Nose Job: Struggling to Break Free of Old Images

By Helene Zucker
State University of New York at New Paltz

The Nazis' medical experiments, under the direction of Dr. Joseph Mengele, demonstrated that many believed that all Jewish people were prone to similar genetic characteristics. If they did not believe this, such "research" as measuring people's noses and documenting eye and hair color would not have occurred in quite the same way. Their research was inconclusive, and yet, some still believe what was thought to be true in 13th century England--that the Jewish people hide their horns and tails under their clothes.

After all of this, with the Shoah (Holocaust) only about 60 years past, how are so many stereotypes still looming about and what can we do to help show their inaccuracy?

I led a program on the repercussions of stereotyping at the Vassar Jewish Union of Vassar University, in which we read a short article about a man who decided to get plastic surgery to "fix" his nose because it looked too Jewish. He claimed it was hurting his social life because people would stare and make fun and in his business because people did not trust him (as Jewish people are stereotyped as being untrustworthy and cheaters). We discussed the issue from both moral and ethical points of view and from the perspectives of the client and the surgeon.

One student remarked that stereotyping is an attempt to ostracize the "other" in the group, distinguish them from the the norm. During the Shoah, one of the ways this happened was to force the Jewish people to wear six-pointed stars on the outermost layer of their clothing.

The fear of the "other" is at the root of stereotyping. "Other," as used here, is a classification of people outside the realm of "normal." The idea of the "other" permeates popular society, and it is this very idea that causes most of the negative repercussions that unfortunately become the daily experience.

In the short article mentioned above, the main character was fearful of being "other" and resorted to a plastic surgeon to alter his appearance. Whether or not the surgery took place, which it did, or whether it was successful, which I do not know, is not important. What is important is that society still chooses to latch on to these stereotypes to evaluate if a person is "normal" enough to fit into the group. This needs to change. With the Shoah fading deeper and deeper into the past, this society must struggle to break free of old images.

Helene Zucker is finishing her bachelor’s degree in elementary education with plans to graduate in May from the State University of New York at New Paltz. As she is originally from New Jersey, she plans to return there to be a teacher after college.

[Posted 7/7/05]