association, 2001;286(17):2161. doi:10.1001/jama.286.17.2161-JMS1107-5-1
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Nose", Jewish Encyclopedia, 1906
  3. ↑ Chamberlain, Houston Stewart. The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century. p. 394
  4. ↑ Joseph Jacobs, "On the Racial Characteristics of Modern Jews", Journal of the Anthropological Institute, 1886, xv. 23–62; as cited in Jewish Encyclopedia.
  5. ↑ As cited in Das Grauen Des Holocaust: "Diese ähnelt einer '6' und wird "Judensechs" genannt. Auch manche Nichtjuden haben eine Hakennase, doch ist die nach oben gebogen, nicht nach unten. Solche Nasen sind Hakennasen oder Adlernasen. Diese haben nichts mit einer jüdischen Nase zu tun.""

Further reading

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