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!

Typo above - should read “often look younger than white non Jews of the same age”

To the person that said Celtic skin ages badly, I would say that it does, but mainly in combination with lifestyle factors such as sun exposure and drinking too much.

(My grandma always said that the women in her family had excellent skin unless and until they drank too much.)

I will say that my Ashkenazi family have all lived into their nineties and always looked 10 years younger than their actual age. I'm half Jewish, half Asian (weird mix, I know) and I have always looked young, I'm told.

I discovered a while ago that everyone at my work thought of me as some kind of professional whizz kid and were making comments about how driven I must be to have achieved so much, so young because they thought I was early 30s, if that. I was actually pretty sad to disillusion them!

I think alcohol is definitely a factor. While I do drink occasionally I seem to have an inbuilt ‘stop button’ which means after one or two alcoholic drinks I just don’t want/need to drink more. A lot of other Jews I know are similar.

Plus alcohol just isn’t that ingrained in the culture - my non Jewish husband always finds it odd that alcohol plays such a small part in Jewish parties & celebrations.

I just wish I also had that ‘stop’ button when it comes to chocolate!

My mother, Ashkenazi jew, is in her mid seventies and utterly beautiful. I would put her mid sixties. When younger she had lovely dark hair, but I've only seen it on photos as she dyed it blonde from around the time I was born.

I am mid thirties and often mistaken as younger than my age, however I have a speech defect (a lisp that I cannot get rid of, and yes, I have tried everything) which makes people view me as younger.

My brother sadly died of Von Hippel-Lindau, and my mother has always said this is a condition which disproportionately affects Jewish People. I haven't researched this properly, so do not know if it's the case. My dad isn't Jewish though, so I guess my siblings and I are Mischlings (a term I found weirldy romantic as a kid.)

I'm 48 and been told I look 35/36 . My mum is 70 and would say she looks mid 50s . My younger sisters are 40 and 42 I place them around mid 20's

Splodgetastic

To the person that said Celtic skin ages badly, I would say that it does, but mainly in combination with lifestyle factors such as sun exposure and drinking too much.

Exactly. Celtic skin is highly prized.

“Mischlings”

Eek, please don’t use that word!

Mischling is an awful word. Nothing romantic about it at all.

Scarlett Johansson hasnt aged much, I dont think shes had work done. Mila Kunis also has a young face. And, Paul Rudd has hardly aged since Friends😀 I know Goldie Hawn has has work done now but she stayed the same age for ages.

Ive now dissappeared now a black hole of famous Jewish actors who’d have thought Harrison Ford is 78!

And, not related to S & B how come so many Jewish people are so talented? So many of them are so creative and thrive in the arts, why is that do you think?

So we've gone from racial profiling to nazi terminology. Nice

EachandEveryone

And, not related to S & B how come so many Jewish people are so talented? So many of them are so creative and thrive in the arts, why is that do you think?

From what I've read it seems to be that in olden times Jews were barred from joining any trade guilds. The only jobs open to them were things like banking (charging interest, or usury, was considered a sin in Christianity), or owning their own business (because few people would ever employ them). This meant that Jews tended to be well educated and able to read and write, even in times when that was rare for the general population.

In the early days of cinema, film making was seen as something tacky and vulgar that proper people wouldn't want to sully themselves with so, again, this industry was left for Jewish people. Due to this the film industry of the early 20th century was completely dominated by Jewish production companies. These companies employed relatives and other Jewish people they knew, so this influence and well beaten career path has continued on to the present day.

Undoubtedly there are lots more influences too but it's really interesting to see how the Jewish people have made such huge successes out of the limited careers available to them throughout history.

What a ridiculous thread. You do realise there are plenty of, say( for generalisations sake) white women who look really young for their age? And some look their age, and some look older? Same as Jewish women or women of any religion/heritage.

My irish catholic grandmother looks 20 years younger than she is - as does my dm and I’m often told I look young too. I wouldn’t put it down to being an Irish catholic though or having Celtic blood.

Every single famous woman mentioned here has had plastic surgery or at the very least Botox. It is very naive to think that any woman in Hollywood hasn’t had anything “done”. You only notice bad plastic surgery.

It's all to do with genes I reckon. I am Jewish and almost 50. Look about 10 years younger. My mum is mid 80s and looks about 70. It's luck. Some of my Jewish friends look younger, their age and older.