"self-hating Jews" - but who no "self hating Christians/Muslims/Hindus/etc"

[Anonymous]

We've all heard this phrase, but I don't know why it's a think among (some) Jewish people, but not other religious groups. Obviously all other religious groups have internal difference of opinions, or people who try to silence other voices. The same exact sentiments behind the term can certainly exist in all religions/cultures. All religious groups have internal conflict and disagreement. But they don't use this kind of in-group terminology. Where did the term "self hating Jew" come from, or originate?

[Anonymous]

There are “self-hating Indians”.

[Anonymous]

Because only one of those religions refers to themselves as the chosen people and therefore it is far more noticeable. The same attitude in other religions would just be called reflective or humble.

[Anonymous]

Just because you don’t know a lot of diverse people doesn’t mean self-hating people of other religions don’t exist. Google is your friend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just because you don’t know a lot of diverse people doesn’t mean self-hating people of other religions don’t exist. Google is your friend.

Reading comprehension fail.

[Anonymous]

My thought is there is no self-hating Christian trope because Christians are considered the default in US culture still. I think it's probably an outgrowth of majority "privilege" to just be a self-hating person and not have it attached to other descriptors.

I guess that the concept you are curious about may link to the age of the Jewish diaspora in America, the long-ago nature of the heavy immigration period, and the connection to tropes such as East Coast neurosis, NYC, and therapy culture.

Also consider the interweaving of Christianity and Judaism through shared European heritage, religious conversion, the history of the Holocaust, etc.

I am a white person from a Christian background with some experience living near and working with peers who are immigrants from India and Buddhist Asian countries. In general, I find that white peers know very little about the cultural practices and religious practices of people from these countries. So that's my guess as to why there aren't tropes about self-hating Hindus, etc. There just aren't enough stereotypes circulating for people to have assimilated this kind of point. There are of course other stereotypes circulating but just with different topics.

I feel that stereotyping about high-achieving Asian-American students today is highly reminiscent of what was going on re: Jewish students long ago.

[Anonymous]

Not sure but for Christians, could it be because if you don’t want to be Christian anymore then you just stop being a Christian? So need to “self-hate” because you can just… not be Christian. But for Jews, according to Jewish law, you can’t stop being Jewish, so if you don’t like things about the religion or the community then you can end up being “self-hating” because you are still Jewish, like it or not.

[Anonymous]

I am not Jewish, but the framing here is still pretty transparent to me. You are presenting this as a neutral question about terminology, but it reads more like a clever way to criticize Jewish people, particularly Zionist Jews, for how they debate disagreement within their own community.

If the question is genuinely about the origin of the phrase “self-hating Jew,” then ask that directly. But comparing Jewish internal language to other religious groups in this way makes the point seem less like curiosity and more like commentary dressed up as curiosity.

Your cleverness is evident. The underlying criticism is not hard to see. And as someone outside the Jewish community myself, I would be careful about positioning myself as the person who gets to diagnose how Jews should talk about Jewish identity, Jewish disagreement, or Jewish politics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just because you don’t know a lot of diverse people doesn’t mean self-hating people of other religions don’t exist. Google is your friend.

Reading comprehension fail.

Nope. OP doesn’t realize that the term is used for other religions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not Jewish, but the framing here is still pretty transparent to me. You are presenting this as a neutral question about terminology, but it reads more like a clever way to criticize Jewish people, particularly Zionist Jews, for how they debate disagreement within their own community.

If the question is genuinely about the origin of the phrase “self-hating Jew,” then ask that directly. But comparing Jewish internal language to other religious groups in this way makes the point seem less like curiosity and more like commentary dressed up as curiosity.

Your cleverness is evident. The underlying criticism is not hard to see. And as someone outside the Jewish community myself, I would be careful about positioning myself as the person who gets to diagnose how Jews should talk about Jewish identity, Jewish disagreement, or Jewish politics.

Agree OP is being disingenuous.

[Anonymous]

I agree OP is disingenuous.

The concept of the "self-hating Jew" is based in the history of prejudice and discrimination against Jewish people. And it's not unique to them: I've heard discussions about self-hating gay people, for example. It refers to a member of a minority or discriminated-against group who has internalized the majority negative view of their group, who tries to distance themselves from their culture, and who hates a part of themselves that they can't change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree OP is disingenuous.

The concept of the "self-hating Jew" is based in the history of prejudice and discrimination against Jewish people. And it's not unique to them: I've heard discussions about self-hating gay people, for example. It refers to a member of a minority or discriminated-against group who has internalized the majority negative view of their group, who tries to distance themselves from their culture, and who hates a part of themselves that they can't change.

Yes, you forgot self-loathing women.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree OP is disingenuous.

The concept of the "self-hating Jew" is based in the history of prejudice and discrimination against Jewish people. And it's not unique to them: I've heard discussions about self-hating gay people, for example. It refers to a member of a minority or discriminated-against group who has internalized the majority negative view of their group, who tries to distance themselves from their culture, and who hates a part of themselves that they can't change.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because only one of those religions refers to themselves as the chosen people and therefore it is far more noticeable. The same attitude in other religions would just be called reflective or humble.

This is a misunderstanding of what being chosen means in Judaism, which is: chosen to have to obey 613 commandments from God. It doesn’t mean Jews think we’re the best. It means we are the only ones who are required to do everything the Torah says.

[Anonymous]

It's not uncommon for more conservative Christians to call more progressive ones "self-hating."