Thread: Tell me about race...

A lot of it has to do with how people physically adapted to their environment. If you've studied animal adaptation, this might sound a little familiar. For example, skin color is largely a function of the intensity of the sunlight in a region where a group of people live, darker skin being more prominent closer to the equator because the increased sunlight causes skin damage. Lighter colors are more common in higher latitudes because of the lack of sunlight necessary to synthesize vitamin D. Other factors, such as the presence of certain predators, plants, diseases, or parasites in the area may favor greater athletic ability, certain blood disorders, differences in sensory perception, etc. Those without those traits in that particular area likely died out or otherwise failed to reproduce.

Some of it is also likely to do with how isolated a group of people are. Limited gene pools are likely in more isolated areas, such as islands and mountainous areas. Limited gene pools often favor recessive traits and genetic diseases, such as the "blue mountain men" of Appalachia. They had been inbred to the point that a genetic anomaly that causes blue blood could show itself.

Edit: Hey, same post count!

Variety is good and beautiful.

Some studies with foxes and dogs are suggesting that selection for tame (in humans think "civilized") behavior can itself lead to a wider variation in morphology in just a few generations. Humans all over the world have been subject to ever-increasing local selection on that basis as we've come to live in denser and denser concentrations. A recent survey of the Human Genome Project database found that the accumulation of selected traits in humans increased radically 40,000 years ago and again 10,000 years ago. I would speculate we have one of the more varied genomes of any single species this planet has ever seen, and it's bound to be expressed in our appearance.

Originally Posted by Jeff777

Variety is good and beautiful.

I agree.

but why are some eyes different, noses, lips? what is the evolution advantage, if any?

Originally Posted by theyearthreethousand

I agree.

but why are some eyes different, noses, lips? what is the evolution advantage, if any?

I'm going to paraphrase what I heard once.

I had heard that the Negroid nose is wider(flatter?) than the Caucasoid/Europoid thin(pointy?) nose because Negroes had to breathe in more air in their climate or something like that. The Caucasians from the Caucaus mountains didn't have to breathe in that much air because of the freezing climates etc. This could also sum up skin pigmentation (colder/warmer temperatures and adaptability) as Odd Nonposter explained above. Not sure if this is the "end all answer" but I figured I'd just pass along what I had once heard.

Thanks for your answer Jeff777 and everyone else. I really want to understand it. I have always wondered, but haven't asked because I don't want to appear racist in anyway - I have a genuine interest. Do you know why asians have double eyelids?

Originally Posted by theyearthreethousand

Thanks for your answer Jeff777 and everyone else. I really want to understand it. I have always wondered, but haven't asked because I don't want to appear racist in anyway - I have a genuine interest. Do you know why asians have double eyelids?

According to the wikipedia article on the epicanthic fold, the leading theory is protection from wind and glare in extreme environments such as mountains, steppes and deserts.

because your mothers and your fathers had those features. your questions are easy.

Originally Posted by jacobo

because your mothers and your fathers had those features. your questions are easy.

but, you see... my question is WHY did they have those features (do not reply that it's because their mother's and father's had those features!).

Wait Asians generally have single eyelids, not double. Double is what the rest of us have. But yeah, that's interesting to think about. That and the differences in eye color among some races... Maybe some of it is just chance?

Technically, it's all chance but I think I know what you mean. In that case, It could be genetic drift or a gene that does something that affects fitness enough to be selected for could randomly do something else, like eye color, as well. A lot of that sort of stuff goes on.

Originally Posted by Mes Tarrant

Wait Asians generally have single eyelids, not double. Double is what the rest of us have. But yeah, that's interesting to think about. That and the differences in eye color among some races... Maybe some of it is just chance?

yeah, my mistake. basically, eyelid with a crease = double eyelid - and - without a crease = single. but some asians can still naturally have double...
it actually makes me feel really awful that some eastern women feel pressured into having cosmetic surgery done to have western eyes.

Yeah apparently, in Korea anyway, it's the most common surgery. Often parents will pay for their kids' surgeries as a birthday gift. Hospitals have students discounts for this, too.

it's very sad. I quite like it! I'm attracted to them.

Double eye-lid surgury is the most common cosmetic procedure in Japan as well, with japanese women being the greater number to have this done. Non-incisional is the technique of choice.

they should stay the natural way they r hot

Originally Posted by theyearthreethousand

but, you see... my question is WHY did they have those features (do not reply that it's because their mother's and father's had those features!).

ecuadorian regions get more sun. darker pigmented skin is less susceptible to UV damage.

more northern and southern regions allowed for lighter pigmentation and a more stocky build.

they all facked each other and now we're here.

An Asian woman has the double eyelid surgery and Tyra Banks basically cuts through her BS as to why she had it done and...well it's interesting. O_O

Originally Posted by Mes Tarrant

Yeah apparently, in Korea anyway, it's the most common surgery. Often parents will pay for their kids' surgeries as a birthday gift. Hospitals have students discounts for this, too.

It's pretty ridiculous, but at least it's less radical and invasive than a lot of things people get done.

I think it is pretty radical Taosaur! It's as if they are ashamed... there seems to be no other reason. I don't understand how one is more beautiful than the other!?
interesting vid Jeff777.

Thanks for the vid Jeff. That was interesting. I didn't really like how pushy Tyra was. It seems like she was trying to project her own internal insecurities onto that girl.

Now that I think about it, I also disagree with the doc when he said that nose and eyelid surgeries are equivalent to boob jobs and lypo. I think the latter two are quite rare when compared to the first two. Nearly everyone in Asia gets their eyelids done, whereas my friends and family and their friends and family would all freak out if someone we knew got a boob job.

Originally Posted by Taosaur

It's pretty ridiculous, but at least it's less radical and invasive than a lot of things people get done.

Yeah I agree with that. Although I come into contact every now and then with people who look quite strange with slightly botched eyelid jobs. I pity the whole situation in those cases.

Anyway it seems to me that most Asians are perfectly aware that the rest of the world likes their look or doesn't even think to prefer one over the other. But, it's definitely true that most Asians prefer this look on one another.

Originally Posted by Mes Tarrant

Thanks for the vid Jeff. That was interesting. I didn't really like how pushy Tyra was. It seems like she was trying to project her own internal insecurities onto that girl.

Now that I think about it, I also disagree with the doc when he said that nose and eyelid surgeries are equivalent to boob jobs and lypo. I think the latter two are quite rare when compared to the first two. Nearly everyone in Asia gets their eyelids done, whereas my friends and family and their friends and family would all freak out if someone we knew got a boob job.[/I]

You're definitely right about that. Tyra has a "gift" for asserting herself and her opinions on people whenever she wants. But really...I don't understand the eyelid surgery. Honestly, I think it comes down to being insecure about yourself and wanting to look like western beauty. My same thoughts are about people who get boob jobs. Though I like bigger breasts, I'm much more attracted to women who have A cups over a woman with fake DD's . It's just something that speaks out about a person who's willing to go under the knife to "adjust" themselves to what society deems physically attractive (or so they think). I just...don't get why people aren't happy with how they naturally look. >_<

Fake boobs look fake, and I think they are unattractive. Small and natural beats the Hell out of big and fake.

That is how it works with silicone, at least. I hear saline can cause the natural look to remain, but I'm not sure. Silicone definitely sucks, even on Carmen Electra.

While I'm at it, I don't like fake lips or eye/face adjustments either. All of this plastic surgery glam stuff has got to go. It is terrible.

I agree. I think it's got to go.

But then again, if I were Asian and lived in a society with this enormous pressure to get these kinds of surgeries, I can't say that I wouldn't buckle under it. Thank goodness that the pressure to get surgery in the west isn't that great unless you're in Hollywood or something.