User:CyanCaribou/Stereotypes of Jews

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Gender in History
Jewish people in early modern England were said to be physically and sexually distinct from other people. They were perceived as having a repulsive smell, horns, tails, and darker skin complex. Stereotypes were not only because of their different religion but also due to the physical difference of Jewish men, who were circumcised. This brought forth the sexual differentiation of Jewish men, who were believed to also menstruate. Jewish male menstruation dates back as early as the thirteenth century. The one-sex model dominated before the eighteenth century, where men were said to be superior and women were a defective version of the man's body. Women required menstruation to purify their bodies, whereas men would just sweat, according to Hippocrates. Another theory, according to Galen, was the idea of plethora or getting rid of the excess blood, which was again a women's problem, due to their inefficiencies. The idea that Jewish males menstruated, intersects themes of blood, gender, racism and culture.

Sexuality and gender in the holocaust brought forth other anti-sematic stereotypes of Jewish people. There were also changing gender roles of Jewish people post-holocaust. Jewish men were often stereotyped from the Nazis as sexually aggressive beasts and often humiliated publicly to emasculate them.