{"id":1710,"date":"2007-12-13T12:17:56","date_gmt":"2007-12-13T19:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=1710"},"modified":"2007-12-13T12:19:58","modified_gmt":"2007-12-13T19:07:58","slug":"the-jewish-nose-and-plastic-surgery-origins-and-implications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=1710","title":{"rendered":"The “Jewish Nose” and Plastic Surgery: Origins and Implications"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beth Preminger writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n

In 1914, a young woman who had always been self-conscious about <\/sup>the appearance of her nose decided to seek the advice of a surgeon. <\/sup>Her physician, Jerome Webster, made the following diagnosis: <\/sup>"Nose is fairly long, has a very slight hump, is somewhat broad <\/sup>near the tip and the tip bends down, giving somewhat the appearance <\/sup>of a Jewish nose." Echoing the perspective of a generation of <\/sup>surgeons, Webster concluded, "I think that there is sufficient <\/sup>deformity to warrant changing the nose."<\/a>1<\/a><\/sup> <\/sup><\/p>\n

For over a century, the term the "Jewish nose" has been used <\/sup>in Western scientific literature to describe a set of physical <\/sup>features thought to constitute a distinct, race-based deformity. <\/sup>As early as 1850, Robert Knox, a prominent anthropologist, described <\/sup>the physical features of the Jew as including "a large, massive, <\/sup>club-shaped, hooked nose, three or four times larger than suits <\/sup>the face. . . . Thus it is that the Jewish face never can [be], <\/sup>and never is, perfectly beautiful."<\/a>2<\/a><\/sup> In the 1900s, the "Jew <\/sup>nose" became the subject of purportedly scientific studies of <\/sup>hereditary transmission; a 1928 text described a "Jew nose" <\/sup>that emerged in the offspring of mixed Jewish and non-Jewish <\/sup>marriages, for example.<\/a>3<\/a><\/sup> <\/sup><\/p>\n

By the early 20th century, physicians were arguing that surgical <\/sup>procedures to alter "racial characteristics" such as the "Jewish <\/sup>nose" could be a means of promoting patient well-being. In 1930, <\/sup>William Wesley Carter noted that "the modification of accentuated <\/sup>family or racial characteristics, such as are sometimes observable <\/sup>especially in Semitic subjects . . . is frequently of great <\/sup>importance to the individual."<\/a>4<\/a><\/sup> Another surgeon, Vilray Blair, <\/sup>argued in 1936 that, due to prejudice against Jews, "change <\/sup>in the shape of the pronounced Jewish nose may be sought for <\/sup>either social or business reasons."<\/a>5<\/a><\/sup> <\/sup><\/p>\n

The persistence of this charged category in the medical literature <\/sup>raises some important questions about the medical profession’s <\/sup>role in perpetuating racial and asthetic prejudices. By incorporating <\/sup>this term into their clinical vocabulary, early plastic surgeons <\/sup>unwittingly lent scientific credibility to popular stereotypes <\/sup>about beauty and ethnicity. In this way, the "Jewish nose" was <\/sup>transformed from a facial variation into a specific, pathological <\/sup>condition for which there existed a medical protocol for correction. <\/sup><\/p>\n

At the same time, however, plastic surgery’s appropriation of <\/sup>this term can be seen as a reflection of the fledgling field’s <\/sup>own need for professional and social credibility. Noting that <\/sup>many patients dismissed plastic surgeons as so-called beauty <\/sup>quacks, a professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins was driven to <\/sup>argue in 1927 that "a beauty surgeon works strictly on a commercial <\/sup>basis . . . [while a plastic surgeon] is . . . one who has the <\/sup>ideals and education of [the medical] profession."<\/a>6<\/a><\/sup> Such surgeons <\/sup>were anxious to convince both patients and other physicians <\/sup>that they were not simply catering to the vanity of the public, <\/sup>but addressing "scientifically" defined deformities that could <\/sup>have great economic and emotional costs for their patients. <\/sup>The incorporation of terms such as "Jewish nose" into the medical <\/sup>lexicon was therefore consistent with the specialty’s struggle <\/sup>to solidify its professional status. <\/sup><\/p>\n

Today, some plastic surgery texts continue to describe the "Jewish <\/sup>nose" as if it were a standard physical deformity requiring <\/sup>surgical correction. A 1996 manual describing procedures for <\/sup>altering ethnic noses, for example, indicates that correction <\/sup>of the "Jewish nose" requires "a classic rhinoplasty with lowering <\/sup>of the dorsum, narrowing of the bony pyramid, refinement and <\/sup>elevation of the excessively long hanging tip."<\/a>7<\/a><\/sup>Another recent <\/sup>manual, while refraining from explicitly using the Jewish nose <\/sup>as a diagnostic category, notes that 2 patients with noses that <\/sup>"have acute nasolabial angles, plunging tips, or foreshortened <\/sup>nasal tip pyramids" were "of Jewish ancestry" or of "Jewish <\/sup>descent."<\/a>8<\/a><\/sup> <\/sup><\/p>\n

However, changes in attitudes toward ethnicity and beauty have <\/sup>caused many plastic surgeons to rethink earlier approaches to <\/sup>physical features associated with ethnicity. In the words of <\/sup>a recent rhinoplasty text, "it is neither feasible, desirable, <\/sup>or possible to transform totally an Asian into a Caucasian or <\/sup>vice versa. . . . Nor is it advisable to transform a Black nose <\/sup>. . . into an aquiline nose better befitting the classic British <\/sup>butler."<\/a>9<\/a><\/sup> Furthermore, recent reports suggest that many patients <\/sup>who elect to have plastic surgery for asthetic reasons are themselves <\/sup>expressing a specific desire to retain signs of their ethnic <\/sup>identity.<\/a>9<\/a><\/sup> <\/sup><\/p>\n

The conflict over the use of the term "Jewish nose" can be seen <\/sup>to reflect a broader controversy about the role of medicine <\/sup>in either altering or preserving ethnic uniqueness. Both in <\/sup>the past and in the present day, cosmetic surgeons have been <\/sup>sought by patients wishing to alter features thought to separate <\/sup>them from the mainstream. By developing medical vocabulary and <\/sup>procedures to respond to these concerns, physicians may not <\/sup>be able to avoid complicity with the social and esthetic prejudices <\/sup>they reflect.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beth Preminger writes: In 1914, a young woman who had always been self-conscious about the appearance of her nose decided to seek the advice of a surgeon. Her physician, Jerome Webster, made the following diagnosis: "Nose is fairly long, has … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[575,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beauty","category-jews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t