The Jewfro (or Jew-Fro, Jewish Afro, Isro) is an alternate term for the Afro, when worn by a Jew. The Urban Dictionary defines Jew-fro as "a large, round and often boulbus hairstyle found most often within the Jewish community."
Heeb Magazine, an irreverant Jewish review, published a photo-spread on the Jewfro in its first issue and cited Albert Einstein and Bob Dylan as precursors of the style. Other examples of people who have had Jewfros are Gabe Kaplan, Dustin Diamond, and Art Garfunkel.
Roots
The term has its roots in the 1960s and 1970s when many prominent figures were described as sporting the hairstyle. The Los Angeles Times called college football star Scott Marcus a flower child with “golden brown hair... in ringlets around his head in what he calls a Jewish afro style”.[1]
The NY Times in a 1971 article on Harvard’s “hairy” basketball team, wrote that Captain Brian Newmark, “hasn’t had a haircut since last May and his friends have suggested his hairdo is a first cousin to the Afro...in the case of the Jewish Junior from Brooklyn, though, the bushy dark hair that is piled high on his head has been called an Isro." [2] Novelist Judith Rossner was described in a Chicago Tribune profile as the “grown-up Wunderkind with an open, oval face framed by a Jewish Afro."[3]
References
- ^ Encyclopedia of Pop Culture cited in Diane Carol Bailey, Angelo P. Thrower, Basic Care for Naturally Textured Hair: Cultivating Curly, Coily, and Kinky Hair, Delmar Thomson Learning: 2001, pg. 4.
- ^ Dan Hafner, "Louisville's 'Flower Child'; Barefooted Punter Arrives in Shoes and Mod Outfit", Los Angeles Times, Dec 17, 1970. Sec III, pg. G1.
- ^ Murray Chass, "Harvard's Hairy Five Makes Some Foes Bristle", New York Times, Feb 28, 1971, pg. S4.
- ^ Stephen E Rubin, "Tempo; Judith Rossner's novel success is hard to put down", Chicago Tribune, Sep 17, 1977, pg. 11.
 | This fashion-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |