nextian:

glamor-pants:

the bizarre conundrum of having one jewish parent: if it is your mother than you are considered Properly Jewish by orthodox peeps but if it is your father then your surname is more likely to Sound Authentically Jewish to gentiles

I think about this a lot

yeah.

I mean like, classic problem of matrilineal sacred descent in a strictly, aggressively patrilineal culture (with sidebar of “you’re really Jewish either way step off my dad, damn,” but)

jew stuffi mean plenty of persons with jewish fathers do not have ””’jewish sounding””” surnames butyou get what im sayingkeeping pip’s tags because yes!

This got me thinking about all the history tied up in the surnames going down my family tree from the last “jewish sounding” surname (my mother’s mother’s mother’s mother) to me:

Harassed in Poland for being Jewish

Forced to change to something “normal sounding” at British Immigration

Abandoned by father as baby, lifelong distrust of men

Sent to orphanage for being part Ukranian, disowned for marrying Jew

Born out of wedlock, got father’s name anyway

“Scottish sounding” Indian name

So while I am exactly the white gentile my name “implies” the assumptions still rankle.