Pinned comment with important info! Firstly, *the comments are being moderated* so any messes shall be removed in short order. Want sources? (or behind-the-scenes content, video chat sewing circles, and more?) Join my Patreon! www.patreon.com/snappydragonstudios Or, you can buy me some Ko-Fi : ko-fi.com/snappydragon Follow me on IG for more stitchy business : @missSnappyDragon I do not take personal costume/sewing or research commissions. Want to send me letters? Send mail to PO Box 3884, Berkeley CA, 94703! Letters and cards only please 💚
let me clarify my previous comment, why would you paywall sources? Like the list of things, you did not make, and used for your research? How should we fact check what you are saying or research into what you are reading so that we can be better informed as well? Would it be possible to cite them on screen so people can at least google?
also, as a friendly heads up, the patreon link in this comment doesn't work but the one in your vid description seems to work. Despite my feelings about paywalling the sourced themselves - I loved the vid and learned a lot
May I just chime in with a couple tidbits of Slavic folklore, that are rooted on antisemitic and misogynystic stereotypes? 1. Friday is considered a bad day to start things. You don't want to plan your journey or wedding or starts of harvest season on Friday. It is considered a day, when witches have their nasty gatherings and do stuff to interfere with respectable folks. Shabbat, Jewish day off, starts in Friday at the dusk(Btw Shabbat Shalom, fellow witches) 2. The image of a witch, who shoves kidnapped baby into the oven, was once a very real medical practice. Female healers would take weak, ill and/or prematurely born babies, wrap them in bread dough and put them in moderately hot oven(when you put out fire, stone furnice maintains warmth for about 24 hours, and Russian furnice is big enough so a couple of adult people can fit there, so it's a giant warm capsule). When female healers were persecuted for witchcraft, this practice perfectly aligned with blood libel. Nowadays, modern medics agree, that "baking" babies is similar to what they do with prematurely born babies - put them in warm oxygen pods. The rhye bread dough acts as additional layer of warmth and is full of vitamines and oxygen. V, thank you for the video! It's so important to have an educated Jewish perspective on those things
in the Ukrainian folk tale Ivasyk-Telesyk, there is a notoriously antisemitic snake lady character, who kidnaps a child and tries to have him baked and devoured and is often illustrated wearing a headwrap, as well as getting metal teeth implants so that she could gnaw down a tree that the kid is sitting on. So yeah, the blood libel and dehumanization is definitely there.
These are such interesting stories! I love hearing about things like this because my family's been in America so long we've lost whatever stories we had from wherever the Old Country was.
@@LixiaWinter No, only super vague half-joke stories. Eventually I'm going to do the genealogy research and see if I can recreate some clothes they might have worn.
As a Pole, I wasn't aware Friday is considered a bad day, if it's part of Polish folklore, then it must be quite obscure or already forgotten, at least in the region I come from. I only know of Friday the 13th, but it isn't exactly exclusive to or rooted in Slavic culture. The second one is a very well known theme I think across all Slavic countries, but I also didn't know its origin or why it was done! Seems like I need to do some more research (⊙o⊙)
As a slavic central european with a master's degree in medieval history I knew a lot of these points, but not all of them were firmly connected for me before. Thank you for your extra deep research, it must've been a ton of work and very hard at times... Also, I am pretty shocked at the practice of the "bike accidents" etc. Wow. That's tough.
I worked with and had lots of Jewish friends and also family, getting plastic surgery on the nose as a 16th birthday present was common. Happily my cousin's daughters are proud of the nose they inherited from their father's side of the family.
I'm a Jew born and raised in LA. There, girls who got nose jobs (often around their 16th birthday), skipped the bike accident pretense and just owned it. Nobody judged them for it (at least not among the people I knew, Jewish and non-Jewish alike). it was seen as simply another way of fitting the beauty norm fed to us, just like ironing curly hair so it would be long and straight like the blonde coeds and surfer girls who were held as the highest form of mid-Sixties beauty in Southern California.
@@kharris9359 If Einstein hadn't been obsessed with gravity and time and physics 'n' shit we'd have progressed a fair bit slower in sciences, and if people hadn't been obsessed with philosophical alchemy we'd still be lagging way TF behind in psychology and chemistry because people didn't get curious. Basically EVERY form of science is someone's obsession building on someone else's obsession, including history and mathematics.
"Witch costume I love"... My daughter has dressed as a "witch princess", someone of darkness and power, and sparkles of stars and dreams of hope in the night. I'm always proud of her passion for putting ALL people's into positive light, even those considered "pretend". 💞💞
For what it's worth, your jewish historical context stuff is my favorite stuff you do. It's history I rarely get the chance to interact with and a space with a lot of language barriers for me, so you're work helps me find points of entry while bringing the human community behind the history to the center of it all. It also feels very important that it is being shared willingly with me (an outsider) rather than pieced together from the curiosity of others. Does that make sense? I don't know, I'm very tired... Btw, I read Daniel Deronda because of you. I don't normally feel drawn to read victorian novels, but you made me really want to read about Mirah! I wish it was assigned in more English classes, it's a really well written hook-and-subvert! And even for the people that manage to miss that Mirah is the heroine, they can't escape getting invested in Daniel. Thanks for the recommendation :)
I have ancestry from the Middle East (not Jewish) and my mom and her sisters were teased relentlessly for their noses. Imo one of my mom's most beautiful features is her nose! But this sort of stereotyping led to her twin sister getting a rhinoplasty. Disheartening. Thank you for celebrating the range of nose shapes and helping people reflect on beliefs they grew up with and never examined before. This is an important and educational video.
One of my grandmas had a nose job when she was a young adult. When my ma was pregnant with me, both of my grandmas, who themselves had prominent noses, *joked* that if my nose was shaped similarly, they'd gift me a nose job when I was old enough. The pressure to conform was real and so harmful to us.
I seriously don't understand how people can think offering plastic surgery to kids is a good idea or at all acceptable. Especially when its presented as a present which so many are taught its rude not to be grateful for. The number of stories Ive heard from people who had such experiences makes me sick. The worse was one girl whose parents informed her they were getting her liposuction as her graduation present, from high school. Not asked if she wanted it. Was told she was getting it. It did not go over well when she informed them no she was not.
Slightly related, my mother suggested she'd pay for plastic surgery when I was in grade school (!) because she thought my ears were sticking out. I never went for it and my ears don't even stick out that far. Now that my mother is in her late 80s I realize how critical she is/has been of people that don't conform to (her) standard of beauty and that sadly makes her really shallow.
@@khaxjc1 My mother kept trying to get me to have a gastric bypass surgery. I didn't want to. But she's relentless. I bet she'd bring it up again, if I would talk to her. I really try to just stay away from her.
Imagine being killed as a child and the actual person who killed you gets off scott free while a bunch of innocent people die, likely accused of murder by the very person who killed you. Like bruh.
I don't have a solid source, but I've heard people say that blood libels were often started because the murderer was known and was either someone of status, or someone the community couldn't do without.
The majority of children are abused by family members or close friends of the family. Something that usually shocks the family and is denied vehemently. So finding a scapegoat to cover up what uncle Fred did is important.
Two stories from my past: 1. I was the only Jewish student on my college campus. Someone asked me if it was true you had to be rich to be Jewish. My response: "No, but it helps." 2. A few years later, living in a city with a large Jewish population; I registered for work with a temp agency where I was already on the books. The person who interviewed me says that the notes from my previous registration read, "Says she's Jewish but doesn't look it."
My witchy sibling sent me this video following a discussion of whether it would be inappropriate for me (as a spiritual witch) to dress in a pop culture “basic witch” costume for Halloween. I’ve been a witch a dozen or so times in my life before learning about this kind of history (this video is not my first time hearing about it but is the best breakdown I’ve ever seen). I tend to just wear all black and the hat. Overall- thank you for the breakdown, it really helped me understand what is and isn’t problematic about the cultural depictions of witchcraft.
Two years since you initially released this video and I still very much appreciate the content warnings, and how you explain what they mean through the video. Please stay safe and take breaks when needed while you work through the comment section.
As a Jewish woman who went through a period of religious uncertainty after her Bat Mitzvah and was temporarily Wiccan, this is fantastic. Well researched, well presented, and clearly expressed. Mazel tov. As a Jewish costumer, I absolutely adore all of your "living while Jewish" videos. A friend of mine was once overheard making antisemitic comments when he thought no one else could hear, and as the only new in the friend group it fell to me to explain the *why* of it all, even though everyone else involved was almost as upset by his statements as I was. I wish I had had the presence of mind to point him in the direction of some of your videos because you are so good at what you do.
Aww, thank you! I know the feeling of having to be the One Jewish Person who Explains All The Things,a and I would be very happy to spare someone that.
I (a Jewish witch) make witch hats and sell them on Etsy. I am glad that I have never had a review posted with a picture containing antisemitic tropes or features. All of the pictures I've gotten from my customers have been lovely! I hope it never happens. Thank you for this well researched video!!
The nuance is important here, and you nailed it. History is important to know before you do a thing. Just because the coding is old doesn't mean it isn't there.
I’m indigenous and there’s a lot of stereotypes of us doing witchcraft as well (our sacred practices like smudging, powwows, ceremonies, etc), kinda weird but we also have that Roman/Mediterranean nose stereotype. Yeah I can’t think of anything else at the moment, great video by the way!
I grew up fundi, and witches were an absolute no go. For a myriad of reasons. The obvious "satanic panic" reasons as well as, oddly enough, because they were "disrespectful to cute old Jewish ladies" My parents are going to feel so vindicated by this video lol
I was a fundi kid too, but only got the satanic panic part. My mom was convinced if she let us dress as witches to go trick or treating, the devil would possess us.
You know that satanism doesn’t actually worship the devil? It’s an anti-radical christian religion, radical being the key word. Satanist shave a strict code of conduct and I would argue their commandments are more geared towards peace and love than Christians. I’m a witch and know many satanist and I can tell you that what most people think they know about us is wrong and used as scare tactics to get Christians to hate us. We are good and moral people as a whole
Redpanda are you referring to The Church of Satan and it’s offshoots? Undoubtedly they are more into freedom of expression etc but they do not represent all Satanic groups. Still the Satanic Panic was a Christian Fundamental conspiracy theory that targeted innocents including Pagans and occultist among others.
@@nimuehawk yes o am referring to the church of satan because that is what people are usually referring too when they say satanist or satanic. I know there are other groups but I’m just trying to bring to light misconceptions of me and my friends
@@theab3957 I'm assuming you are saying don't do trick or treating? I'm not going to get into whether trick or treating this year (or any year) is safe. However, there are other things people do in costume for Halloween. Last year, we arranged a photo scavenger hunt for my kid's class where they dressed in costume and each family took pictures next to items on the scavenger hunt list and shared them in a private album. It was lots of fun, could all be done by individual families without gathering together, and the kids still got to see each other's costumes.
@@elisabethmontegna5412 No; I don't do trick or treating. I am not a child, and I think there must be a lot of plastic garbage produced because of Halloween candy. I think it would be better if Halloween was safer; like when my parents were children and neighbours could be trusted to give home made treats to kids.
@@theab3957 My daughter trick or treated her entire childhood and never had a single incident. Same for myself and my siblings. Maybe if you live in a high crime area it is bad idk, but our neighborhoods have been safe.
@@leahc9723 That is fortunate for you. I am also fortunate to live in a relatively safe neighbourhood. But just because it doesn't happen to me, doesn't mean I'm not aware of the dangers. Bad things don't happen much to kids in my city, but the year before Covid broke out, the city decided to set up trick or treating in the mall, so that children could be safer. This way, they could control the candy as well as the people allowed in (also, no cars to hit children). It's not very fun, but if my boring city had this set up in one of the safer neighbourhoods, that's kind of telling. At the end of the day it's everyone's choice. I don't really care, and I don't think it's the greatest danger to children. I was just in a foul mood when I wrote my first comment in this section and I felt like starting a fight because I hate myself essentially 🤷 In any case, have a safe and happy Halloween/Samhain/[insert late October celebrations I am unaware of]
Always a fan of the "modern witch" aesthetic with more traditionally pagan ties like flowers braided into hair and crystal jewelry and flowy black cotton dresses. I like that it celebrates nature and most of all, choice. Flowers and crystals come from the earth and, in some cases, have very little monetary value. They're available in different varieties all over the world, to anyone who chooses to step outside and find them. And the modern witch aesthetic of bringing these gifts of nature into your home, wearing them as accessories, is welcoming. Anyone, anywhere, from any cultural background, can participate in the modern witch aesthetic because all you actually need to fit the aesthetic are flowers and crystals you can get from any local sources. It's beautiful to me.
I just want to add that much of the pagan and "bohemian" aesthetic is cultural appropriation and stereotyping of roma. So to be on the safe side I'd read up on stereotypes relating to that, orientalism in occultism, and the racism and orientalism in the bohemian movement. The "modern gypsy aesthetic" is unfortunately very racist.
Your Jewish content is always my favorite! I was surprised to learn the anti-Semitism roots of witch imagery. I had always thought the imagery was based in the otherness of aging outside of a traditional family structure. Exaggerated features, unhealthy looking skin, a voice that cracks, and good sense so accurate that it borders on the paranormal are all things I see associated with the elderly. In times past, I imagine a woman aging in an extended family group could be a matriarch, passing on knowledge and cooking amazing stew. But a lone elderly woman doesn't really have a title or roll. So she is suspicious. Other. And couldn't possibly have something as wholesome as stew in her cauldron.
Well dang - I’ve def noticed the similarities in evil being demonstrated using infanticide and sacrifice but never realized how directly causal the blood libel myth is to our present day witch tropes! The earliest depiction of eating babies to gain power that I can think of is the myth of the Titan Saturn devouring his young ...so that painting you referenced of Saturn wearing an oh-so-familiar hat made my stomach drop. Thank you for all the emotional labour and research you’ve put into this video! It’s important to have out there!
Honestly Saturn's hat was just a brim hat with a star on it. I mean the brim hat is associated with Jewish men, but I think comparing it to a witch's hat is a bit of a stretch. Although one illustration shown does has a witch wearing a brim hat, so there's that.
Why does Saturn aka Kronos or Chronos (Chronological) father of time eat children? Because time steals your youth. Forget the Blood Libel for a sec. Alister Crowley said that the secret to immortality was in the blood of the young. Look up Can the Blood of the Young slow aging. The company Age X Therapeutics uses stem cells to make anti-aging products. So in one sense it's kinda true except has nothing to do with the Jews.
@@AFRoSHEENT3ARCMICHAEL69 Like SnappyDragon said at the end of the video, Jewish folks aren't making it about Jews, antisemites have been making it about Jewish people. In this case, by putting the "Jewish hat" on Saturn.
@@AFRoSHEENT3ARCMICHAEL69 I do see what you’re saying re: Cronus/time consuming youth and I agree the original text (Hesiod’s Theogony) goes for exactly that outlook. The thing is art and mythic symbolism have a long history of being subverted into political propaganda which is what I’m suspecting happened here. Like, people can be much more easily swayed into antisemitism if the cultural access point to Jewishness is something as powerful and frightening as time devouring us all, magic, or, as you pointed out, conspiracy theories about Jews being an all powerful global entity.
I had heard that some of the witch stereotypes, including forms of the hat, but also cauldrons and potion-making, were associated with brewers, which was an almost exclusively female profession until the later Middle Ages leading into the Reformation period. As the profession moved away from being centered in the home, women still participating in brewing were demonized. Can anyone confirm this?
Yes this is true. Witch accusers got all the property of the accused so it was profitable to make an accusation. Many women in what is now Germany who were brewers as well as men were accused of witchcraft at that time.
Can confirm. The tall hat meant you could be easily found at the market place to buy your beer. The "broom" was a bundle of straw on a stick hanging outside of your Alehouse as a sign, and of course a cat would be valuable in keeping mice and rats out of your grain stores. The cauldron was just for making beer in, you needed a huge vessel to brew it before barreling it. Being a brew meister was another of the very few things a woman was allowed to do to bring in her own income.
By the time i was cast to portray a witch in a haunted house I worked at last year, I was pretty aware of most of these stereotypes (only understood the weight of the blood libel thing more recently as a result of one of your previous videos on the topic) - so it was kind of a fun creative challenge to figure out how to portray a witch without playing into anti-Semitic tropes (we had to wear a mask for covid, so the nose thing wasn't even a consideration, but i was aware enough of that trope at the time to have avoided it anyways). I ended up playing into a druidic aesthetic (I'm a druidic pagan spiritually) and made it look like I was a witch that had been consumed by the forest and it's magic around me - had vines growing out of my hair, and moss growing on me and my clothes. some of the people in my scene played more into the goth sort of aesthetics, and one of them went with a look inspired by The Crow. Avoiding anti-Semitism while playing or dressing as a witch isnt hard, it just requires a bit of creativity. Out of curiosity: Do you find that Elpheba's portrayal in Wicked reenforces or subverts these tropes?
When I costumed the opera Hansel and Gretel I did something similar, made her like a forest spirit with dayglo bugs and snakes in her hair. The singer was happy to be a pretty, if green, witch.
I haven't actually seen Wicked [shocked gasps, I know]! Seems like she's very much visually in this same European witch aesthetic with the green skin and all. I have been told of other folk traditions that associate green with witches, but this was someone telling me in passing about a "green witch" legend from the Balkans where "green" was to represent forests and herbal lore.
@@Crocronut I wouldn't be so sure. The whole point of representing Elphaba the way she is in Wicked is as a *subversion* of the witch trope - where she isn't the villain, just painted as one. Elphaba is inarguably the protagonist and hero in Wicked, and the antisemitic tropes are actively and conciously used against her on behalf of the antagonists. (opening up a reading of Elphaba as Jewish)
My mom has an aquiline nose, and she’s been asked her whole life if she’s Jewish (which she isn’t). It’s given her a lot sympathy towards Jewish people, who get dumb questions from stereotypes all the time
Acknowledging history is the only way to move forward! You can love myths and costumes and ALSO recognize problematic context. It's a challenge to navigate, but knowledge is the first step. Love your channel. Keep it up.
I don't know about the history of conical hats, and I'm not trying to dispute anything that you say here, but I'd like to add to what you said about the hats. In Nordic Germany, wide brimmed hats were associated with Odin. Odin wore a wide brimmed hat, often pulled down to conceal his face and identity during his travels in Midgard. Odin was also a witch, despite witchcraft being a strictly feminine practice. The image of Odin as a wandering old man of magic wearing a large hat was the primary basis for Gandalf, which was then the inspiration for the modern fantasy image of the robe-and-hat wizard. Again, I'm not trying to contradict what you said about the Judenhut. I just think that it's worth mentioning that there's another historical connection between hats and practitioners of magic in Germany. Edit: and since you asked about witch costumes ideas that we like, I want to throw Odin out as an idea for that!
@@shahbanu-amestris If you're trying to argue with me, please re-read what I wrote: "I don't know about the history of conical hats, and I'm not trying to dispute anything that you say here".
Practising pagan here. We started calling ourselves "witches" several decades ago, for various reasons (for example, some people wanted to show solidarity with the poor, innocent women who were persecuted as "witches" by the inquisition). So I've always been a bit ambiguous towards the stereotypes in Halloween costumes. You're adding a whole new layer to this discomfort, and I thank you for providing this information. It's very much appreciated 💜
@@talithacrow7530 Yup, correct. Just wondering why you feel the need to point this out here? Surely you realise that I know this, and most non-pagans aren't that interested (also, I didn't want to go i to too much detail so as to avoid hijacking the topic, which refers to Jews).
A fpagan riend of mine in child protection always said a far more terrifying look for for Halloween was a man in an overcoat with candy in his pocket then an old woman with a pointy hat, because real evidence shows he is much more dangerous.
@@talithacrow7530 You're right to be cautious, but the tangled mess between Pagan, Wiccan, Witch, Heathen, Reconstructionist / fluffy bunny, Indigenous, etc, is far to complicated to explain here; throw in pantheist/atheist/forms of Satanist as many people do and it gets worse. If a Christian said "we call ourselves born again..." would you point out that "not all" Christians do that? And it is considerate, polite, to respect the subject of the video and not hijack it for pagan discussions that outsiders might consider silly.
I’m not Jewish, ethnically or religious. I am Sicilian and Korean though, and know a lot about pagan practices around the world. This was very educational! Thank you! I had never thought about Gothel having physical antisemitic features. To be honest, In both looks and behavior she’s always reminded me of my mother; who is the offspring of a Korean immigrant and Sicilian immigrant. I guess that would make sense since aquiline noses are a Mediterranean thing and so is dark curly hair. Thank you for the video, it’s given me so much to think about.
That was super interesting for me as well, also a close descendant of an emotionally manipulative Sicilian woman, but now knowing the history I will never unsee it in Tangled.
I'm a witch with Romani ancestors so I'm familiar with some of their persecution, but I had no idea about the connection to anti-Semitism. It's so awful. Thank you for this video. Its important information. As a witch, I very much agree that there is nothing wrong with dressing up as one, but leave out the offensive, harmful, and disrespectful elements.
Well i am a Jew, and this video is ridiculous. Not only is it a reach, but to push this view on people will only further resentment towards Jewish people. People want to have fun on Halloween, not have a finger wagged at them with a guilt trip and a shaming for doing something so innocent as getting into the spirit of a fun holiday. Doing this only puts my people in danger of backlash and hatred. We dont need this shithead drawing this kind of heat on us. Really? This meant something different 400 years ago? Fantastic, build yourself a time machine and go fight the good fight, and stay awhile...no rush. If she really wanted to make the world a better place for Jews she could start with petitioning for shelfish to finally be kosher, i love oysters and i dont care if my temple knows it.
@Bernie Sanders There are loads of real witches. Although modern witchcraft isn’t a religion, it is a spiritual practice that is becoming increasingly popular. There are religions based around it e.g. Wiccan. I’m a witch, and perform spells and such. I would look it up before telling the person you were replying to that they don’t exist.
As a Pagan Witch I've really only looked at this trope through the scope of my own religion and it was really eye opening to hear this and all the research that went into this is just o.O omg. I have a handful of Jewish friends and they're more on the "avoid conflict and attention" types (which is SO understandable considering) so I've really learned a lot from your channel. I appreciate this video so much and am actually embarrassed that there were so many things I didn't know or didn't put 2 and 2 together. Tl;dr THANK YOU THIS IS A WONDERFULLY PUT TOGETHER VIDEO.
And you don't think the stereotypes of witches is, to say the least, unpleasant? And the ignoring of how many of us have been tortured and killed by people of an Abrahamic religion is all fine?
I really hope people don't make a mess of your comments over this because it's such a great video. All throughout I kept thinking about how intersectional so many of these tropes are. They all intersect on anti-Semitism, of course, but with the healthy dose of misogyny in there... As an outspoken woman who is not Jewish, I can't say I'd feel safe from the witch trials of medieval Europe, so there's a spark of recognition there for me. Thanks for all your detailed research, I'm looking up so many of those sources for further reading!
@@SnappyDragon “How does she have milk and butter to give to the needy in the winter? Nobody is _that_ good at saving up dairy for when the livestock’s heavy with young! And _surely_ that cauldron she’s keeping the children away from can’t just be soap!” Yes, those were the “reasons” a woman in my mother’s village in northern Norway was burnt at the stake as a witch.
@@ragnkja So don't show "Christian" charity? Or caution for children? About 35 years ago I was condemned by small town neighbors for stopping schoolkids from breaking off hedge stems and chewing on them, for having poisonous plants; they were oleander, every part deadly, and they were very common throughout town, and *someone* needed to tell the kids not to put just anything in their mouths (not toddlers mind you, some teens) and I dealt with massive gossip and vandalism for it. Good thing it was the twentieth century, right? And good Christian people.
I was thinking about this as I was watching. The gross mix of antisemitism, anti-paganism, misogyny and ableism (I mean look at how often evil witches are portrayed as "disfigured") that all comes together to make this cultural idea of a witch. It's very interesting and absolutely horrible.
Nothing existing in a vacuum is SO true! Even before I realised just how messed up the nose trope was, I thought it was mean. A person's nose is a thing they can't really help, so mocking someone for a physical trait puts the person doing the mocking solidly in the "asshat" category in my book.
Your nose is beautiful. The "Roman nose" is a mediteranian trait, just like curly hair among the Greeks. Beauty trends change, but you are beautiful just the way you are.
two physical origins from my own research -- there is only one source of curly hair, Africa, K? a long slightly curved nose is the meeting of a broad African nose and the longer nose bridge of the European Caucasian (or mutated albino). the bump in the middle of the nose is the genetic leftover from the shorter African nose bridge.
@@Applecider-Poetry If on an "Adam and Eve" quest for an origin story, yes, all roads would lead to Africa. However, most mutations we see in the present day came long after, so when I look at my own DNA results, I don't see Africa, simply because the "Adam and Eve" portion of that DNA is so very diluted by then. European nations have a lot of melting-pot mutations from the not so ancient history, and so that's what I drew from. Both are valid, but her features reminded me of my cousins in Spain with Greek ancestry and they are beautiful features that Michelangelo's David showcaes - from his strong nose to his curly locks. He was (back then) the political symbol of a smaller nation's strength to their rival neighbor, in all his splendor. DNA mutations, while comon in the natural world, are unfortunately used to categorize groups of people. In the end, they are only "skin deep" and should not be used in this way, but humans are innately flawed, so we need continuous education on ethics and how to respect differences.
@@laranadesign4764 Interestingly enough already in ancient times people had been way more mobile than most modern people give them credit for. That's why in Europe since all the way back people from all over Africa, Asia, the Middle East and of course Europe had met each other and had families together. So when we nowadays say someone is Italian, this ethnic identity is already shaped by a centuries old combination of genes from all over the world. Far-right people are way too late for insisting people keep their hands of each other since we already are so intertwined genetically 👍
Ive never seen anyone make a video explicitly going into detail about why witches have roots in antisemitism, so thank you for this! Ive always wanted to learn more about witches specifically bc ive heard about pretty much all the other antisemitic tropes except for this one
Are they though? Edit Oct 17: Perhaps my question wasn't very clear. I was wondering which kinds of disabilities they seem exhibit, and how frequently.
Yes! It’s something that frustrates me to no end. And it still adds to the current day stigma of being disabled. People expect the disabled to be either pitiful childlike tropes of people, or evil. I honestly tend to get the former rather than the latter. They’re both awful.
I'm working on a patchwork witch hat currently, and I fully plan on cross-referencing this video for further education. Thank you for a very well thought out and researched video. I found it highly informative!
A witch costume I really like is the ancient Greek witch, like Medea or Circe, the powerful, beautiful and dangerous woman that knows plants and poisons and can talk with animals. I find it really empowering and aesthetically pleasing, and rather easy to make.
The hat is also very similar to a traditional welsh woman's hat - though not quite as pointy. A traditional Alpine hat also has the pointy top, but with a smaller brim. It begs the question of what was the origin of the Judenhut? Where did _it_ come from. Pointy hats on women were common in the middle ages (sans brim and usually with some sort of veil on the top of the point coming does to a sort of scarf.
That's so interesting! Naomi Lubrich's paper goes into a *ton* of detail about the cultural origins of the Judenhut and how it was a Jewish traditional style, probably with Levantine roots. I highly recommend reading it if you can get it!
I watched that one a year or so ago, and came to the comments to see if someone would mention Abby's video! Thanks! This is a fascinating discussion all around, and between Snappy Dragon and Abby Cox, I get my fix of youtube scholarly research dissecting fascinating topics! Don't know how everyone else feels, but I hope these ladies know how appreciated their citations and bibliographies are.
I'm a witch (and it's in my family history too, finnish/karelian witches in the 1800s and perhaps even earlier random fact) and always been interested in anything witch related but I've been bothered with the "witch nose" for a while and noticed how it seemed antisemitic and mocking people with aquiline noses and I've been waiting for someone to make a vid like this. Edit: It's always bothered me why aquiline noses was mocked this way and to people who have them: I find them incredibly beautiful and love to draw them.❤ I shared this everywhere
I’ve always found aquiline noses to be very attractive. Im sure this is because the entirety of my dad’s side of the family has that “Greco-Roman nose” as they call it. My brother has it too, though I missed out on it. We don’t have any Jewish history that I know of, though my dad’s family is all from southern Austria (right next to Italy). That’s likely where it comes from. The tan dad and I have though, that comes from his dad’s genes, which are somewhat unknown, though we suspect he was a man of colour, given our skin tones. (My dad was adopted, and my dad knows his bio mum, but not his bio dad. And his bio mum didn’t really know his bio dad either). But anyway, all of that to say, I’m likely attracted to it because it is so familiar to me. But I also don’t really understand why people would ever see it as ugly. Is it not objectively a strong, attractive nose shape?
@@GeorgiaGeorgette Unfortunately not. All I've gone off is stories from relatives. I'm swedish as in born in Sweden and don't speak the finnish language sadly but on both sides of my family I'm finnish. I wish I could help out more but I'm still trying to find that out myself but a start is to find out the region your family is from perhaps and go on from there? I've heard my last name comes from a specific region and such.
@@katherinemorelle7115 Yes I find them attractive too although I'm northern european and don't have that in my family. I'm attracted to the opposite of what my family looks like haha. I'm more into southern european/meditteranian looking guys than scandinavian. I just find it sad that people with those noses get dunked on so much. I remember when the trailer for The Last of Us Part 2 came out and Ellie's love interest Dina was showed for the first time and people said a lot of vile things about her because of her nose and what is even worse is that her face is based off the face model Cascina Caradonna so they're not even just targeting a fictional character. I'm glad she got a lot of followers on her own youtube channel and appreciation that outnumbered the hate though.
Really interesting; you bring to light things I think I kind of knew, but never really thought about in this way. I know something about the history of witch hunts in Western Europe, but this adds another highly disturbing wrinkle. Thanks for all the work you do to bring this interesting and very important content forward.
As someone outside the Jewish community, I had made the connection of maybe we should not use the nose after learning about Nazi propaganda in high school history class. But I didn't know about the other antisemitistic tropes. Also it was interesting to her the opinion of someone in the Jewish community. To few people speak up about these things (for obvious and very valid reasons) which can make it hard as an outsider with good intentions to know where the pain lies.
So much yes to all of this. (Team #jewitch all the way, too.) Barstow's comment ("for the most part, witches and Jews were persecuted interchangeably") is, I think, so important to remember here. I still encounter folks who think of the Spanish Inquisition as being anti-witch-and while it was, in practice, sometimes, its official stance was that there was no such thing as witchcraft, and it existed to pursue an explicitly anti-Semitic and Islamophobic agenda. And yet! And yet, we see that the two/three agendas were so entangled as to amount to one. I've got friends who are part of Tree of Life/Or L'Simcha. That one hit particularly hard, yeah.
Why have three separate persecutions when you could have one? to this day I have to make sure I am 100% distracted the entire day on my birthday. I hope your friends will have the same support!
The Spanish Inquisition was especially sinister because they claimed to be only interested in persecuting Christians who had gone astray (aka forcibly converted Jews who were still participating in their cultural and/or religious practices). The thing about the “judaizing” accusation that is so malicious is that Judaism is an ethno-religion and so even if Jewish people submitted to baptism they were tortured anyway for continuing to exist in their communities or not abandoning their culture.
I spent years trying to get college students to understand that cultural idioms ( in my case music) are not created in a vacuum but are a direct response to what is happening in that area at that time. Thanks for another excellent video.
on the topic of aquiline noses: the term “aquiline nose” was occasionally used by white supremacist pseudo-scientists as a “marker of aryanness” (quoting from the wikipedia page on Aquiline Noses); it’s literally the exact same nose type, and yet when white christian europeans have it, it’s a sign of masculine strength and they’d use the word “aquiline”, yet when jewish people have it, it’s suddenly a bad thing and they use the word “hooked” instead. it’s completely ridiculous-though the lack of consistency or logic is to be expected from that kind of pseudoscience.
Nonsense! LOLOOL!!!! The latin word for Eagle is Aquila, and historians described some ethnic groups as having "Aquiline noses" because they were slightly curved like an eagles beak. There was nothing "bad" about it and the latins felt it was a beautiful and much-desired feature. Most of the Caesars and Emperors had Aquiline noses and it was seen as a sign of strength and nobility. Why is it that when liberals find the facts are not fitting their crumbling narrative, they just fabricate new facts and make their fabulation as racist as they possibly can? Shame on you!
@@SuperZekethefreak the point is that a lot of white supremacists see a "hooked" in a positive way when it comes to white people but in a negative way when it comes to Jewish people and other minorities. The romans/latins aren't really important in this context
As a practicing witch, this video was incredibly eye-opening. I also really appreciate that you acknowledged modern witches as having a legitimate spiritual practice, not just being a bunch of weirdos who "do Halloween all year." I've always thought the stereotypes were harmful, but it's truly sickening to find out that so much of the stupid pop culture crap used to stereotype witches to this day is just recycled anti-Semitic bigotry from centuries gone by. I don't have any particular witch costumes I'm especially fond of, but I would like people to know that an actual witch can look like anything and anyone. We do, however, tend to have a knack for acquiring rocks/sticks/feathers/leaves/etc., and the best way to find us is to loudly ask if anyone wants this jar you're not using anymore 😂 I've learned so much from your channel and I really look forward to your videos. Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to research, plan, create, and share this content. And for whatever it's worth, I think your nose is beautiful. Sending you and yours love and blessings 💜
Of course I wanted to acknowledge that! There are plenty of practicing Witches I know and I'm not about to spend 20 minutes talking about prejudice against one religion to then turn around and disrespect another one. A Pagan friend was kind enough to read this over and check me for any accidental biases.
@@SnappyDragon you did a wonderful job. I look forward to viewing your catalogue and hoping I'll find something on the Golem. Perhaps in regard to Mary Shelley? Blessed Be.
It must be frustrating to see things used to harm your people and stereotypes of your people being used as shorthand for the character being bad and/or evil. I've never had to consider it before and your videos on Judaism and costuming/clothing have really opened my eyes on these topics. Thank you for that. I've never considered where these stereotypical/common Halloween Monsters come from but I should have. Again, thank you for opening my eyes on this topic.
I'd be interested in your (and your viewers) opinions on Terry Pratchett's portrayal of witches. Watching this showed me that his portrayal was based in research, especially in the later novels - there's a soulless witch-persecuting character who wrote the Bonfire of the Witches, for example. And in general, if you're portraying a good witch, are you subverting the stereotypes? Thinking of both Pratchett and other series That Shall Not Be Named that certainly embrace the pointy hat, if not other traditional witch features.
I love Terry Pratchett and I think he does a good job of characterizing his witches as forces for good-- although it's certainly possible some of these stereotypes might crop up, I haven't read all of his work. Even so, I do think it's very possible to love a book that touches on such a stereotype if it isn't reflecting prejudice on the part of the author . . . which is the issue I have with Other Series That Shall Not Be Named.
terry pratchett does have some of thesr stereotypes, however he added them in a way that sort of, twists it about. where granny weatherwax does have a traditional " witches nose" she is never considered ugly. magrat seems to even wish she had a nose like hers. and then theres nanny ogg who is the absolute opposite.
@@SnappyDragon I love his witches, and particularly that they are portrayed primarily as people who help the community, especially the women, and do lots of the thankless tasks that are still done mostly by women today, like taking care of the sick and old. I believe that many of the witches who were persecuted were exactly that - they were healers and particularly midwives who knew about sexual matters, and therefore perceived as a threat. However I did recently come across the term Shonky Shop in one of his book, and I loved the description of it, but had never heard the term, so I looked it up and found it is anti-semetic - I wonder if he knew?
That is one of the moments history makes me feel physically sick. Not your fault of course, I appreciate your research. But what human beings are willing to do at each other - I will never ever understand. Small things like the nose are often somehow under the radar, and that’s dangerous. Some weeks ago I spoke of a “white list” at work, which is kind of a technical term. But a colleague looked at me and said “Please say allow list.” And I blinked and was like: Damn. He is right. Never thought about that.
I had to reread your comment 4 times to understand what was going on XD; I realized that you used white list to mean "whitelist" which is a term I haven't heard for awhile, but I'm also familiar with a very similar term "green list", which...uuuhhh...is a lot better in my opinion. "Green list" is a list of people or things that are permitted, so it's a synonym, and makes sense as green to westerners/English speakers means "go" and the other implied meanings and synonyms of "go". So if "green list" is an easier/more familiar change for you, I definitely recommend using it as a replacement term in your vocabulary, as more familiar terms are generally easier to change over to :) It can often be shocking how many terms, especially terms that are considered "professional" or "technical" are very unsavory and generally because of unsavory roots. I'm sure you can probably imagine why the technical or professional terms tend towards being more problematic, while unprofessional anything tends towards being made and used by mainly minority groups...I think green list, isn't quite as popular, but the phrase "green lit" to say something has been approved, is quite popular, and I don't think it has any negative historical roots attached to it like "whitelist" does. I'm not sure though, so if you know, please let me know :) "allow list" is definitely more straight forward in any case, and only sounds "off" or "weird" probably because it isn't the common thing to say (hence why I was recommending using "green list"/"green listed"), but the more people start using the newer less problematic terms, the better the world will become as it'll change how we think and treat other people on a subconscious level.
@@RosemaryWilliams49fruits Sorry, englisch is not my first language. But yes, that is what I meant. Green and red could be a good alternative, I will discuss that at work the next time. Thanks for the input!
@@dressdeveloper I would have never known English was not your first language! Wow, your English is fantastic :) If you don't mind me asking, how long have you learned/been using English, did you learn it in school, and do you live somewhere where English is used on the regular? I'm really impressed with your fluency. No pressure to answer, I'm curious, but also just very impressed :)
@@RosemaryWilliams49fruits Thank you. ☺️ Well, I learned English in school, and as a web developer, most of my resources are English. I also read English novels and watch English movies - originals are nearly always better than a translation. But read and write/speak are different things, so I am glad for the feedback.
I'm ethnically Jewish (was raised Catholic but that's a different story) and am trying to learn more about the culture from the sources I have at hand, like my aunts and my mother because from what I do know being Jewish feels more like home than anything I was raised with. Just wanted to say thank you for being another source of of information and opinions for me to learn from. And in terms of a positive witch costume, I have a friend whose life goal is to make Tiffany Aching's hat full of sky to complete her Tiffany costume and someday I'll probably do the same because those books reminded me of things I loved about myself as a kid.
THANK YOU. I _just_ got into an argument with someone I know who completely dismissed me when I pointed out the antisemitic roots of the iconic witch imagery. They kept throwing problematic Tumblr and Twitter threads at me and the point completely flew over their head. As a practicing Witch of more than 20 years with Jewish loved ones, I was beyond frustrated.
Thank you for sharing this information with us! My take away is that the way we dress, whether for day to day or costume (historical, fantasy, cosplay etc) needs to be with conscious awareness. We need to be consciously aware of what we are doing, wearing, and portraying. We need to apply critical thinking, and it shouldn't just be up to those people who are within groups and/or minority groups to be doing this research. We all have a responsibility. As for favourite witch costumes, I've always liked ones that look more day to day, but with an element of something magical!
It is important to talk about uncomfortable history, especially that that still hurts people today. Thank you for continuing to educate on important topics!
Thank you for the research and effort you put into this video and all of your videos. I enjoy learning more about history and historical dress, especially from different perspectives.
I've been looking forward to this video from you and it did not disappoint. It's important for us all to understand what shapes the tropes in our world. Myths and fairy tales did not spring from a vacuum. The things that define what counts as evil and/or monstrous come from real life beliefs and emotions, even if the thing being talked about in the story is something which doesn't exist like witches or goblins. If, as most of us do, we can read fairy tales now and understand the good lessons behind them, we can also learn about the prejudices behind them. It's especially important to do so when those prejudices become so baked in to our culture that they become almost invisible, thus making it harder to see when the dog whistles turn into outright shouting. Thank you for all the work you put into this and for sharing it. Here's hoping the comment section doesn't become too scary.
Honestly so happy to be subscribed to you. I knew that there was anti-Semitism woven through our cultural understanding of witches, but the historical context youve provided really adds a lot more depth to my perspective on the issue, as a non-Jewish pagan. Thank you and Happy Halloween!!
i'm a south asian with the hooked nose. when you said the romani persecution, it kinda clicked. ik i might be confusing things but yeah we got the hooked nose as well so its another annoying factor when seeing ppl make fun of the hooked nose to insult jews. i've seen so many south asian / west asian women get thinkplasty bc some jerks planted that insecurity in them growing up. and ppl going "yeah you go girl!!" when she gets surgery like bro you dont understand whats rly going on 💀
I don't know if someone else had posted this reference, but I'm reminded of the episode of Bewitched where Samantha convinces Darrin and his client to go with a beautiful witch for a campaign image instead of the "ugly" witch for many of these reasons, except replacing "Jewish people" with witches. Loved this video!
Thank you for going in to detail! Definitely learned some things (had never thought to connect Mother Gothel to anti-Semitic tropes!), and there’s far, far more still to learn. And I agree, the nose trope needs to GO! Though I do still want to make a witch’s hat to wear casually…
I remember being taught that the witch costume was based on Welsh national dress (which even then I thought was a bit of a stretch because it's another tall and tapered but not actually conical hat.) The nose-and-warts thing was explained as being prejudice against old widows, poking fun at Cromwell, or possibly an association with charcoal burners who would be more weathered than others their age due to the extended periods spent awake and outside keeping watch on the charcoal to ensure it didn't fully burn, and that the ability to stay awake when everyone else was asleep unnerved people. It seems that antisemitic and racist connotations of many things have been intentionally ignored, perhaps with the assumption that admitting those connotations existed would encourage belief in the validity of them. Road to hell, those who do not study history and all that.
Your videos are always so thoughtful, informative, and well-researched! I’m pretty sure I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again-including your sources is such an important thing to educating, and you’re one of the only youtubers who actually does it. SERIOUS respect for that. I really appreciate the level of nuance and insight you bring to the discussion. Thanks for the great video!
Just as interesting as the first time I watched when originally published. Thanks trolls for boosting this channel in the algorithm; I'm thinking it may not have the effect you were hoping for. It did remind me I need to check back in more often.
It’s a sad reflection of today’s world that I want to say you’re brave for posting this - because that recognises that there’s a risk involved. To say I’m not a fan of humans right now is an understatement. I’m happy to say I’ve not seen anything, but I’m not sure I want to look too hard! All that said, this was fascinating - all your videos are! Keep them coming and rant as much as you want!
I live in Sussex England, and happen to be a historian. I obtained my PhD in Medieval & early modern European Studies, from the University of Edinburgh. Additionally, I hold two masters degrees in Tudor history, and archaeology. We have good historical evidence that would infact suggest the shtreimel has very little in connection with the witches hat. The witches hat is most similar looking to a Phrygian hat or hennan. Conical hats have a long history in the fashions of the world; however, it was not until the pervasiveness of Christianity in the Middle Ages and medieval periods that the term "witchcraft" took on a such nefarious meaning, that a symbol of this role was necessary. The Greeks believed pointed hats were also a sign of untrustworthy foreigners. For example, in ancient Greek texts and art works, any figure described or shown as wearing a soft, slightly pointed cap (also called a Phrygian hat) was considered a barbarian. This barbaric status was also associated with rites deemed unholy or despicable by the primary culture (in this case, the Greeks). Yet it is only in the early modern period that they begin to be associated with witches in particular, thanks to the images of witches as used in anti-witchcraft pamphlets such as Mathers' Wonders of the Invisible World (1689) or woodcuts such as those made by William Dodd (1720). It has been postulated the use of a conical hat to denote witches might have stemmed from an exaggerated form of hennins, a type of cone-shaped headdress commonly worn during the Middle Ages. Though the hennin was indicative of the noble status of the female wearer, its popularity during the religiously uncertain era of the Middle Ages and the ease with which women were accused or convicted of witchcraft by other jealous women or angry men during this time makes it not unlikely to presume this might have been when the conical hat became associated with witchcraft. The most critical evidence for the use of the pointed hat to indicate witchcraft likely came from the opinion of the Church. In the medieval period, it is believed that the clergy and devout practitioners of the faith despised the pointed hat because it reminded them of the horns of the Devil. In the 15th century, there was even a manual created on how to properly engage in witch-hunting, and what signs to be aware of when attempting to recognise a witch. This manual, coupled with the already growing fear of Devil worship among the religiously devout, created an epidemic of damning women as witches (as men were less commonly witches according to the manual). It is very possible that, as this book was published during the height of hennin fashion, this is where the association of witches and the conical hat began.
Vielen Dank! Manche Menschen genießen es, aus nichts etwas zu machen. So ein Unsinn ... Was sie gesagt hat, ist eine Lüge, also danke, dass du ECHTE historische Referenzen gegeben hast. Ich hoffe jeder liest deinen Kommentar.
@@adalwolfweiss7557 That's odd because I don't see anything in what she says that specifically negates the "foreigner" or "barbarian" being referenced as also referring to Jewish people. BOTH can be true, and yes - Lily's info is fascinating and important to add, AND it also could have cropped back up as a dog whistle.
The hat is a real ancient druid symbol along with the wand. There's a video about the history of Merlin, from the Arthurian myths. Druids were both women and men. They wore pointy hats. Pretty sure at least one bog mummy wearing a pointy hat has been dredged up by archaeologists studying celtic sacrificial sites.
Thank you for making and sharing this. I was aware of some of the anti-Semitism behind witch stereotypes, but I had no idea the green skin was also anti-Semitic. I have a beautiful green witch hat that a friend made (she makes and sells witch hats), and it's more rustic, not perfectly pointy. But when I wear it now, I'm going to think about this, and appreciate the work you're doing here.
Fennoscandian approach to witch costume which (to my knowledge) isn't offensive to any particular group: -take a large shawl or a scarf and fold it into a triangle, then place it on your head and tie the ends under your chin. -Use clothes that are kind of mismatched and as colourful as possible. A striped dress with a polka dot skirt on top of it and a furcoat if you like... it can be literally whatever you already own. Thrift stores are your best friend. -An apron! Very important. -Optional, but traditional accessories are a broom and a coffee pot. -Make up: take a red lipstic or a vibrant blush. Make circles on your cheeks. Blending is not neccessary 😂 This is a traditional costume that is (in Finland) worn on palm sunday by children who go around the village in similar style to trick or treating. They carry willow sticks which they trade for treats. They swish their sticks and chant a rhyme: "Virvon, varvon, tuoreeks terveeks! Vitsa sulle, palkka mulle!" which can be loosely translated as: "Swishing, swooshing, for happines and health! Stick to you, treat to me!" This has roots in an old belief of witches called "trulli" would fly on palm sunday trying to trick and harm their neighbours out of jealousy. They could be young or old, male or female but were typically believed to be old women. For example, they could steal your cattle luck by cutting hair from your cows, so scary!
@@LixiaWinter I think it has roots in the coffee prohibitions that took place in the century. Older women were often caught gossiping and secretly sipping coffee. Some officious priests tought that coffee was the devil's drink so obviously women who drank coffee were witches 🤷♀️
It definitely doesn't seem like it's anti-semitic, but I do wonder if it's based in other stereotypes, like maybe Roma stereotypes. But I don't know enough about that to know for sure. I just know I'd be very hesitant to assume any spooky traditions don't come from a problematic place.
@@crankysister i think I can see what you mean when I think about it and maybe someone disagrees with me on this, but I don't think they are in this case connected or at least not a lot. This costume is a circa 20th century invention for children and meant to be a bit of an opposite what the "real" witches represented. While the real witches were jealous, mean people who wanted to pull petty tricks on their neighbours and steal their luck, this costume represents a funny, happy and easygoing witch who wishes luck, wealth and happines for their neighbours. A headscarf used to be every lower class woman's daily accessory even until ~1920's and even after that older women still wore them. Traditionally this is a costume for children, who would raid their parents' closets so that usually led to mismatched and oversized outfits. While we did (and unfortunately still do) have unjust predjudices against roma people, things that are usually considered racist stereotypes of them (dark frizzy hair, big nose, dark skin etc) aren't part of this costume, at least not commonly. And what comes to surviving stories of encounters with witches, every one that I've heard is about a neighbour getting caught red handed in someone's barn doing something shady.
If you live in Sweden you should also smear soot or ashes in your face when portraying a witch. Otherwise it is a lot like Finland. But our witches fly to Blåkulla on Thursday before Easter sunday.
It's that time again and I wanted to thank you again for this fantastic video and all your hard work. I have watched it with my kid twice! I knew a little about it, enough to be aware the stereotypes existed because of this link but nowhere near this much, and it also explained it to my kid in a way that changed how they perceive all these stereotypes right out of the gate and I just really appreciate it. We have taken what we've used here when we're talking about other things like movie costumes as well as the Halloween stuff. It's so informative, thoughtful, and accessible. Great video.
Thank you for connecting a few more dots for me! As a pagan witch, I think this is an important perspective, because I don't want my act of embracing my witchdom and reclaiming that identity/word to slip into reinforcing dangerous and hurtful ideas. I really hate that the "ugly witch" is such a stereotype. I love dressing up, but try to do so thoughtfully.
I have just discovered your videos. This middle aged Jewish medieval historian adores you! I thought you might find another instance of blood libel and the response to it of interest. In Andalusia, the libel generally accused Jews of using the blood of Christian babies to bake matzo for Pesach. The protestation that we are forbidden from consuming blood in any form did as much good as you might imagine. The response of the Sephardic Jewish community was to use white wine and clear glasses for their seders, and leave their windows uncurtained so that any passing Christian could see that what was in the goblets could not possibly be made from blood. I wish I could give the source on that; I read it back when I was researching my thesis in a year beginning 198..... But it was striking enough that I remember it 40 years later. Thank you for all your research and your clear presentations.
Dropping into the comments to say that 1) this video is, as ever, excellent and super interesting and educational, well-researched, engaging and all those good things, and 2) that as a Jewish historian who just finished their PhD and is stepping into the world of becoming an independent scholar, your work has been really inspiring and motivational for me - so thank you!
I have to admit, when I clicked the video I fully expected your answer to be " nah, not antisemitic." Now I've known these stereotypes for most of my life without ever realizing I was seeing them there in storybook witches. Now, I don't think I'll ever unsee it. Thank you for an eye opening and interesting video.
Aw man. Witches, wizards are my favorite lore. I never got with the nose though. The scary thing about witches was that it could be your unsuspecting neighbor. That's what made the shock so great. And why I thought it was called a witch hunt not a "witches are very obvious look there's one right over there". Great video
Jews aren't the only ones with that shaped nose... I and my family arent and we all have the same shaped nose and I've been called a witch as a child many times. I don't find it offensive as a costume at all and it's obviously not a historical outfit.
Ethnically ambiguous Pagan chiming in. I grew up Wiccan (still practice) and have spent many years trying to explain why the stereotype of the witch was offensive to us. It's only been very recently that I started wondering what if any antisemitism was woven into the image. Thank you for answering my question. I do find it intriguing, though, that these connections exist only because when I was growing up and getting harassed about my religion it was the Jewish community that stood up for me. I've always been grateful for that. As an adult, I now find myself on the receiving end of antisemitism and am not the least bit shy about the toolbags where to go and what to do when they get there.
Loved this video! I'm a gentile, and a practicing witch. I've been aware of a lot of these stereotypes but I was always told the hat was based on ale wives. Thank you for the new information! Also, on the nose thing, I know more gentiles, including myself, that have aquiline noses than Jewish folks. You are so right on it being a Mediterranean thing.
That's partially why the musical Wicked is my absolute favorite thing ever. For those of you who don't know it, it is about the stories of Elphaba, The Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda and how their lives were before Dorothy came to Oz and what happened while se was already there, but wasn't around. Elphaba is the main character, and we get to see her side of the story the most. She starts off as a young and innocent girl full of hope for what life has on hold for her, despite having a past of not being accepted socially, not even by her family, for having green skin and for being very outspoken, with a scandalous personality, all of which are antisemitic tropes that Stephen Schwartz, a very Jewish man who wrote the score for The Prince of Egypt, was very much aware of and decided to use it to empower Jewish women instead of shunning them (the song Defying Gravity is the culmination o it). That's why he chose Idina Menzel, a very Jewish woman, to originate the character (it was originally going to be Stephanie J. Block, who's also a very Jewish woman. After Idina Menzel left the Broadway production to originate the role in West End, she was replaced by Shoshana Bean, another very Jewish woman). The whole story plays with anti-semitic tropes and twist them into empowering aspects for the characters, for example: Elphaba has green skin, but she's not part of an entire race of people who also have green skin and practice magic; she's the only person in history to have that trait, no one else does, neither has existed anyone before her with that trait. It is heavily implied at the beginning that, because she is the child of a woman from Oz and a man from Earth, who drinking a thing called green elixir during her conception, something magical happened and she was born green because of that, it has nothing to do with her envy, greed and wickedness (which are characteristics that she doesn't posses, but rather are antisemitic tropes often used in other medias to explain why the character has green skin, like in Once Upon A Time). The hat was a "gift" from Glinda, who originally got it as a gift from her grandmother, who doesn't understand modern fashion and thought Glinda would like it. She did not, she and all of her friends thought it was the ugliest hat ever in history, so they give it to Elphaba as a prank, only she wears it and owns it, because she also thought the hat was hideous and knew she was being pranked, and being sick of it she decides to show Glinda who's boss, which makes her feel guilty (and Elphaba's attitude in that scne actually makes her love interest, who turns into the Scarecrow later on, first fall in love with her), and her feeling guilty is what started their friendship, that's why Elphaba started wearing the hat unironically after that, to represent the first friend she's ever had and how she values it. They also never alter the actresses who play her's natural features like nose and chin, aside from painting her skin green and adding the long, straight and very well brushed black wig. The character has been played by hundreds of actresses world wide, she has been played by people of several different racial and ethnical backgrounds, but she's still mostly played by Jewish women. What is sad though is that, outside of the Jewish community, no one seems to understand that very important aspect of the show. Most people think she's black coded because she is bullied for her skin color and for a lot of people on Tumblr and Twitter, mostly white people, black people are the only people who suffer racism in the US (bruh). As a Jewish woman, who is a musical theater actress and who's dream role is Elphaba, I get deeply enraged by that, and once when I tried to point out how she's actually supposed to be Jewish (I know she ISN'T actually Jewish, because Judaism, and other Earth religions, doesn't exist in Oz, but you know what I mean)! I was completely bombarded by claims of racism and "jewish people in the US have never suffered antisemitism, they are a dominant class", I mean, excuse ME??? Remember that time in 2018 when a family added a giant wire Menorah to their front yard to celebrate Hanukkah, only to come home to it turned into a Swastika? Or the several synagogue, jewish community centers, jewish schools, jewish retirement homes and so on shootings that have happened in the last decade that no one talks about because no one cares about us? It's all happening right in front of our eyes, all over the world. A few years ago the Muslim community of Oslo had to make a human barricade around a synagogue in the city to protect it from violent antisemites trying to invade during service on the shabbath. I Norway, in the 21st century! People seem to think that antisemitism completely vanished the face of the earth after the Holocaust, but it's just as strong as it has ever been for thousands of years, but we never talk about it. We treat it as a non problem and people are rapidly forgetting that it's still deeply rooted in our society, and when people start thinking that the Holocaust was something that happened ages ago, it will happen again (ooh, have I mentioned that Wicked also has Holocaust themes against the Animals, anthropomorphic animals who can talk and walk on two legs who are considered ethnically inferior to humans and the fact that Elphaba advocates for them is what turned her into the Wicked Witch of the West in the first place). So since no one ever talks about it, it's no wonder virtually no one understands the inherent Judaism of Wicked, specially when it comes to Elphaba and think it has nothing to do with us, and it deeply saddens me that it is going to be transformed into a movie by someone who also don't understand it. It just goes to show that, despite the fact the we already get so little for ourselves, the little we get is taken away from us!
Also, not to mention that several Jewish women, including myself, have been mocked in our lives for looking like The Wicked Witch of the West. I remember seeing a whole 4Chan (of course) thread talking about how Jews, in particular Mayim Bialik, looked like her. Fun fact, Margaret Hamilton, who played The Wicked Witch of the West, wasn't Jewish, but she did have those features naturally, that's why she was chosen for the role. In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz book, The Wicked Witch of the West is not green, but she also has several other antisemitic traits, like the nose, a huge forehead, a gigantic head on a tiny body, the pointy hat and a messy, awfully styled red hair!
@@MEVP4499 Wow! I thought that I was the only one who noticed that the caged animals storyline was closely similar to the Holocaust. I've seen the musical three times on tour and I've always picked up on that similarity, but until you brought up the other ones I never noticed them. Wicked has always been my favorite musical ever since I first listened to the cast album and then finally first got to see the musical when it went on tour several years ago. On a side note my number 1 dream role just so happens to be Elphaba.
Such a good video! So much information to think about. I will be sharing this video with my friends and family. There are too many stereotypes that need to be broken down and discussed surrounding this topic. Thank you for the time it took to make this video and putting yourself out there with this topic.
Also, I completely forgot to mention this when I wrote my 1st comment. In pathfinder there is a Witch class that has one archetype one can follow that allows them to know where any infant in a 50 foot radius from them is so theu can drink the infants blood/eat them to power spell casting. Yuck. The Hammer of Witches is also still being published and can be bought at Barnes and Noble of all places. 😬
I saw a store selling these noses this week, like oh my god, there is a way that we can dress up as witches without reproducing damaging and hurtful stereotypes about Jewish people
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Thank you for this informative video
Thank you! Fixed.
let me clarify my previous comment, why would you paywall sources? Like the list of things, you did not make, and used for your research? How should we fact check what you are saying or research into what you are reading so that we can be better informed as well? Would it be possible to cite them on screen so people can at least google?
also, as a friendly heads up, the patreon link in this comment doesn't work but the one in your vid description seems to work. Despite my feelings about paywalling the sourced themselves - I loved the vid and learned a lot
May I just chime in with a couple tidbits of Slavic folklore, that are rooted on antisemitic and misogynystic stereotypes?
1. Friday is considered a bad day to start things. You don't want to plan your journey or wedding or starts of harvest season on Friday. It is considered a day, when witches have their nasty gatherings and do stuff to interfere with respectable folks. Shabbat, Jewish day off, starts in Friday at the dusk(Btw Shabbat Shalom, fellow witches)
2. The image of a witch, who shoves kidnapped baby into the oven, was once a very real medical practice. Female healers would take weak, ill and/or prematurely born babies, wrap them in bread dough and put them in moderately hot oven(when you put out fire, stone furnice maintains warmth for about 24 hours, and Russian furnice is big enough so a couple of adult people can fit there, so it's a giant warm capsule). When female healers were persecuted for witchcraft, this practice perfectly aligned with blood libel. Nowadays, modern medics agree, that "baking" babies is similar to what they do with prematurely born babies - put them in warm oxygen pods. The rhye bread dough acts as additional layer of warmth and is full of vitamines and oxygen.
V, thank you for the video! It's so important to have an educated Jewish perspective on those things
in the Ukrainian folk tale Ivasyk-Telesyk, there is a notoriously antisemitic snake lady character, who kidnaps a child and tries to have him baked and devoured and is often illustrated wearing a headwrap, as well as getting metal teeth implants so that she could gnaw down a tree that the kid is sitting on. So yeah, the blood libel and dehumanization is definitely there.
These are such interesting stories! I love hearing about things like this because my family's been in America so long we've lost whatever stories we had from wherever the Old Country was.
Do you know, where your ancestors lived before they moved to America?
@@LixiaWinter No, only super vague half-joke stories. Eventually I'm going to do the genealogy research and see if I can recreate some clothes they might have worn.
As a Pole, I wasn't aware Friday is considered a bad day, if it's part of Polish folklore, then it must be quite obscure or already forgotten, at least in the region I come from. I only know of Friday the 13th, but it isn't exactly exclusive to or rooted in Slavic culture.
The second one is a very well known theme I think across all Slavic countries, but I also didn't know its origin or why it was done! Seems like I need to do some more research (⊙o⊙)
As a slavic central european with a master's degree in medieval history I knew a lot of these points, but not all of them were firmly connected for me before. Thank you for your extra deep research, it must've been a ton of work and very hard at times...
Also, I am pretty shocked at the practice of the "bike accidents" etc. Wow. That's tough.
I worked with and had lots of Jewish friends and also family, getting plastic surgery on the nose as a 16th birthday present was common. Happily my cousin's daughters are proud of the nose they inherited from their father's side of the family.
I'm a Jew born and raised in LA. There, girls who got nose jobs (often around their 16th birthday), skipped the bike accident pretense and just owned it. Nobody judged them for it (at least not among the people I knew, Jewish and non-Jewish alike). it was seen as simply another way of fitting the beauty norm fed to us, just like ironing curly hair so it would be long and straight like the blonde coeds and surfer girls who were held as the highest form of mid-Sixties beauty in Southern California.
@@MsShellectable that's probably because of the normalization of plastic surgery this days
"extra deep research" aka obsession
@@kharris9359 If Einstein hadn't been obsessed with gravity and time and physics 'n' shit we'd have progressed a fair bit slower in sciences, and if people hadn't been obsessed with philosophical alchemy we'd still be lagging way TF behind in psychology and chemistry because people didn't get curious.
Basically EVERY form of science is someone's obsession building on someone else's obsession, including history and mathematics.
"Witch costume I love"...
My daughter has dressed as a "witch princess", someone of darkness and power, and sparkles of stars and dreams of hope in the night.
I'm always proud of her passion for putting ALL people's into positive light, even those considered "pretend". 💞💞
You reminded me of child cosplayers who dress as Kiki.
Lol I was a witch princess for 3 Halloweens as a kid.
In Wizard of Oz, Glenda was a good beautiful witch.
For what it's worth, your jewish historical context stuff is my favorite stuff you do. It's history I rarely get the chance to interact with and a space with a lot of language barriers for me, so you're work helps me find points of entry while bringing the human community behind the history to the center of it all. It also feels very important that it is being shared willingly with me (an outsider) rather than pieced together from the curiosity of others. Does that make sense? I don't know, I'm very tired...
Btw, I read Daniel Deronda because of you. I don't normally feel drawn to read victorian novels, but you made me really want to read about Mirah! I wish it was assigned in more English classes, it's a really well written hook-and-subvert! And even for the people that manage to miss that Mirah is the heroine, they can't escape getting invested in Daniel. Thanks for the recommendation :)
I have ancestry from the Middle East (not Jewish) and my mom and her sisters were teased relentlessly for their noses. Imo one of my mom's most beautiful features is her nose! But this sort of stereotyping led to her twin sister getting a rhinoplasty. Disheartening. Thank you for celebrating the range of nose shapes and helping people reflect on beliefs they grew up with and never examined before. This is an important and educational video.
I'm so sorry that your aunt felt pressured to change her nose. 😞 I am teaching my daughter that our differences make the world a beautiful place. ♡
One of my grandmas had a nose job when she was a young adult. When my ma was pregnant with me, both of my grandmas, who themselves had prominent noses, *joked* that if my nose was shaped similarly, they'd gift me a nose job when I was old enough. The pressure to conform was real and so harmful to us.
I seriously don't understand how people can think offering plastic surgery to kids is a good idea or at all acceptable. Especially when its presented as a present which so many are taught its rude not to be grateful for. The number of stories Ive heard from people who had such experiences makes me sick. The worse was one girl whose parents informed her they were getting her liposuction as her graduation present, from high school. Not asked if she wanted it. Was told she was getting it. It did not go over well when she informed them no she was not.
Yup. See my comment above. (I'm 71, a Jew born in Los Angeles, probably your grandma's age).
Jennifer Grey got a nose job and her career dried up because she doesn't stand out anymore. Now she looks avg.
Slightly related, my mother suggested she'd pay for plastic surgery when I was in grade school (!) because she thought my ears were sticking out. I never went for it and my ears don't even stick out that far. Now that my mother is in her late 80s I realize how critical she is/has been of people that don't conform to (her) standard of beauty and that sadly makes her really shallow.
@@khaxjc1 My mother kept trying to get me to have a gastric bypass surgery. I didn't want to. But she's relentless. I bet she'd bring it up again, if I would talk to her. I really try to just stay away from her.
Imagine being killed as a child and the actual person who killed you gets off scott free while a bunch of innocent people die, likely accused of murder by the very person who killed you. Like bruh.
I don't have a solid source, but I've heard people say that blood libels were often started because the murderer was known and was either someone of status, or someone the community couldn't do without.
The majority of children are abused by family members or close friends of the family. Something that usually shocks the family and is denied vehemently. So finding a scapegoat to cover up what uncle Fred did is important.
@@lenabreijer1311 They should have just disowned and punished Fred then, instead of putting the blame on others! The audacity.
@@Sly-Moose that frequently doesn't happen even today. "But he is the soccer coach! No way he did that" is all to common.
We don't have to imagine; it happens all the time.
Two stories from my past: 1. I was the only Jewish student on my college campus. Someone asked me if it was true you had to be rich to be Jewish. My response: "No, but it helps."
2. A few years later, living in a city with a large Jewish population; I registered for work with a temp agency where I was already on the books. The person who interviewed me says that the notes from my previous registration read, "Says she's Jewish but doesn't look it."
Da f*"k? I would report that agency..
@@ROBYNMARKOW it was many years ago and I don't even recall what agency it was let alone who interviewed me the first time.
@@JenInOz Oh well,I hope SOMEONE reported them..!
My witchy sibling sent me this video following a discussion of whether it would be inappropriate for me (as a spiritual witch) to dress in a pop culture “basic witch” costume for Halloween. I’ve been a witch a dozen or so times in my life before learning about this kind of history (this video is not my first time hearing about it but is the best breakdown I’ve ever seen). I tend to just wear all black and the hat. Overall- thank you for the breakdown, it really helped me understand what is and isn’t problematic about the cultural depictions of witchcraft.
Two years since you initially released this video and I still very much appreciate the content warnings, and how you explain what they mean through the video. Please stay safe and take breaks when needed while you work through the comment section.
As a Jewish woman who went through a period of religious uncertainty after her Bat Mitzvah and was temporarily Wiccan, this is fantastic. Well researched, well presented, and clearly expressed. Mazel tov.
As a Jewish costumer, I absolutely adore all of your "living while Jewish" videos.
A friend of mine was once overheard making antisemitic comments when he thought no one else could hear, and as the only new in the friend group it fell to me to explain the *why* of it all, even though everyone else involved was almost as upset by his statements as I was. I wish I had had the presence of mind to point him in the direction of some of your videos because you are so good at what you do.
Aww, thank you! I know the feeling of having to be the One Jewish Person who Explains All The Things,a and I would be very happy to spare someone that.
I was just wondering, how do you feel about Wiccans also naming their holidays 'sabbats'?
I don't feel educated enough about Wicca to form an opinion, sorry!
Shhhh Jew.
I (a Jewish witch) make witch hats and sell them on Etsy. I am glad that I have never had a review posted with a picture containing antisemitic tropes or features. All of the pictures I've gotten from my customers have been lovely! I hope it never happens. Thank you for this well researched video!!
What is the name of your store?
Yes I'd love to see your store if you don't mind sharing it
Same, drop that Etsy store bb! 😍😍😍
I would love to patronize your etsy, as well.
Yes please do share! And glad I’m not the only witch here lol 🧝🏻♀️
The nuance is important here, and you nailed it. History is important to know before you do a thing. Just because the coding is old doesn't mean it isn't there.
Dumb argument
I’m indigenous and there’s a lot of stereotypes of us doing witchcraft as well (our sacred practices like smudging, powwows, ceremonies, etc), kinda weird but we also have that Roman/Mediterranean nose stereotype. Yeah I can’t think of anything else at the moment, great video by the way!
Indigenous to what?
This video makes a lot of sense, I can really see how the iconography of the witch evolved. Thank you for this insightful video. ❤️
I grew up fundi, and witches were an absolute no go.
For a myriad of reasons. The obvious "satanic panic" reasons as well as, oddly enough, because they were "disrespectful to cute old Jewish ladies"
My parents are going to feel so vindicated by this video lol
I was a fundi kid too, but only got the satanic panic part. My mom was convinced if she let us dress as witches to go trick or treating, the devil would possess us.
It really hasn’t gone away despite there being no evidence. Qanon certainly is continuing the idea by conflating these tropes
You know that satanism doesn’t actually worship the devil? It’s an anti-radical christian religion, radical being the key word. Satanist shave a strict code of conduct and I would argue their commandments are more geared towards peace and love than Christians. I’m a witch and know many satanist and I can tell you that what most people think they know about us is wrong and used as scare tactics to get Christians to hate us. We are good and moral people as a whole
Redpanda are you referring to The Church of Satan and it’s offshoots?
Undoubtedly they are more into freedom of expression etc but they do not represent all Satanic groups.
Still the Satanic Panic was a Christian Fundamental conspiracy theory that targeted innocents including Pagans and occultist among others.
@@nimuehawk yes o am referring to the church of satan because that is what people are usually referring too when they say satanist or satanic. I know there are other groups but I’m just trying to bring to light misconceptions of me and my friends
Alternative Halloween witches: my daughter dressed as Kiki from Kiki’s Delivery Service one Halloween. Purple dress, red bow in her hair.
Or don't do Halloween because
A: covid
And
B: creeps trying to hurt kids
@@theab3957 I'm assuming you are saying don't do trick or treating? I'm not going to get into whether trick or treating this year (or any year) is safe. However, there are other things people do in costume for Halloween. Last year, we arranged a photo scavenger hunt for my kid's class where they dressed in costume and each family took pictures next to items on the scavenger hunt list and shared them in a private album. It was lots of fun, could all be done by individual families without gathering together, and the kids still got to see each other's costumes.
@@elisabethmontegna5412 No; I don't do trick or treating. I am not a child, and I think there must be a lot of plastic garbage produced because of Halloween candy. I think it would be better if Halloween was safer; like when my parents were children and neighbours could be trusted to give home made treats to kids.
@@theab3957 My daughter trick or treated her entire childhood and never had a single incident. Same for myself and my siblings. Maybe if you live in a high crime area it is bad idk, but our neighborhoods have been safe.
@@leahc9723 That is fortunate for you. I am also fortunate to live in a relatively safe neighbourhood. But just because it doesn't happen to me, doesn't mean I'm not aware of the dangers. Bad things don't happen much to kids in my city, but the year before Covid broke out, the city decided to set up trick or treating in the mall, so that children could be safer. This way, they could control the candy as well as the people allowed in (also, no cars to hit children). It's not very fun, but if my boring city had this set up in one of the safer neighbourhoods, that's kind of telling.
At the end of the day it's everyone's choice. I don't really care, and I don't think it's the greatest danger to children. I was just in a foul mood when I wrote my first comment in this section and I felt like starting a fight because I hate myself essentially 🤷
In any case, have a safe and happy Halloween/Samhain/[insert late October celebrations I am unaware of]
Always a fan of the "modern witch" aesthetic with more traditionally pagan ties like flowers braided into hair and crystal jewelry and flowy black cotton dresses. I like that it celebrates nature and most of all, choice. Flowers and crystals come from the earth and, in some cases, have very little monetary value. They're available in different varieties all over the world, to anyone who chooses to step outside and find them. And the modern witch aesthetic of bringing these gifts of nature into your home, wearing them as accessories, is welcoming. Anyone, anywhere, from any cultural background, can participate in the modern witch aesthetic because all you actually need to fit the aesthetic are flowers and crystals you can get from any local sources. It's beautiful to me.
@@LucianCorrvinus Oh, definitely - they're more for everyday stuff, as opposed to ritual. ;p
Thank you so much for all the work you put into this.
I just want to add that much of the pagan and "bohemian" aesthetic is cultural appropriation and stereotyping of roma. So to be on the safe side I'd read up on stereotypes relating to that, orientalism in occultism, and the racism and orientalism in the bohemian movement.
The "modern gypsy aesthetic" is unfortunately very racist.
@@novatjerneld6764 🙌 Ty for that input and pov 💗
Except that so many of these crystals have been mined from the earth and sold in New age and pagan shops.
Here to share some love - thanks for taking your time to share this educational information. ❤
Your Jewish content is always my favorite! I was surprised to learn the anti-Semitism roots of witch imagery. I had always thought the imagery was based in the otherness of aging outside of a traditional family structure.
Exaggerated features, unhealthy looking skin, a voice that cracks, and good sense so accurate that it borders on the paranormal are all things I see associated with the elderly. In times past, I imagine a woman aging in an extended family group could be a matriarch, passing on knowledge and cooking amazing stew. But a lone elderly woman doesn't really have a title or roll. So she is suspicious. Other. And couldn't possibly have something as wholesome as stew in her cauldron.
Well dang - I’ve def noticed the similarities in evil being demonstrated using infanticide and sacrifice but never realized how directly causal the blood libel myth is to our present day witch tropes! The earliest depiction of eating babies to gain power that I can think of is the myth of the Titan Saturn devouring his young ...so that painting you referenced of Saturn wearing an oh-so-familiar hat made my stomach drop.
Thank you for all the emotional labour and research you’ve put into this video! It’s important to have out there!
I was thinking of this too!
Honestly Saturn's hat was just a brim hat with a star on it.
I mean the brim hat is associated with Jewish men, but I think comparing it to a witch's hat is a bit of a stretch. Although one illustration shown does has a witch wearing a brim hat, so there's that.
Why does Saturn aka Kronos or Chronos (Chronological) father of time eat children? Because time steals your youth. Forget the Blood Libel for a sec. Alister Crowley said that the secret to immortality was in the blood of the young. Look up Can the Blood of the Young slow aging. The company Age X Therapeutics uses stem cells to make anti-aging products. So in one sense it's kinda true except has nothing to do with the Jews.
@@AFRoSHEENT3ARCMICHAEL69 Like SnappyDragon said at the end of the video, Jewish folks aren't making it about Jews, antisemites have been making it about Jewish people. In this case, by putting the "Jewish hat" on Saturn.
@@AFRoSHEENT3ARCMICHAEL69 I do see what you’re saying re: Cronus/time consuming youth and I agree the original text (Hesiod’s Theogony) goes for exactly that outlook. The thing is art and mythic symbolism have a long history of being subverted into political propaganda which is what I’m suspecting happened here. Like, people can be much more easily swayed into antisemitism if the cultural access point to Jewishness is something as powerful and frightening as time devouring us all, magic, or, as you pointed out, conspiracy theories about Jews being an all powerful global entity.
I had heard that some of the witch stereotypes, including forms of the hat, but also cauldrons and potion-making, were associated with brewers, which was an almost exclusively female profession until the later Middle Ages leading into the Reformation period. As the profession moved away from being centered in the home, women still participating in brewing were demonized.
Can anyone confirm this?
Yes this is true. Witch accusers got all the property of the accused so it was profitable to make an accusation. Many women in what is now Germany who were brewers as well as men were accused of witchcraft at that time.
I've heard this about the hat, as well.
@@lenabreijer1311 modern witch killing on rise for years and mostly a way to grab land off old ppl without families to protect them
Can confirm. The tall hat meant you could be easily found at the market place to buy your beer. The "broom" was a bundle of straw on a stick hanging outside of your Alehouse as a sign, and of course a cat would be valuable in keeping mice and rats out of your grain stores. The cauldron was just for making beer in, you needed a huge vessel to brew it before barreling it. Being a brew meister was another of the very few things a woman was allowed to do to bring in her own income.
In Scotland absolutely true! Check out the witches of Scotland podcast if you're interested
By the time i was cast to portray a witch in a haunted house I worked at last year, I was pretty aware of most of these stereotypes (only understood the weight of the blood libel thing more recently as a result of one of your previous videos on the topic) - so it was kind of a fun creative challenge to figure out how to portray a witch without playing into anti-Semitic tropes (we had to wear a mask for covid, so the nose thing wasn't even a consideration, but i was aware enough of that trope at the time to have avoided it anyways). I ended up playing into a druidic aesthetic (I'm a druidic pagan spiritually) and made it look like I was a witch that had been consumed by the forest and it's magic around me - had vines growing out of my hair, and moss growing on me and my clothes. some of the people in my scene played more into the goth sort of aesthetics, and one of them went with a look inspired by The Crow. Avoiding anti-Semitism while playing or dressing as a witch isnt hard, it just requires a bit of creativity.
Out of curiosity: Do you find that Elpheba's portrayal in Wicked reenforces or subverts these tropes?
When I costumed the opera Hansel and Gretel I did something similar, made her like a forest spirit with dayglo bugs and snakes in her hair. The singer was happy to be a pretty, if green, witch.
I haven't actually seen Wicked [shocked gasps, I know]! Seems like she's very much visually in this same European witch aesthetic with the green skin and all. I have been told of other folk traditions that associate green with witches, but this was someone telling me in passing about a "green witch" legend from the Balkans where "green" was to represent forests and herbal lore.
@@SnappyDragon i guess considering she’s based on the witch from wizard of oz that its safe to say that it’s a more problematic portrayal…
@@Crocronut I wouldn't be so sure. The whole point of representing Elphaba the way she is in Wicked is as a *subversion* of the witch trope - where she isn't the villain, just painted as one. Elphaba is inarguably the protagonist and hero in Wicked, and the antisemitic tropes are actively and conciously used against her on behalf of the antagonists. (opening up a reading of Elphaba as Jewish)
@@eivor9097 id love to see a more thorough analysis/argument on this /g :0
My mom has an aquiline nose, and she’s been asked her whole life if she’s Jewish (which she isn’t). It’s given her a lot sympathy towards Jewish people, who get dumb questions from stereotypes all the time
Acknowledging history is the only way to move forward! You can love myths and costumes and ALSO recognize problematic context. It's a challenge to navigate, but knowledge is the first step.
Love your channel. Keep it up.
@@jaybinks871 their behaviour? Um, no. Just xenophobia.
Gotta love all instances like ’your day of rest that has existed since before my religion is a mockery of my religion!!!!!’
The sheer irony! Same goes for the myths about baking matzah. How can people be so frightened of a giant water cracker? 😂😂😂
@@SnappyDragon It COULD make you cough a lot.
@@JuliaSkottMakes . . . nope nope nope this has definitely never happened to me, don't know what you're talking about
@@SnappyDragon If it’s stale enough and there’s no water on hand…
@@SnappyDragon My gastrointestinal system is terrified of it every year.
I don't know about the history of conical hats, and I'm not trying to dispute anything that you say here, but I'd like to add to what you said about the hats. In Nordic Germany, wide brimmed hats were associated with Odin. Odin wore a wide brimmed hat, often pulled down to conceal his face and identity during his travels in Midgard. Odin was also a witch, despite witchcraft being a strictly feminine practice. The image of Odin as a wandering old man of magic wearing a large hat was the primary basis for Gandalf, which was then the inspiration for the modern fantasy image of the robe-and-hat wizard.
Again, I'm not trying to contradict what you said about the Judenhut. I just think that it's worth mentioning that there's another historical connection between hats and practitioners of magic in Germany.
Edit: and since you asked about witch costumes ideas that we like, I want to throw Odin out as an idea for that!
Thank you!
As a Witch you all might want to copy my typical “Costume” jeans and a hoodie! 😊😉
Great theory, except witches wearing conical hats didn't become a thing until the 17th century.
Earlier depictions leave this out entirely.
@@shahbanu-amestris I always associated the witch hats with the capotain worn by the Puritans.
@@shahbanu-amestris If you're trying to argue with me, please re-read what I wrote: "I don't know about the history of conical hats, and I'm not trying to dispute anything that you say here".
@@shahbanu-amestris *hypothesis
Practising pagan here. We started calling ourselves "witches" several decades ago, for various reasons (for example, some people wanted to show solidarity with the poor, innocent women who were persecuted as "witches" by the inquisition). So I've always been a bit ambiguous towards the stereotypes in Halloween costumes.
You're adding a whole new layer to this discomfort, and I thank you for providing this information. It's very much appreciated 💜
Actually paganism is an umbrella term, not all witches are pagan, and not all pagans are witches
@@talithacrow7530 Yup, correct. Just wondering why you feel the need to point this out here? Surely you realise that I know this, and most non-pagans aren't that interested (also, I didn't want to go i to too much detail so as to avoid hijacking the topic, which refers to Jews).
A fpagan riend of mine in child protection always said a far more terrifying look for for Halloween was a man in an overcoat with candy in his pocket then an old woman with a pointy hat, because real evidence shows he is much more dangerous.
@@SibylleLeon because I think it's important not to spread misinformation about any religion or religious term.
@@talithacrow7530 You're right to be cautious, but the tangled mess between Pagan, Wiccan, Witch, Heathen, Reconstructionist / fluffy bunny, Indigenous, etc, is far to complicated to explain here; throw in pantheist/atheist/forms of Satanist as many people do and it gets worse. If a Christian said "we call ourselves born again..." would you point out that "not all" Christians do that? And it is considerate, polite, to respect the subject of the video and not hijack it for pagan discussions that outsiders might consider silly.
I’m not Jewish, ethnically or religious. I am Sicilian and Korean though, and know a lot about pagan practices around the world. This was very educational! Thank you! I had never thought about Gothel having physical antisemitic features. To be honest, In both looks and behavior she’s always reminded me of my mother; who is the offspring of a Korean immigrant and Sicilian immigrant. I guess that would make sense since aquiline noses are a Mediterranean thing and so is dark curly hair. Thank you for the video, it’s given me so much to think about.
That was super interesting for me as well, also a close descendant of an emotionally manipulative Sicilian woman, but now knowing the history I will never unsee it in Tangled.
@caitlyncarvalho7637 I would love to read that!
I'm a witch with Romani ancestors so I'm familiar with some of their persecution, but I had no idea about the connection to anti-Semitism. It's so awful. Thank you for this video. Its important information. As a witch, I very much agree that there is nothing wrong with dressing up as one, but leave out the offensive, harmful, and disrespectful elements.
Well i am a Jew, and this video is ridiculous. Not only is it a reach, but to push this view on people will only further resentment towards Jewish people. People want to have fun on Halloween, not have a finger wagged at them with a guilt trip and a shaming for doing something so innocent as getting into the spirit of a fun holiday. Doing this only puts my people in danger of backlash and hatred. We dont need this shithead drawing this kind of heat on us. Really? This meant something different 400 years ago? Fantastic, build yourself a time machine and go fight the good fight, and stay awhile...no rush. If she really wanted to make the world a better place for Jews she could start with petitioning for shelfish to finally be kosher, i love oysters and i dont care if my temple knows it.
There is no connection. It's made up, like witches and the Bible - all fairy tales.
@Bernie Sanders
There are loads of real witches. Although modern witchcraft isn’t a religion, it is a spiritual practice that is becoming increasingly popular. There are religions based around it e.g. Wiccan. I’m a witch, and perform spells and such. I would look it up before telling the person you were replying to that they don’t exist.
@@coldsake07 Totally. Her obsession is causing more harm than good.
@@rosecardew7063 Yes, Wiccans are anti-Conformists who had parents that didn't hug them.
As a Pagan Witch I've really only looked at this trope through the scope of my own religion and it was really eye opening to hear this and all the research that went into this is just o.O omg. I have a handful of Jewish friends and they're more on the "avoid conflict and attention" types (which is SO understandable considering) so I've really learned a lot from your channel. I appreciate this video so much and am actually embarrassed that there were so many things I didn't know or didn't put 2 and 2 together.
Tl;dr THANK YOU THIS IS A WONDERFULLY PUT TOGETHER VIDEO.
Same here. My thanks to V for teaching this old (well, middle-aged anyway) Pagan a thing or two!
And you don't think the stereotypes of witches is, to say the least, unpleasant? And the ignoring of how many of us have been tortured and killed by people of an Abrahamic religion is all fine?
YES! This video was so helpful for me as a witch as well.
I really hope people don't make a mess of your comments over this because it's such a great video. All throughout I kept thinking about how intersectional so many of these tropes are. They all intersect on anti-Semitism, of course, but with the healthy dose of misogyny in there... As an outspoken woman who is not Jewish, I can't say I'd feel safe from the witch trials of medieval Europe, so there's a spark of recognition there for me.
Thanks for all your detailed research, I'm looking up so many of those sources for further reading!
There's so many flavors of prejudice that intersected during the witch craze, I wouldn't blame anyone for feeling unsafe!
@@SnappyDragon
“How does she have milk and butter to give to the needy in the winter? Nobody is _that_ good at saving up dairy for when the livestock’s heavy with young! And _surely_ that cauldron she’s keeping the children away from can’t just be soap!”
Yes, those were the “reasons” a woman in my mother’s village in northern Norway was burnt at the stake as a witch.
As an outspoken female ginger working in the medical arts I would 100% Be turned into firewood
@@ragnkja So don't show "Christian" charity? Or caution for children? About 35 years ago I was condemned by small town neighbors for stopping schoolkids from breaking off hedge stems and chewing on them, for having poisonous plants; they were oleander, every part deadly, and they were very common throughout town, and *someone* needed to tell the kids not to put just anything in their mouths (not toddlers mind you, some teens) and I dealt with massive gossip and vandalism for it. Good thing it was the twentieth century, right? And good Christian people.
I was thinking about this as I was watching. The gross mix of antisemitism, anti-paganism, misogyny and ableism (I mean look at how often evil witches are portrayed as "disfigured") that all comes together to make this cultural idea of a witch. It's very interesting and absolutely horrible.
Nothing existing in a vacuum is SO true! Even before I realised just how messed up the nose trope was, I thought it was mean. A person's nose is a thing they can't really help, so mocking someone for a physical trait puts the person doing the mocking solidly in the "asshat" category in my book.
Your nose is beautiful.
The "Roman nose" is a mediteranian trait, just like curly hair among the Greeks. Beauty trends change, but you are beautiful just the way you are.
two physical origins from my own research -- there is only one source of curly hair, Africa, K? a long slightly curved nose is the meeting of a broad African nose and the longer nose bridge of the European Caucasian (or mutated albino). the bump in the middle of the nose is the genetic leftover from the shorter African nose bridge.
@@Applecider-Poetry If on an "Adam and Eve" quest for an origin story, yes, all roads would lead to Africa. However, most mutations we see in the present day came long after, so when I look at my own DNA results, I don't see Africa, simply because the "Adam and Eve" portion of that DNA is so very diluted by then. European nations have a lot of melting-pot mutations from the not so ancient history, and so that's what I drew from. Both are valid, but her features reminded me of my cousins in Spain with Greek ancestry and they are beautiful features that Michelangelo's David showcaes - from his strong nose to his curly locks. He was (back then) the political symbol of a smaller nation's strength to their rival neighbor, in all his splendor. DNA mutations, while comon in the natural world, are unfortunately used to categorize groups of people. In the end, they are only "skin deep" and should not be used in this way, but humans are innately flawed, so we need continuous education on ethics and how to respect differences.
@@laranadesign4764 yeah she’s not. I’d totally date her
@@laranadesign4764 Interestingly enough already in ancient times people had been way more mobile than most modern people give them credit for. That's why in Europe since all the way back people from all over Africa, Asia, the Middle East and of course Europe had met each other and had families together. So when we nowadays say someone is Italian, this ethnic identity is already shaped by a centuries old combination of genes from all over the world. Far-right people are way too late for insisting people keep their hands of each other since we already are so intertwined genetically 👍
Ive never seen anyone make a video explicitly going into detail about why witches have roots in antisemitism, so thank you for this! Ive always wanted to learn more about witches specifically bc ive heard about pretty much all the other antisemitic tropes except for this one
This was awesome and super informative. I think you've inspired me to tackle the "why are villains always disabled" trope.
Please do!
As a chronically ill and disabled individual, now I am intrigued. Also, I just subscribed to your channel as well.
@@spidermiss2426 I'm also disabled and have chronic pain, so I definitely have some skin in this one.
Are they though?
Edit Oct 17: Perhaps my question wasn't very clear. I was wondering which kinds of disabilities they seem exhibit, and how frequently.
Yes! It’s something that frustrates me to no end. And it still adds to the current day stigma of being disabled. People expect the disabled to be either pitiful childlike tropes of people, or evil. I honestly tend to get the former rather than the latter. They’re both awful.
I have a mighty need to send this video to my sister (she's Wiccan) and then ask her to share it with her witchy friends.
Please do! 💚
@@SnappyDragon The deed has been done!!!
I'm working on a patchwork witch hat currently, and I fully plan on cross-referencing this video for further education. Thank you for a very well thought out and researched video. I found it highly informative!
A witch costume I really like is the ancient Greek witch, like Medea or Circe, the powerful, beautiful and dangerous woman that knows plants and poisons and can talk with animals. I find it really empowering and aesthetically pleasing, and rather easy to make.
The hat is also very similar to a traditional welsh woman's hat - though not quite as pointy. A traditional Alpine hat also has the pointy top, but with a smaller brim. It begs the question of what was the origin of the Judenhut? Where did _it_ come from. Pointy hats on women were common in the middle ages (sans brim and usually with some sort of veil on the top of the point coming does to a sort of scarf.
That's so interesting! Naomi Lubrich's paper goes into a *ton* of detail about the cultural origins of the Judenhut and how it was a Jewish traditional style, probably with Levantine roots. I highly recommend reading it if you can get it!
I'm a witch and I have Welsh blood, so I love the traditional dress. Wales has an interesting history of witches too.
With witch hats I have always felt they were inspired by the pilgrim puritan hats (capotain).
@@theab3957
They're much older than that.
@@kavikv.d.hexenholtz3474 What is much older than what? Please be specific.
A good companion video for anyone interested in a deeper history on the history of the Witches’ hat can be found on Abby Cox’s channel.
I watched that one a year or so ago, and came to the comments to see if someone would mention Abby's video! Thanks! This is a fascinating discussion all around, and between Snappy Dragon and Abby Cox, I get my fix of youtube scholarly research dissecting fascinating topics! Don't know how everyone else feels, but I hope these ladies know how appreciated their citations and bibliographies are.
Came here from that video
Rewatchingthese two videos every year is my seasonal tradition! More so than candy and pumpkins 🎃
I'm a witch (and it's in my family history too, finnish/karelian witches in the 1800s and perhaps even earlier random fact) and always been interested in anything witch related but I've been bothered with the "witch nose" for a while and noticed how it seemed antisemitic and mocking people with aquiline noses and I've been waiting for someone to make a vid like this.
Edit: It's always bothered me why aquiline noses was mocked this way and to people who have them: I find them incredibly beautiful and love to draw them.❤ I shared this everywhere
I'm a witch and I recently discovered I'm part Finnish. Do you have any recommendations of where I can learn more about Finnish witch history, please?
I’ve always found aquiline noses to be very attractive. Im sure this is because the entirety of my dad’s side of the family has that “Greco-Roman nose” as they call it. My brother has it too, though I missed out on it. We don’t have any Jewish history that I know of, though my dad’s family is all from southern Austria (right next to Italy). That’s likely where it comes from. The tan dad and I have though, that comes from his dad’s genes, which are somewhat unknown, though we suspect he was a man of colour, given our skin tones. (My dad was adopted, and my dad knows his bio mum, but not his bio dad. And his bio mum didn’t really know his bio dad either).
But anyway, all of that to say, I’m likely attracted to it because it is so familiar to me. But I also don’t really understand why people would ever see it as ugly. Is it not objectively a strong, attractive nose shape?
@@GeorgiaGeorgette Unfortunately not. All I've gone off is stories from relatives. I'm swedish as in born in Sweden and don't speak the finnish language sadly but on both sides of my family I'm finnish. I wish I could help out more but I'm still trying to find that out myself but a start is to find out the region your family is from perhaps and go on from there? I've heard my last name comes from a specific region and such.
@@katherinemorelle7115 Yes I find them attractive too although I'm northern european and don't have that in my family. I'm attracted to the opposite of what my family looks like haha. I'm more into southern european/meditteranian looking guys than scandinavian.
I just find it sad that people with those noses get dunked on so much. I remember when the trailer for The Last of Us Part 2 came out and Ellie's love interest Dina was showed for the first time and people said a lot of vile things about her because of her nose and what is even worse is that her face is based off the face model Cascina Caradonna so they're not even just targeting a fictional character. I'm glad she got a lot of followers on her own youtube channel and appreciation that outnumbered the hate though.
@@GeorgiaGeorgette Irish in Finland channel has good stuff about ancient Finland.
As always, very informative, and well researched. Thanks Vi! 💚
Really interesting; you bring to light things I think I kind of knew, but never really thought about in this way. I know something about the history of witch hunts in Western Europe, but this adds another highly disturbing wrinkle. Thanks for all the work you do to bring this interesting and very important content forward.
As someone outside the Jewish community, I had made the connection of maybe we should not use the nose after learning about Nazi propaganda in high school history class. But I didn't know about the other antisemitistic tropes. Also it was interesting to her the opinion of someone in the Jewish community. To few people speak up about these things (for obvious and very valid reasons) which can make it hard as an outsider with good intentions to know where the pain lies.
So much yes to all of this. (Team #jewitch all the way, too.)
Barstow's comment ("for the most part, witches and Jews were persecuted interchangeably") is, I think, so important to remember here. I still encounter folks who think of the Spanish Inquisition as being anti-witch-and while it was, in practice, sometimes, its official stance was that there was no such thing as witchcraft, and it existed to pursue an explicitly anti-Semitic and Islamophobic agenda. And yet! And yet, we see that the two/three agendas were so entangled as to amount to one.
I've got friends who are part of Tree of Life/Or L'Simcha. That one hit particularly hard, yeah.
Why have three separate persecutions when you could have one?
to this day I have to make sure I am 100% distracted the entire day on my birthday. I hope your friends will have the same support!
The Spanish Inquisition was especially sinister because they claimed to be only interested in persecuting Christians who had gone astray (aka forcibly converted Jews who were still participating in their cultural and/or religious practices). The thing about the “judaizing” accusation that is so malicious is that Judaism is an ethno-religion and so even if Jewish people submitted to baptism they were tortured anyway for continuing to exist in their communities or not abandoning their culture.
@@IsaRican810 feels weird to thumbs up that, so I'll say "well put".
@@wlonkery 😂 fair
I spent years trying to get college students to understand that cultural idioms ( in my case music) are not created in a vacuum but are a direct response to what is happening in that area at that time. Thanks for another excellent video.
on the topic of aquiline noses: the term “aquiline nose” was occasionally used by white supremacist pseudo-scientists as a “marker of aryanness” (quoting from the wikipedia page on Aquiline Noses); it’s literally the exact same nose type, and yet when white christian europeans have it, it’s a sign of masculine strength and they’d use the word “aquiline”, yet when jewish people have it, it’s suddenly a bad thing and they use the word “hooked” instead. it’s completely ridiculous-though the lack of consistency or logic is to be expected from that kind of pseudoscience.
Nonsense! LOLOOL!!!! The latin word for Eagle is Aquila, and historians described some ethnic groups as having "Aquiline noses" because they were slightly curved like an eagles beak. There was nothing "bad" about it and the latins felt it was a beautiful and much-desired feature. Most of the Caesars and Emperors had Aquiline noses and it was seen as a sign of strength and nobility. Why is it that when liberals find the facts are not fitting their crumbling narrative, they just fabricate new facts and make their fabulation as racist as they possibly can? Shame on you!
@@SuperZekethefreak the point is that a lot of white supremacists see a "hooked" in a positive way when it comes to white people but in a negative way when it comes to Jewish people and other minorities. The romans/latins aren't really important in this context
You are so wonderful to have made this video. Thank you.
As a practicing witch, this video was incredibly eye-opening. I also really appreciate that you acknowledged modern witches as having a legitimate spiritual practice, not just being a bunch of weirdos who "do Halloween all year." I've always thought the stereotypes were harmful, but it's truly sickening to find out that so much of the stupid pop culture crap used to stereotype witches to this day is just recycled anti-Semitic bigotry from centuries gone by.
I don't have any particular witch costumes I'm especially fond of, but I would like people to know that an actual witch can look like anything and anyone. We do, however, tend to have a knack for acquiring rocks/sticks/feathers/leaves/etc., and the best way to find us is to loudly ask if anyone wants this jar you're not using anymore 😂
I've learned so much from your channel and I really look forward to your videos. Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to research, plan, create, and share this content. And for whatever it's worth, I think your nose is beautiful. Sending you and yours love and blessings 💜
Of course I wanted to acknowledge that! There are plenty of practicing Witches I know and I'm not about to spend 20 minutes talking about prejudice against one religion to then turn around and disrespect another one. A Pagan friend was kind enough to read this over and check me for any accidental biases.
@@SnappyDragon you did a wonderful job. I look forward to viewing your catalogue and hoping I'll find something on the Golem. Perhaps in regard to Mary Shelley? Blessed Be.
It must be frustrating to see things used to harm your people and stereotypes of your people being used as shorthand for the character being bad and/or evil.
I've never had to consider it before and your videos on Judaism and costuming/clothing have really opened my eyes on these topics. Thank you for that.
I've never considered where these stereotypical/common Halloween Monsters come from but I should have. Again, thank you for opening my eyes on this topic.
I'd be interested in your (and your viewers) opinions on Terry Pratchett's portrayal of witches. Watching this showed me that his portrayal was based in research, especially in the later novels - there's a soulless witch-persecuting character who wrote the Bonfire of the Witches, for example.
And in general, if you're portraying a good witch, are you subverting the stereotypes? Thinking of both Pratchett and other series That Shall Not Be Named that certainly embrace the pointy hat, if not other traditional witch features.
I love Terry Pratchett and I think he does a good job of characterizing his witches as forces for good-- although it's certainly possible some of these stereotypes might crop up, I haven't read all of his work. Even so, I do think it's very possible to love a book that touches on such a stereotype if it isn't reflecting prejudice on the part of the author . . . which is the issue I have with Other Series That Shall Not Be Named.
terry pratchett does have some of thesr stereotypes, however he added them in a way that sort of, twists it about. where granny weatherwax does have a traditional " witches nose" she is never considered ugly. magrat seems to even wish she had a nose like hers. and then theres nanny ogg who is the absolute opposite.
@@SnappyDragon I love his witches, and particularly that they are portrayed primarily as people who help the community, especially the women, and do lots of the thankless tasks that are still done mostly by women today, like taking care of the sick and old. I believe that many of the witches who were persecuted were exactly that - they were healers and particularly midwives who knew about sexual matters, and therefore perceived as a threat. However I did recently come across the term Shonky Shop in one of his book, and I loved the description of it, but had never heard the term, so I looked it up and found it is anti-semetic - I wonder if he knew?
@@rachelsnee8926 That would break my fucking heart.
@@rachelsnee8926 I cannot find a single source claiming that term is anti-semetic, lol.
I think this was the first video of yours i watched! An instant classic ☺️
Love you, V!
I appreciate your deep dives into all kinds of costume-related topics!
That is one of the moments history makes me feel physically sick. Not your fault of course, I appreciate your research. But what human beings are willing to do at each other - I will never ever understand.
Small things like the nose are often somehow under the radar, and that’s dangerous.
Some weeks ago I spoke of a “white list” at work, which is kind of a technical term. But a colleague looked at me and said “Please say allow list.” And I blinked and was like: Damn. He is right. Never thought about that.
I had to reread your comment 4 times to understand what was going on XD; I realized that you used white list to mean "whitelist" which is a term I haven't heard for awhile, but I'm also familiar with a very similar term "green list", which...uuuhhh...is a lot better in my opinion. "Green list" is a list of people or things that are permitted, so it's a synonym, and makes sense as green to westerners/English speakers means "go" and the other implied meanings and synonyms of "go". So if "green list" is an easier/more familiar change for you, I definitely recommend using it as a replacement term in your vocabulary, as more familiar terms are generally easier to change over to :) It can often be shocking how many terms, especially terms that are considered "professional" or "technical" are very unsavory and generally because of unsavory roots. I'm sure you can probably imagine why the technical or professional terms tend towards being more problematic, while unprofessional anything tends towards being made and used by mainly minority groups...I think green list, isn't quite as popular, but the phrase "green lit" to say something has been approved, is quite popular, and I don't think it has any negative historical roots attached to it like "whitelist" does. I'm not sure though, so if you know, please let me know :) "allow list" is definitely more straight forward in any case, and only sounds "off" or "weird" probably because it isn't the common thing to say (hence why I was recommending using "green list"/"green listed"), but the more people start using the newer less problematic terms, the better the world will become as it'll change how we think and treat other people on a subconscious level.
@@RosemaryWilliams49fruits Sorry, englisch is not my first language. But yes, that is what I meant.
Green and red could be a good alternative, I will discuss that at work the next time. Thanks for the input!
If this makes you sick, wait until you hear about the Holocaust and the Russian Gulag.
@@dressdeveloper I would have never known English was not your first language! Wow, your English is fantastic :) If you don't mind me asking, how long have you learned/been using English, did you learn it in school, and do you live somewhere where English is used on the regular? I'm really impressed with your fluency. No pressure to answer, I'm curious, but also just very impressed :)
@@RosemaryWilliams49fruits Thank you. ☺️ Well, I learned English in school, and as a web developer, most of my resources are English. I also read English novels and watch English movies - originals are nearly always better than a translation. But read and write/speak are different things, so I am glad for the feedback.
I'm ethnically Jewish (was raised Catholic but that's a different story) and am trying to learn more about the culture from the sources I have at hand, like my aunts and my mother because from what I do know being Jewish feels more like home than anything I was raised with. Just wanted to say thank you for being another source of of information and opinions for me to learn from. And in terms of a positive witch costume, I have a friend whose life goal is to make Tiffany Aching's hat full of sky to complete her Tiffany costume and someday I'll probably do the same because those books reminded me of things I loved about myself as a kid.
Love Tiffany Aching!
@@pamelahofman1785 Me too!
Fantastic video! I've come back to it every year around Halloween since it came out ❤️
THANK YOU. I _just_ got into an argument with someone I know who completely dismissed me when I pointed out the antisemitic roots of the iconic witch imagery. They kept throwing problematic Tumblr and Twitter threads at me and the point completely flew over their head. As a practicing Witch of more than 20 years with Jewish loved ones, I was beyond frustrated.
And what about the sterotypical vision of witches? Anti Witchism is whst I hear here.
@@suupkalvers2244 what are you even saying?
As usual, wonderful and well-researched! Thank you!
Thank you for sharing this information with us! My take away is that the way we dress, whether for day to day or costume (historical, fantasy, cosplay etc) needs to be with conscious awareness. We need to be consciously aware of what we are doing, wearing, and portraying. We need to apply critical thinking, and it shouldn't just be up to those people who are within groups and/or minority groups to be doing this research. We all have a responsibility.
As for favourite witch costumes, I've always liked ones that look more day to day, but with an element of something magical!
It is important to talk about uncomfortable history, especially that that still hurts people today. Thank you for continuing to educate on important topics!
Thank you for the research and effort you put into this video and all of your videos. I enjoy learning more about history and historical dress, especially from different perspectives.
Always good to try to figure out WHY we relate certain features with certain character traits. Bringing this back up in time for Halloween 🎃💜
I just want to say how much I enjoy and learn from your videos! Thank you for all the hard work you do on them. 😀
I've been looking forward to this video from you and it did not disappoint. It's important for us all to understand what shapes the tropes in our world. Myths and fairy tales did not spring from a vacuum. The things that define what counts as evil and/or monstrous come from real life beliefs and emotions, even if the thing being talked about in the story is something which doesn't exist like witches or goblins. If, as most of us do, we can read fairy tales now and understand the good lessons behind them, we can also learn about the prejudices behind them. It's especially important to do so when those prejudices become so baked in to our culture that they become almost invisible, thus making it harder to see when the dog whistles turn into outright shouting.
Thank you for all the work you put into this and for sharing it. Here's hoping the comment section doesn't become too scary.
Honestly so happy to be subscribed to you. I knew that there was anti-Semitism woven through our cultural understanding of witches, but the historical context youve provided really adds a lot more depth to my perspective on the issue, as a non-Jewish pagan. Thank you and Happy Halloween!!
I knew this in my bones but not in my bibliography. Carefully researched and well told, thank you.
I LOVE that phrase, oh my gosh! I'm using that in the future. 😅
i'm a south asian with the hooked nose. when you said the romani persecution, it kinda clicked. ik i might be confusing things but yeah we got the hooked nose as well so its another annoying factor when seeing ppl make fun of the hooked nose to insult jews. i've seen so many south asian / west asian women get thinkplasty bc some jerks planted that insecurity in them growing up. and ppl going "yeah you go girl!!" when she gets surgery like bro you dont understand whats rly going on 💀
*rhinoplasty - my keyboard's acting up
Thank you for explaining the problems in such a heartfelt way. Really appreciate learning from you.
I don't know if someone else had posted this reference, but I'm reminded of the episode of Bewitched where Samantha convinces Darrin and his client to go with a beautiful witch for a campaign image instead of the "ugly" witch for many of these reasons, except replacing "Jewish people" with witches. Loved this video!
Thank you for going in to detail! Definitely learned some things (had never thought to connect Mother Gothel to anti-Semitic tropes!), and there’s far, far more still to learn.
And I agree, the nose trope needs to GO! Though I do still want to make a witch’s hat to wear casually…
I remember being taught that the witch costume was based on Welsh national dress (which even then I thought was a bit of a stretch because it's another tall and tapered but not actually conical hat.) The nose-and-warts thing was explained as being prejudice against old widows, poking fun at Cromwell, or possibly an association with charcoal burners who would be more weathered than others their age due to the extended periods spent awake and outside keeping watch on the charcoal to ensure it didn't fully burn, and that the ability to stay awake when everyone else was asleep unnerved people.
It seems that antisemitic and racist connotations of many things have been intentionally ignored, perhaps with the assumption that admitting those connotations existed would encourage belief in the validity of them. Road to hell, those who do not study history and all that.
Your videos are always so thoughtful, informative, and well-researched! I’m pretty sure I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again-including your sources is such an important thing to educating, and you’re one of the only youtubers who actually does it. SERIOUS respect for that. I really appreciate the level of nuance and insight you bring to the discussion. Thanks for the great video!
Just as interesting as the first time I watched when originally published. Thanks trolls for boosting this channel in the algorithm; I'm thinking it may not have the effect you were hoping for. It did remind me I need to check back in more often.
It’s a sad reflection of today’s world that I want to say you’re brave for posting this - because that recognises that there’s a risk involved. To say I’m not a fan of humans right now is an understatement. I’m happy to say I’ve not seen anything, but I’m not sure I want to look too hard!
All that said, this was fascinating - all your videos are! Keep them coming and rant as much as you want!
I live in Sussex England, and happen to be a historian. I obtained my PhD in Medieval & early modern European Studies, from the University of Edinburgh. Additionally, I hold two masters degrees in Tudor history, and archaeology. We have good historical evidence that would infact suggest the shtreimel has very little in connection with the witches hat. The witches hat is most similar looking to a Phrygian hat or hennan. Conical hats have a long history in the fashions of the world; however, it was not until the pervasiveness of Christianity in the Middle Ages and medieval periods that the term "witchcraft" took on a such nefarious meaning, that a symbol of this role was necessary. The Greeks believed pointed hats were also a sign of untrustworthy foreigners. For example, in ancient Greek texts and art works, any figure described or shown as wearing a soft, slightly pointed cap (also called a Phrygian hat) was considered a barbarian. This barbaric status was also associated with rites deemed unholy or despicable by the primary culture (in this case, the Greeks). Yet it is only in the early modern period that they begin to be associated with witches in particular, thanks to the images of witches as used in anti-witchcraft pamphlets such as Mathers' Wonders of the Invisible World (1689) or woodcuts such as those made by William Dodd (1720). It has been postulated the use of a conical hat to denote witches might have stemmed from an exaggerated form of hennins, a type of cone-shaped headdress commonly worn during the Middle Ages. Though the hennin was indicative of the noble status of the female wearer, its popularity during the religiously uncertain era of the Middle Ages and the ease with which women were accused or convicted of witchcraft by other jealous women or angry men during this time makes it not unlikely to presume this might have been when the conical hat became associated with witchcraft. The most critical evidence for the use of the pointed hat to indicate witchcraft likely came from the opinion of the Church. In the medieval period, it is believed that the clergy and devout practitioners of the faith despised the pointed hat because it reminded them of the horns of the Devil. In the 15th century, there was even a manual created on how to properly engage in witch-hunting, and what signs to be aware of when attempting to recognise a witch. This manual, coupled with the already growing fear of Devil worship among the religiously devout, created an epidemic of damning women as witches (as men were less commonly witches according to the manual). It is very possible that, as this book was published during the height of hennin fashion, this is where the association of witches and the conical hat began.
Vielen Dank! Manche Menschen genießen es, aus nichts etwas zu machen. So ein Unsinn ... Was sie gesagt hat, ist eine Lüge, also danke, dass du ECHTE historische Referenzen gegeben hast. Ich hoffe jeder liest deinen Kommentar.
@@adalwolfweiss7557 Thank you!
@@adalwolfweiss7557 That's odd because I don't see anything in what she says that specifically negates the "foreigner" or "barbarian" being referenced as also referring to Jewish people. BOTH can be true, and yes - Lily's info is fascinating and important to add, AND it also could have cropped back up as a dog whistle.
I think about this video all the time. Really interesting history. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for all the research and effort you put into your videos! Sending love ❤️❤️❤️
I never actually realised this but definitely see it now that you point it out so I appreciate the PSA. Thanks!
The hat is a real ancient druid symbol along with the wand. There's a video about the history of Merlin, from the Arthurian myths. Druids were both women and men. They wore pointy hats. Pretty sure at least one bog mummy wearing a pointy hat has been dredged up by archaeologists studying celtic sacrificial sites.
Sources? I didn't think we knew anything about druids at all. I was pretty sure anything modern people say about druids was made up
Thank you for making and sharing this. I was aware of some of the anti-Semitism behind witch stereotypes, but I had no idea the green skin was also anti-Semitic.
I have a beautiful green witch hat that a friend made (she makes and sells witch hats), and it's more rustic, not perfectly pointy. But when I wear it now, I'm going to think about this, and appreciate the work you're doing here.
Fennoscandian approach to witch costume which (to my knowledge) isn't offensive to any particular group:
-take a large shawl or a scarf and fold it into a triangle, then place it on your head and tie the ends under your chin.
-Use clothes that are kind of mismatched and as colourful as possible. A striped dress with a polka dot skirt on top of it and a furcoat if you like... it can be literally whatever you already own. Thrift stores are your best friend.
-An apron! Very important.
-Optional, but traditional accessories are a broom and a coffee pot.
-Make up: take a red lipstic or a vibrant blush. Make circles on your cheeks. Blending is not neccessary 😂
This is a traditional costume that is (in Finland) worn on palm sunday by children who go around the village in similar style to trick or treating. They carry willow sticks which they trade for treats. They swish their sticks and chant a rhyme: "Virvon, varvon, tuoreeks terveeks! Vitsa sulle, palkka mulle!" which can be loosely translated as: "Swishing, swooshing, for happines and health! Stick to you, treat to me!"
This has roots in an old belief of witches called "trulli" would fly on palm sunday trying to trick and harm their neighbours out of jealousy. They could be young or old, male or female but were typically believed to be old women. For example, they could steal your cattle luck by cutting hair from your cows, so scary!
It's a second time I read about coffee pot as Finnish witches must-have. Do you know why? Is there a story about it?
@@LixiaWinter I think it has roots in the coffee prohibitions that took place in the century. Older women were often caught gossiping and secretly sipping coffee. Some officious priests tought that coffee was the devil's drink so obviously women who drank coffee were witches 🤷♀️
It definitely doesn't seem like it's anti-semitic, but I do wonder if it's based in other stereotypes, like maybe Roma stereotypes. But I don't know enough about that to know for sure. I just know I'd be very hesitant to assume any spooky traditions don't come from a problematic place.
@@crankysister i think I can see what you mean when I think about it and maybe someone disagrees with me on this, but I don't think they are in this case connected or at least not a lot. This costume is a circa 20th century invention for children and meant to be a bit of an opposite what the "real" witches represented. While the real witches were jealous, mean people who wanted to pull petty tricks on their neighbours and steal their luck, this costume represents a funny, happy and easygoing witch who wishes luck, wealth and happines for their neighbours. A headscarf used to be every lower class woman's daily accessory even until ~1920's and even after that older women still wore them. Traditionally this is a costume for children, who would raid their parents' closets so that usually led to mismatched and oversized outfits. While we did (and unfortunately still do) have unjust predjudices against roma people, things that are usually considered racist stereotypes of them (dark frizzy hair, big nose, dark skin etc) aren't part of this costume, at least not commonly. And what comes to surviving stories of encounters with witches, every one that I've heard is about a neighbour getting caught red handed in someone's barn doing something shady.
If you live in Sweden you should also smear soot or ashes in your face when portraying a witch. Otherwise it is a lot like Finland. But our witches fly to Blåkulla on Thursday before Easter sunday.
I have never heard this. thanks for putting this up.
It's that time again and I wanted to thank you again for this fantastic video and all your hard work. I have watched it with my kid twice! I knew a little about it, enough to be aware the stereotypes existed because of this link but nowhere near this much, and it also explained it to my kid in a way that changed how they perceive all these stereotypes right out of the gate and I just really appreciate it. We have taken what we've used here when we're talking about other things like movie costumes as well as the Halloween stuff. It's so informative, thoughtful, and accessible. Great video.
High fives to you and kiddo!
@@SnappyDragon ❤️
Thank you for connecting a few more dots for me! As a pagan witch, I think this is an important perspective, because I don't want my act of embracing my witchdom and reclaiming that identity/word to slip into reinforcing dangerous and hurtful ideas. I really hate that the "ugly witch" is such a stereotype. I love dressing up, but try to do so thoughtfully.
I’m struggling to even know what to say about this video. It’s just… pure quality.
The pointed Hat was also a fashion in Wales..it appears on images of Mother Goose a Welsh Woman,who "wrote" children's tales.
Why did you put "wrote" like that?
I have just discovered your videos. This middle aged Jewish medieval historian adores you! I thought you might find another instance of blood libel and the response to it of interest. In Andalusia, the libel generally accused Jews of using the blood of Christian babies to bake matzo for Pesach. The protestation that we are forbidden from consuming blood in any form did as much good as you might imagine. The response of the Sephardic Jewish community was to use white wine and clear glasses for their seders, and leave their windows uncurtained so that any passing Christian could see that what was in the goblets could not possibly be made from blood. I wish I could give the source on that; I read it back when I was researching my thesis in a year beginning 198..... But it was striking enough that I remember it 40 years later.
Thank you for all your research and your clear presentations.
Dropping into the comments to say that 1) this video is, as ever, excellent and super interesting and educational, well-researched, engaging and all those good things, and 2) that as a Jewish historian who just finished their PhD and is stepping into the world of becoming an independent scholar, your work has been really inspiring and motivational for me - so thank you!
I have to admit, when I clicked the video I fully expected your answer to be " nah, not antisemitic."
Now
I've known these stereotypes for most of my life without ever realizing I was seeing them there in storybook witches. Now, I don't think I'll ever unsee it.
Thank you for an eye opening and interesting video.
Aw man. Witches, wizards are my favorite lore. I never got with the nose though. The scary thing about witches was that it could be your unsuspecting neighbor. That's what made the shock so great. And why I thought it was called a witch hunt not a "witches are very obvious look there's one right over there". Great video
Jews aren't the only ones with that shaped nose...
I and my family arent and we all have the same shaped nose and I've been called a witch as a child many times. I don't find it offensive as a costume at all and it's obviously not a historical outfit.
It's spooky time all over again. Time for a rewatch :)
Ethnically ambiguous Pagan chiming in. I grew up Wiccan (still practice) and have spent many years trying to explain why the stereotype of the witch was offensive to us. It's only been very recently that I started wondering what if any antisemitism was woven into the image. Thank you for answering my question.
I do find it intriguing, though, that these connections exist only because when I was growing up and getting harassed about my religion it was the Jewish community that stood up for me. I've always been grateful for that. As an adult, I now find myself on the receiving end of antisemitism and am not the least bit shy about the toolbags where to go and what to do when they get there.
Loved this video! I'm a gentile, and a practicing witch. I've been aware of a lot of these stereotypes but I was always told the hat was based on ale wives. Thank you for the new information! Also, on the nose thing, I know more gentiles, including myself, that have aquiline noses than Jewish folks. You are so right on it being a Mediterranean thing.
What is a gentile?
Edit: Oh, nvm I just now remembered my Bible knowledge apparently after a quick google. Must have been buried in there deeply.
That's partially why the musical Wicked is my absolute favorite thing ever. For those of you who don't know it, it is about the stories of Elphaba, The Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda and how their lives were before Dorothy came to Oz and what happened while se was already there, but wasn't around.
Elphaba is the main character, and we get to see her side of the story the most. She starts off as a young and innocent girl full of hope for what life has on hold for her, despite having a past of not being accepted socially, not even by her family, for having green skin and for being very outspoken, with a scandalous personality, all of which are antisemitic tropes that Stephen Schwartz, a very Jewish man who wrote the score for The Prince of Egypt, was very much aware of and decided to use it to empower Jewish women instead of shunning them (the song Defying Gravity is the culmination o it). That's why he chose Idina Menzel, a very Jewish woman, to originate the character (it was originally going to be Stephanie J. Block, who's also a very Jewish woman. After Idina Menzel left the Broadway production to originate the role in West End, she was replaced by Shoshana Bean, another very Jewish woman).
The whole story plays with anti-semitic tropes and twist them into empowering aspects for the characters, for example: Elphaba has green skin, but she's not part of an entire race of people who also have green skin and practice magic; she's the only person in history to have that trait, no one else does, neither has existed anyone before her with that trait. It is heavily implied at the beginning that, because she is the child of a woman from Oz and a man from Earth, who drinking a thing called green elixir during her conception, something magical happened and she was born green because of that, it has nothing to do with her envy, greed and wickedness (which are characteristics that she doesn't posses, but rather are antisemitic tropes often used in other medias to explain why the character has green skin, like in Once Upon A Time). The hat was a "gift" from Glinda, who originally got it as a gift from her grandmother, who doesn't understand modern fashion and thought Glinda would like it. She did not, she and all of her friends thought it was the ugliest hat ever in history, so they give it to Elphaba as a prank, only she wears it and owns it, because she also thought the hat was hideous and knew she was being pranked, and being sick of it she decides to show Glinda who's boss, which makes her feel guilty (and Elphaba's attitude in that scne actually makes her love interest, who turns into the Scarecrow later on, first fall in love with her), and her feeling guilty is what started their friendship, that's why Elphaba started wearing the hat unironically after that, to represent the first friend she's ever had and how she values it. They also never alter the actresses who play her's natural features like nose and chin, aside from painting her skin green and adding the long, straight and very well brushed black wig. The character has been played by hundreds of actresses world wide, she has been played by people of several different racial and ethnical backgrounds, but she's still mostly played by Jewish women. What is sad though is that, outside of the Jewish community, no one seems to understand that very important aspect of the show. Most people think she's black coded because she is bullied for her skin color and for a lot of people on Tumblr and Twitter, mostly white people, black people are the only people who suffer racism in the US (bruh). As a Jewish woman, who is a musical theater actress and who's dream role is Elphaba, I get deeply enraged by that, and once when I tried to point out how she's actually supposed to be Jewish (I know she ISN'T actually Jewish, because Judaism, and other Earth religions, doesn't exist in Oz, but you know what I mean)! I was completely bombarded by claims of racism and "jewish people in the US have never suffered antisemitism, they are a dominant class", I mean, excuse ME??? Remember that time in 2018 when a family added a giant wire Menorah to their front yard to celebrate Hanukkah, only to come home to it turned into a Swastika? Or the several synagogue, jewish community centers, jewish schools, jewish retirement homes and so on shootings that have happened in the last decade that no one talks about because no one cares about us? It's all happening right in front of our eyes, all over the world. A few years ago the Muslim community of Oslo had to make a human barricade around a synagogue in the city to protect it from violent antisemites trying to invade during service on the shabbath. I Norway, in the 21st century!
People seem to think that antisemitism completely vanished the face of the earth after the Holocaust, but it's just as strong as it has ever been for thousands of years, but we never talk about it. We treat it as a non problem and people are rapidly forgetting that it's still deeply rooted in our society, and when people start thinking that the Holocaust was something that happened ages ago, it will happen again (ooh, have I mentioned that Wicked also has Holocaust themes against the Animals, anthropomorphic animals who can talk and walk on two legs who are considered ethnically inferior to humans and the fact that Elphaba advocates for them is what turned her into the Wicked Witch of the West in the first place).
So since no one ever talks about it, it's no wonder virtually no one understands the inherent Judaism of Wicked, specially when it comes to Elphaba and think it has nothing to do with us, and it deeply saddens me that it is going to be transformed into a movie by someone who also don't understand it. It just goes to show that, despite the fact the we already get so little for ourselves, the little we get is taken away from us!
Also, not to mention that several Jewish women, including myself, have been mocked in our lives for looking like The Wicked Witch of the West. I remember seeing a whole 4Chan (of course) thread talking about how Jews, in particular Mayim Bialik, looked like her.
Fun fact, Margaret Hamilton, who played The Wicked Witch of the West, wasn't Jewish, but she did have those features naturally, that's why she was chosen for the role. In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz book, The Wicked Witch of the West is not green, but she also has several other antisemitic traits, like the nose, a huge forehead, a gigantic head on a tiny body, the pointy hat and a messy, awfully styled red hair!
@@MEVP4499 Wow! I thought that I was the only one who noticed that the caged animals storyline was closely similar to the Holocaust. I've seen the musical three times on tour and I've always picked up on that similarity, but until you brought up the other ones I never noticed them. Wicked has always been my favorite musical ever since I first listened to the cast album and then finally first got to see the musical when it went on tour several years ago. On a side note my number 1 dream role just so happens to be Elphaba.
I did not know that. It just makes me love the musical so much more.
Such a good video! So much information to think about. I will be sharing this video with my friends and family. There are too many stereotypes that need to be broken down and discussed surrounding this topic. Thank you for the time it took to make this video and putting yourself out there with this topic.
Also, I completely forgot to mention this when I wrote my 1st comment. In pathfinder there is a Witch class that has one archetype one can follow that allows them to know where any infant in a 50 foot radius from them is so theu can drink the infants blood/eat them to power spell casting. Yuck. The Hammer of Witches is also still being published and can be bought at Barnes and Noble of all places. 😬
Yikessss. I thought dnd's idea of some races being inherently evil was questionable, but this... Biggest yikes
As a pagan married to a jewish man, THANK YOU
I saw a store selling these noses this week, like oh my god, there is a way that we can dress up as witches without reproducing damaging and hurtful stereotypes about Jewish people