Jewish women and ageing

[Clytemnestra2]

I know there’s no such thing as a typical Jewish women, and that one Jewish woman can obviously look very different to another but.... do Jewish women (on the whole) often look a lot younger than their actual age? I’m probably talking about those with East European Ashkenazi heritage.

For example Nigella Lawson is 60, Winona Ryder is 48 and Natalie Portman is 38. In my eyes all of them look significantly younger than most women their age. Even once you’ve adjusted for the fact they’re celebrities and obviously have to make more effort with their appearance that the average non-famous woman.

And from my own personal perspective, I’m from this background and have consistently been mistaken for 10 years younger than my real age throughout my life. Not meant in a boastful way at all - eg I spent my 20s getting ID’d at pubs & clubs and then my 30s not being taken seriously at work as everyone assumed I was only just out of uni. Plus I definitely don’t have the good looks of Natalie, Winona etc!

What about the aboriginee people whos dna is different to every other human on earth? They also have very young skin for a long time and im sure they are genetically more prone to different ailments than someone from a different place.
@RyanBergarasTeeth

I'd be interested to see a link or any evidence that supports that

Veterinari

Queen Victoria's many children (carriers for haemophiliac) interbred with royal families all over Europe, which is why so many died.

Celtic skin is prone to rosacea and ages badly.

Not in my experience. A bit of a generalisation, don’t you think?

[ www.history.com/.amp/news/dna-study-finds-aboriginal-australians-worlds-oldest-civilization]
[
www.google.com/amp/s/amp.abc.net.au/article/7968950]
[
www.google.com/amp/s/www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/2019/02/aboriginal-australians/amp]

Theres lots to say they are genetically related to denovan species of hominid that is different to neanderthal dna found in most of the worlds population.

Roseanne Barr has had shit loads done !!

Yes we've established that now.

I know @Sailfin

But the haemophilia gene is recessive so clinical haemophilia requires the gene to be present in both parents.
Similar things happen in other relatively small communities. That disease prevalence doesn't make those small communities a different race.

women who look young for their age have large lips, avoid sun-exposure and possess genetic factors that protect against the development of gray hair and skin wrinkles.

I think this is a good example of cultural bias. Many cultures around the world view large lips as a sign of ageing / sun damage. And instead of wrinkles it’s age spots / pigmentation issues that are the considered a sign of ageing.

Theres lots to say they are genetically related to denovan species of hominid that is different to neanderthal dna found in most of the worlds population.
Yup but none of that genetic variation is enough to describe a different race, and none of those links suggest that aboriginal people are a different race to all other humans. To suggest so is wilfully misunderstanding the science. In fact there's more variation within aboriginal peoples than between other groups so you can't simply lump them all together as 'aborigines'. We all have varying proportions of different ancestral species DNA but it's a vanishingly small amount. We share about 96%of our DNA sequence with chimps so any variation between human groups is pretty tiny

There's no evidence as far as I'm aware of different human 'races'

Many cultures around the world view large lips as a sign of ageing / sun damage.

That's interesting @GrumpyHoonMain
Which cultures? Don't lips generally thin with age as collagen diminishes?

Not in my experience.

Black women (non celebs) tend to look younger I think.

I dont know about grey hair though...i look young for my age but have greys which i dye since i was 24.

My mother in law (Jewish) is always going on about how young she looks for her age. She looks her age. Not amazing, not shit, just fine. Makes me cringe so much about how she thinks so much of herself to keep saying it. Think about that!

Can I just say @Veterinari how interesting and educational I have found your posts.

The evidence seems to point to beautiful, wealthy women aging better than most - who'd have guessed

Im not disagreeing with you @Veterinari im just curious about the whole race thing, i thought it was just the same as stating what ethnicity someone is.

Is there a not going grey gene. My great granny was jewish and her children and her grandchildren didnt seem to go grey until 90. The kept dark wavy hair. I have a different hair type so am expecting to go grey.

The evidence seems to point to beautiful, wealthy women aging better than most

@TheNavigator that does seem to be true  There are studies showing telomere length (a genetic marker of oxidative stress) decreases with poor socioeconomic status 

im just curious about the whole race thing, i thought it was just the same as stating what ethnicity someone is.

@RyanBergarasTeeth people do often use the two terms interchangeably but both are societal rather than biological constructs. Ethnicity is more commonly used to distinguish cultural/religious/social groups, and race is more commonly used to distinguish physical differences amongst groups.

Whilst of course there are differences in groups of humans, many of those differences are due to a combination of environmental and social factors than 'racial genetics'

@Veterinari thank you for the explanation that does make a lot of sense.

I've got pale Celtic skin and rosacea, so I've spent the last 46 years coated in sunblock from April to September. Not a wrinkle in sight, but I might as well buy shares in a Vit D supplement factory.

Thanks @RyanBergarasTeeth
I'm definitely no expert! But in recent human history the propagation of race ideology has never really resulted in good outcomes so I think it's important to dispel it where possible

So is saying mixed race bad?

@Veterinari race may be a social construct but for the purposes of this post surely we all know what's meant - 'ethnicity' may not be the right word for the OP to have used either.

Celtic skin and rosacea definitely go together in our family, indeed rosacea is sometimes called "the curse of the Celt" ( my Dad was a dermatologist in Scotland) and told me this.

Fair Celtic skin only ages well if you never go outside! I'm quite wrinkly (and have rosacea) but spent a lot of time as a kid outside doing horsey stuff and had a long walk to school in all weathers, I also worked as a gardener. I now wear sunblock but too late. I think we have long telemeres in our family, women seem to live to 95 plus but we end up looking like wrinkly apples left in the fruit bowl too long!
PS. Powder sunblock is the way too go for fellow pale people.

@Flyinggeese
From the responses to my posts then no clearly not

@Flyinggeese and yes the Ashkenazi could correctly be identified as an ethnic group, although the OP did not specifically refer to them as such

Lots of interesting replies here! When I wrote the original post I think I did actually put ‘ethnicity’ first then change it to ‘heritage’, but to be honest I don’t know what the right term is, if there is one.

I also think it goes without saying that women with black or brown skin on the whole age slower than those with white skin. It’s because Jews do have white skin that I thought it interesting that (in my experience) they often look younger than non white Jews of the same age.

Though maybe I’m just deluding myself and I do look every one of my 40-something years!