Daniela Define a - how did the word Jewess become offensive?

[mids2019]

Reading Daniel Define a by George Eliot and mention is made of 'Jewess' rescued from suicide by Daniel.

It is a term I have never heard of before reading the book and it obviously means a female Jew but given it is not used in modern times there must have been some offence drawn from the term. When and why did this happrn?

The only time I ever heard anyone sat it was when explaining they wore a Magen David necklace as their grandmother was a Jewess.

I wonder is it just not now an obsolete term like actress? I realise actress is still used but most describe themselves as actors.

It may be obsolete but is the obsolescence simply due to time and certain terms just calling into disuuse?

Deronda was written when female nouns were commonly used. We don't talk about poetesses now either, though we do still talk about heiresses. An etymological dictionary will give you the timeline. There is a lot online about the use, abuse and modern reclaiming (by Jewish women) of Jewess.

My 90 year old family member uses this word. I think it is generational and historical and is not used in an offensive way. It is how she would describe friends / family members. She would describe late relatives professions as tailoress or headmistress.

I haven’t read it but I think there is a whole piece by Baddiel on when ‘Jew’ became an offensive term. So it probably falls in this category?

Happy Chanukah!

Thats interesting. Is it her usual way of referring to a Jewish woman do you think, or are there certain circumstances, like does she only refer to women of her age or in her past rather than younger family members.

Not sure that Jewess is any more offensive than Jew. There was a thread here some months back on how Jewish posters felt about 'Jew'. Some found it offensive, some not, for some it depended on context and who was saying it. I don't recall Jewess being mentioned.

But when you add a backlash against sexism to concerns about anti-Semitism, then its disappearance mashed even more sense.

Using feminine nouns is inconsistent in English. We no longer use doctoress, poetess, conductress etc. Actress is used, but many female performers prefer to be described as actors. Headmistress has gone the way of headmaster to the non-gendered Headteacher. Heiress now implies wealth, rather than family position. We use princess, but a firstborn princess would be the heir to the throne, not the heiress to the throne.

Interesting.

Everyone she has described has been older but that’s because in the past the women would have been more observant. These women in our family are long gone.

It doesn’t really come up in conversation, as time has past. Thinking about it, I wouldn’t expect her to use it for unobservant women. I suspect she used the term to define their identity. Like you would say ‘She was a Christian Woman’ for someone actively going to church.

I think it's archaic but I don't know if I would describe it as offensive. I have an elderly relative who uses the term (we are jewish). That said, she visited me in the USA and described my colleague as a "Negress". She didn't mean in any way to be offensive - I suppose language changes over time

That is interesting.