Genuinely asking this because where I live there are very few Jewish people, but how is a person visibly Jewish? Maybe because they are wearing religious attire? Or is there something else?
There’s definitely a stereotypical Jewish appearance. Most Jews in America are ashkenazi, which means they descend from central and Eastern Europe as opposed to Sephardic Jews, who descend from the Iberian peninsula and the Middle East.
Some examples of people who look like Jewish stereotypes:
We share a lot of features with Italians, so there are a lot of people who are assumed to be Jewish but aren’t like Jason Biggs. If you’re in Long Island, you’re going to see a lot of both.
Hope this didn’t come off too race sciencey, I’m also mostly stereotypically Jewish looking. It feels like part of Jewish American culture is being excited when other people are Jewish and surprised when someone looks Jewish but isn’t.
Odd, all the Italians I worked with look nothing like this. Both facial features and colors (all except for one had blue eyes and hair). I'd just assume it was white people (the men just look plain white to me, the women look like white-Arabic biracial) without associating them with any specific ethnicity. Good thing I wasn't born in USA and don't plan to ever go there. I suck with ethnicities. :|
Beyond the kippah that varies from optional to required depending on the sect one belongs to, certain sects have a strict dress code for both men and women.
But I'm fairly certain this person does not belong to any such sect, at least not based on the video thumbnails she has on her tiktok page. So I'm fairly certain she means this in the purely phenotypical sense, which to be honest with you is totally not 'visible.' Like, at all. Being a guy of southern euro-poor ethnicity, I myself have been clocked as jewish countless times which leads me to believe everyone just thinks anyone with a fucked up nose is jewish.
Genuinely asking this because where I live there are very few Jewish people, but how is a person visibly Jewish? Maybe because they are wearing religious attire? Or is there something else?
There’s definitely a stereotypical Jewish appearance. Most Jews in America are ashkenazi, which means they descend from central and Eastern Europe as opposed to Sephardic Jews, who descend from the Iberian peninsula and the Middle East.
Some examples of people who look like Jewish stereotypes:
Nick Kroll
Andy Samberg
Jenny Slate
Ilana Glazer
We share a lot of features with Italians, so there are a lot of people who are assumed to be Jewish but aren’t like Jason Biggs. If you’re in Long Island, you’re going to see a lot of both.
Hope this didn’t come off too race sciencey, I’m also mostly stereotypically Jewish looking. It feels like part of Jewish American culture is being excited when other people are Jewish and surprised when someone looks Jewish but isn’t.
I'm not even Southern European in the least and I get Chabad guys asking me if I'm Jewish all the time
I get that too; I assume it’s the combination of Eastern European and British ancestry and curly hair that makes me look like I just might be Jewish
Odd, all the Italians I worked with look nothing like this. Both facial features and colors (all except for one had blue eyes and hair). I'd just assume it was white people (the men just look plain white to me, the women look like white-Arabic biracial) without associating them with any specific ethnicity. Good thing I wasn't born in USA and don't plan to ever go there. I suck with ethnicities. :|
Let me clarify, I didn’t mean that all Italians look Jewish. Just that when someone looks Jewish, but isn’t, they’re usually Italian.
Michael Imperioli and Lady Gaga are some other examples.
Beyond the kippah that varies from optional to required depending on the sect one belongs to, certain sects have a strict dress code for both men and women.
But I'm fairly certain this person does not belong to any such sect, at least not based on the video thumbnails she has on her tiktok page. So I'm fairly certain she means this in the purely phenotypical sense, which to be honest with you is totally not 'visible.' Like, at all. Being a guy of southern euro-poor ethnicity, I myself have been clocked as jewish countless times which leads me to believe everyone just thinks anyone with a fucked up nose is jewish.
When Americans talk about it, other than attire, they usually mean dark, curly hair and/or a hook nose.