Gypsies: The Misunderstood Race
Created | Updated Nov 7, 2005
For quite a while now I’ve known that the people we term as “Gypsies” have been long misunderstood and misinterpreted, and not until a teacher of mine said that gypsies fell into the “nonworking class” did I decide to try and rid the general masses (At least those of our county) of their ignorance.
On a side note, I hate using the term "gypsy," as it's a degrading insult, so you won't see it much more throughout this entry. Instead you will see one of the following words (Depending on context): Rom, Roma, and/or Romany.
The Romany people, or as you know them, the gypsy people, have long been romanticized as carefree travelers decked out in colorful apparel, going from town to town, telling fortunes, seducing unsuspecting men and women, and swindling those unlucky enough to meet them out of every penny they could. I tell you now; you would be hard-pressed to find a description farther from the truth.
Now don’t get me wrong, the Roma did, indeed, travel from town to town, you'll learn why latter on. They also did tell fortunes, many of them false, to people silly enough to pay for them. The women wore the skirts common to those you think of when you think ‘gypsy,’ though they were not always (Or even in most cases) colorful. The headscarves oft associated with Roma (By them called diklos) were also worn, but only by the females that were married. On their wedding day, by tradition, their mother would unbraid the bride’s hair and tie the knot on the scarf, and from that day on, the lady would never be seen in public without the diklo on.
I asked five teens to define for me, in their own words, “Gypsy.” To give you the just of what they all described, I will quote one Courtney Bennett, “A nomad, I think from Egyptian-sort descent. Normally hobos… prostitutes, murderers, low-class folk.” As has been said, they were nomadic, for the sake of you readers; we won’t go over that again. Moving on.
Egyptian descent is thought to be true by most people, and very well could be, but no one can be sure. The Roma changed location before anyone really had a chance to get to know them, and thus, study them. They also tended to “shy away” from anyone who was a Gorgio (Non-gypsy person), because they believed them to be unclean. Which brings us to our first misconception.
Misconception #1 – The Rom were dirty people not overly concerned with their hygiene.
Truth – When in towns, cities, and generally when around non-gypsies, they tended to “dirty them selves up.” Why is this you may ask? Well my dear reader, that is a wonderful question that I’m sure was flashing through your head. The answer is this; because they knew that by making the mundane people think them [The Roma] unclean, they would, in turn, “shy away” from the Roma. Contact with one of the [so believed] unclean people would, of course, cause you to become just as “dirty” as that person is.
Misconception #2 – Roma (Females mostly) were prostitutes.
Truth – This is quite untrue, as the Roma people would rarely (If ever) pledge their sons or daughters (Marriages were arranged by friends and family) to someone known to have lost their virginity. Only after marriage was someone (Male or female) to have sex, as to keep the blood-lines pure (Free of Gorgio blood). They took few chances with this, such so, that if a male and female left the tribe together, they were considered married (If they returned to the tribe, they would, in most cases, be made to pay a fine, then accepted back as a couple).
Misconception #3 – Roma were murderers.
Truth – Yes you guessed it! It’s not true. Of course there were some who killed another for whatever reason, but many of the people included “mercenary” or some such thing, indicated that they were oft paid to kill this person for that reason and so on and so forth. There may indeed be some cases where a gypsy was offered money to murder someone, and they did so, but such cases are few and far between. Life was quite sacred to them, and not just human. It was punishable by death to kill a horse, and punishable by exile to eat horse meat.
Misconception #4 – The Romani were low-class folk.
Truth – You’re right, they were. Or were they… Ah hah! Here lies the catch! By some people’s standards, they were low-class, in fact… By most people’s standards, those of the people now, and those of the people way back when, they were low-class. But by their standards, they were not. They held themselves over the general populous, so by their standards, we are the ones who were low-class.
Misconception #5 – They were a carefree people that sat around campfires singing songs and playing fiddles and such like revelry.
Truth – The Rom had many cares! Many cares being like those worried about by the people of today. “Where’s dinner coming from tonight? Do we have enough food?” “Who’s getting the firewood?” “Where did my ring go?” “What is the Groiéngero family doing with that new horse, last I heard they were low on coins…” etc… etc… You see? Now don’t get me wrong, they had their campfire-sitting, song-singing, fiddle-playing revelry, but not every night as it is commonly imagined. They celebrated weddings, holidays and the like with singing, dancing, feasts, and such like things, just like everyone else did, and still does.
Misconception #6 - The Roma traveled because they wanted too.
Truth - Some did, most didn't. Some of them, just like in any race, wanted to travel the world. More often they traveled because laws were made against them living in a town, city, or even counrty.
All in all, the Romani didn’t have the wild, crazy and colorful life-style as is oft romanticized, but were, in fact, fairly normal people. Thus concludes your historical lecture/article/rant/rave/learning experience/whatever.
Ending Note: I know this isn't that great an article, and it needs some work, as that is the rough draft, but it gets the general point across.
On a side note, I hate using the term "gypsy," as it's a degrading insult, so you won't see it much more throughout this entry. Instead you will see one of the following words (Depending on context): Rom, Roma, and/or Romany.
The Romany people, or as you know them, the gypsy people, have long been romanticized as carefree travelers decked out in colorful apparel, going from town to town, telling fortunes, seducing unsuspecting men and women, and swindling those unlucky enough to meet them out of every penny they could. I tell you now; you would be hard-pressed to find a description farther from the truth.
Now don’t get me wrong, the Roma did, indeed, travel from town to town, you'll learn why latter on. They also did tell fortunes, many of them false, to people silly enough to pay for them. The women wore the skirts common to those you think of when you think ‘gypsy,’ though they were not always (Or even in most cases) colorful. The headscarves oft associated with Roma (By them called diklos) were also worn, but only by the females that were married. On their wedding day, by tradition, their mother would unbraid the bride’s hair and tie the knot on the scarf, and from that day on, the lady would never be seen in public without the diklo on.
I asked five teens to define for me, in their own words, “Gypsy.” To give you the just of what they all described, I will quote one Courtney Bennett, “A nomad, I think from Egyptian-sort descent. Normally hobos… prostitutes, murderers, low-class folk.” As has been said, they were nomadic, for the sake of you readers; we won’t go over that again. Moving on.
Egyptian descent is thought to be true by most people, and very well could be, but no one can be sure. The Roma changed location before anyone really had a chance to get to know them, and thus, study them. They also tended to “shy away” from anyone who was a Gorgio (Non-gypsy person), because they believed them to be unclean. Which brings us to our first misconception.
Misconception #1 – The Rom were dirty people not overly concerned with their hygiene.
Truth – When in towns, cities, and generally when around non-gypsies, they tended to “dirty them selves up.” Why is this you may ask? Well my dear reader, that is a wonderful question that I’m sure was flashing through your head. The answer is this; because they knew that by making the mundane people think them [The Roma] unclean, they would, in turn, “shy away” from the Roma. Contact with one of the [so believed] unclean people would, of course, cause you to become just as “dirty” as that person is.
Misconception #2 – Roma (Females mostly) were prostitutes.
Truth – This is quite untrue, as the Roma people would rarely (If ever) pledge their sons or daughters (Marriages were arranged by friends and family) to someone known to have lost their virginity. Only after marriage was someone (Male or female) to have sex, as to keep the blood-lines pure (Free of Gorgio blood). They took few chances with this, such so, that if a male and female left the tribe together, they were considered married (If they returned to the tribe, they would, in most cases, be made to pay a fine, then accepted back as a couple).
Misconception #3 – Roma were murderers.
Truth – Yes you guessed it! It’s not true. Of course there were some who killed another for whatever reason, but many of the people included “mercenary” or some such thing, indicated that they were oft paid to kill this person for that reason and so on and so forth. There may indeed be some cases where a gypsy was offered money to murder someone, and they did so, but such cases are few and far between. Life was quite sacred to them, and not just human. It was punishable by death to kill a horse, and punishable by exile to eat horse meat.
Misconception #4 – The Romani were low-class folk.
Truth – You’re right, they were. Or were they… Ah hah! Here lies the catch! By some people’s standards, they were low-class, in fact… By most people’s standards, those of the people now, and those of the people way back when, they were low-class. But by their standards, they were not. They held themselves over the general populous, so by their standards, we are the ones who were low-class.
Misconception #5 – They were a carefree people that sat around campfires singing songs and playing fiddles and such like revelry.
Truth – The Rom had many cares! Many cares being like those worried about by the people of today. “Where’s dinner coming from tonight? Do we have enough food?” “Who’s getting the firewood?” “Where did my ring go?” “What is the Groiéngero family doing with that new horse, last I heard they were low on coins…” etc… etc… You see? Now don’t get me wrong, they had their campfire-sitting, song-singing, fiddle-playing revelry, but not every night as it is commonly imagined. They celebrated weddings, holidays and the like with singing, dancing, feasts, and such like things, just like everyone else did, and still does.
Misconception #6 - The Roma traveled because they wanted too.
Truth - Some did, most didn't. Some of them, just like in any race, wanted to travel the world. More often they traveled because laws were made against them living in a town, city, or even counrty.
All in all, the Romani didn’t have the wild, crazy and colorful life-style as is oft romanticized, but were, in fact, fairly normal people. Thus concludes your historical lecture/article/rant/rave/learning experience/whatever.
Ending Note: I know this isn't that great an article, and it needs some work, as that is the rough draft, but it gets the general point across.
