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Shiksa (Template:Lang-yi) is an term for a gentile woman or girl. The word, which is of Yiddish origin, has moved into English usage and some Hebrew usage (as well as Polish and German), mostly in North American Jewish culture.

Among Orthodox Jews, the term may be used to describe a Jewish girl or woman who fails to follow Orthodox religious precepts.

The equivalent term for a non-Jewish male, used less frequently, is shegetz. Because of Jewish matrilineal descent, there is often less of a taboo associated with non-Jewish men.

North American and diaspora context

In North American and other diaspora Jewish communities, the use of "shiksa" reflects more social complexities than merely being a mild insult to non-Jewish women. A woman can only be a shiksa if she is perceived as such by Jewish people, usually Jewish men, making the term difficult to define; the Los Angeles Review of Books suggested there are two concepts of the shiksa, Despite appearing in Yiddish literature for many decades, the term shiksa did not enter mainstream vernacular until the works of Philip Roth popularized it.

Israel and Orthodox context

In Israel, where most women are Jewish, the word is sometimes used among the religious as a pejorative to refer to Jewish women who are not Orthodox or who demonstrate unseemly irreligious behavior. In other Orthodox communities, it can be used in the same way.

Actresses Candice Bergen and Dianna Agron have both been described as "the archetypal shiksa" based on their roles; Agron is Jewish and Bergen is not, though she speaks Yiddish.

In 1997 Seinfeld episode "The Serenity Now", the term "shiksappeal" is used to describe the character Elaine and why every Jewish man she meets seems to be drawn to her.

See also

• Gentile
• Goy

Notes

1. Non-Jewish

References

1. ^ "shiksa". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
2. Kaiser, Menachem (March 6, 2013). "Anti-non-Semitism: An Investigation of the Shiksa". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
3. Jaher, Frederic Cople (1983). "The Quest for the Ultimate Shiksa". American Quarterly. 35 (5): 518–542.
4. Cuddihy, John Murray (1976). The Ordeal of Civility: Freud, Marx, Lévi-Strauss and the Jewish Struggle with Modernity. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. ISBN 9780807036099.
5. "The Jewish fear of intermarriage". BBC News. 7 February 2014.
6. ^ Cite error: The named reference salon was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
7. "Why We Don't Need Jewish Actors to Play Jewish Roles". Tablet Magazine. 2019-01-11. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
8. "A Baby at the Shiva". The Revealer. 2021-09-09. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
9. A Conversation with Mayim Bialik on Her New Film, As They Made Us. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
10. Gross, Max (July 1, 2014). "Seinfeld's 25 greatest contributions to the English language". New York Post.

External links

• The dictionary definition of shiksa at Wiktionary

• Pejorative terms for in-group non-members
• Jewish culture
• Yiddish words and phrases