I hear its often used to mean whore and is often used to express the idea of a goyish woman as a temptress, dangerously seducing Jewish men from G-d and the path of the righteous... In almost the same way the term jewess is used against Jewish women. Obviously jewess is more problematic because Jewish women are dispriviliged along 2 axes, but that doesn't mean shiksa isn't problatic along one
There are certainly men whoâve taken to using it that way, but I personally donât feel that changes the original meaning- Iâve had people throw âJew!â at me as a slur, but that doesnât change that to me, itâs how I identify. For that matter, people use âmoodyâ to slur women but that does not invalidate the actual meaning. If weâre going to curb use of shiksa because men use it this way, essentially weâll need to curb any female-specific word, and yiddish is full of gendered words ( poyer vs poyerte, lerer vs lererke, etc). Because misogynistic men will use ANY female-specific term against women and add other meanings to it.
I mean, we even see it in english. People make jokes about hostessess at restaurants (Iâve heard âHostressâ in quotes used as a joke to talk about women who âdonât have a real job and get by on looksâ, things like that, wheres hosts are respected). Men often subvert any female specific words, but by just banning use of those words, that stops anyone (like other women, in this case Jewish women) from being able to use them. Hell, iâve heard Jewish men mock Jewish women by saying âOh, sheâs just a Baleboshtaâ to criticize non-working housewives, and that word was originally a /positive/ statement of Jewish womanhood. Look at how male-gendered Mensch is always a compliment, while female-gendered maven can be one but is now more commonly used sarcastically.
I also seeing Jewish women frequently use Shiksa to refer to a goy luring away Jewish men, but they arenât coming from a place of misogyny or male privilege. Theyâre coming from a marginalized place, where people they see as safe, in-group, or acceptable husbands are going and seeking people outside the group. While they certainly canât control who Jewish men marry, they are a marginalized group aiming malcontent at a gentile-privileged group, which is a very different context.
Using shiksa in a misogynistic context is wrong, and Iâd agree that /men/ shouldnât use the term because of that, but I think itâs 100% fine for Jewish women to use it.
