The Study of Racialism Discussion of U.S. Racialism Please read The Rules before posting.    FAQ   Search     Register     Log in  ' Aishwarya Rai Goto page 1, 2, 3  Next          The Study of Racialism Forum Index -> Women's Interests -- Men Welcome Author Message mixedmom Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 776 } Posted: Thu 02 Nov 2006 18:53    Post subject: Aishwarya Rai Does anyone know if this woman is part European? She doesn't look like the Asian Indian women that I've seen. How common is to see people in India who are this light? http://www.celebrity9.com/aishwarya-rai/ Aishwarya was crowned Miss World in 1994. She had previously done some modeling, and became well known in India after appearing in an ad for Pepsi. Since winning the Miss World title, she has become one of the most popular stars of India's huge film industry known as Bollywood. Back to top sagascend Moderator Joined: 17 Jun 2006 {Posts: 2109 } Posted: Thu 02 Nov 2006 19:08    Post subject: I believe that she is also of English ancestry, but many Indians are as fairskinned as she is. Back to top mixedmom Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 776 } Posted: Thu 02 Nov 2006 19:22    Post subject: sagascend wrote: I believe that she is also of English ancestry, but many Indians are as fairskinned as she is. This woman reminds me of Brooke Shields. I didn't realize that the Asian Indian population was this diverse. Back to top Melani23 Superuser Joined: 30 Aug 2005 {Posts: 1081 } Location: USA Posted: Thu 02 Nov 2006 19:45    Post subject: And she is from South India (Dravid) as well. I think these fair E. Indians (no recent admixture) are from Eastern-Euro and/or Armenian descent from way back. Did you know that there are ancient Christian communities in India? So, India has been in contact with the 'known world' from ancient times. I doubt the British left that much of a mark on the DNA of the Indian population. Back to top fwsweet Administrator Joined: 26 Nov 2004 {Posts: 4582 } Location: Palm Coast, FL Posted: Thu 02 Nov 2006 19:51    Post subject: Melani23 wrote: And she is from South India (Dravid) as well. I think these fair E. Indians (no recent admixture) are from Eastern-Euro and/or Armenian descent from way back. Did you know that there are ancient Christian communities in India? She might be Zoroastrian. The Zoroastrians were a culture/religion in ancient Iran since at least 500 B.C., but were driven out when the Muslims conquered the country. The fled to southern India and are still there. Fair skin tone and light eyes are not uncommon among them. Back to top DucorpsToo Experienced User Joined: 19 Jan 2006 {Posts: 185 } Location: Southern California Posted: Thu 02 Nov 2006 19:51    Post subject: If you watch any of the "Bollywood" films, you'll find a great many of the leading females in these flicks to look quite a bit like the individual shown on the first post of this thread. (Light, bright, and damn...well you get the picture ) Back to top mixedmom Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 776 } Posted: Thu 02 Nov 2006 20:16    Post subject: fwsweet wrote: Melani23 wrote: And she is from South India (Dravid) as well. I think these fair E. Indians (no recent admixture) are from Eastern-Euro and/or Armenian descent from way back. Did you know that there are ancient Christian communities in India? She might be Zoroastrian. The Zoroastrians were a culture/religion in ancient Iran since at least 500 B.C., but were driven out when the Muslims conquered the country. The fled to southern India and are still there. Fair skin tone and light eyes are not uncommon among them. To my eyes, Aishwarya Rai looks nothing like the people of India. My perspective would probably be different if I were more familiar with Indian culture. If she is from the Zoroastrian group, it would seem that this ancient Persian group must be practicing endogamy and not mixing with the darker Indian population. Back to top mixedmom Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 776 } Posted: Thu 02 Nov 2006 20:21    Post subject: DucorpsToo wrote: If you watch any of the "Bollywood" films, you'll find a great many of the leading females in these flicks to look quite a bit like the individual shown on the first post of this thread. (Light, bright, and damn...well you get the picture ) I have not seen any of the Bollywood films but I've heard that they're very popular in India and I've also heard that light women are prominently featured over the more typically darker Indian women. This is a similar complaint to Latin American novelas and other television shows in Latin America. Back to top sagascend Moderator Joined: 17 Jun 2006 {Posts: 2109 } Posted: Thu 02 Nov 2006 20:32    Post subject: I googled "Indian women" and found this site: http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/women/fair_sex/index.htm Indians seem pretty diverse from a phenotype perspective if this site is an indication. [added later] And check this out - I was surprising to see that Indian diversity includes someone I would designate as having a West African phenotype: http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/letters/portraits.htm Who are the Siddi? Back to top mixedmom Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 776 } Posted: Thu 02 Nov 2006 20:55    Post subject: sagascend wrote: I googled "Indian women" and found this site: http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/women/fair_sex/index.htm Indians seem pretty diverse from a phenotype perspective if this site is an indication. [added later] And check this out - I was surprising to see that Indian diversity includes someone I would designate as having a West African phenotype: http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/letters/portraits.htm Who are the Siddi? I also noticed this on the link that you sent sagascend. The pictures of the older woman and the young girl are distinctly West African phenotypes. This is a topic for the Molecular and Anthropology forum no doubt but, the people look a lot more West African than most US black-identified people. I wonder what their DNA would tell us about this. Back to top Melani23 Superuser Joined: 30 Aug 2005 {Posts: 1081 } Location: USA Posted: Thu 02 Nov 2006 21:19    Post subject: Their DNA says Asia or India-subcontient. Just like Ausraloids aren't 'African'. Ditto: Negritoes/Pygmies of S.E. Asia. Back to top mixedmom Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 776 } Posted: Thu 02 Nov 2006 21:25    Post subject: Melani23 wrote: Their DNA says Asia or India-subcontient. Just like Ausraloids aren't 'African'. Ditto: Negritoes/Pygmies of S.E. Asia. The information given about them says that they are an Indianized African population. http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/people/afro-indians/index.htm Back to top fwsweet Administrator Joined: 26 Nov 2004 {Posts: 4582 } Location: Palm Coast, FL Posted: Thu 02 Nov 2006 22:38    Post subject: Melani23 wrote: Their DNA says Asia or India-subcontient. Just like Ausraloids aren't 'African'. Ditto: Negritoes/Pygmies of S.E. Asia. mixedmom wrote: [The information given about them says that they are an Indianized African population. I am waiting for Jaime to tell us. He is the expert on this group, having written the Wikipedia section of the Black (People) article that deals with them (the article was later gutted by Afrocentrists). As I recall, it is hard to nail this down. On the one hand, the Negritos (Andaman Islanders and related peoples) look sub-Saharan by convergent adaptation and are no more closely related to today's Bantu-speaking peoples than anyone else is. But (again, Jaime is the expert, not me) I recall that some suggest that the Siddis may well descendants of African slaves in recent times. It is known that at the same time that 11 million Africans were shipped to the New World in the Transatlantic trade, about 8 million were shipped to the Mediterranean basin (mainly North Africa) and about 4 million were taken to island and coastal plantations of the Indian Ocean. The Siddis may descend from that last group, while the Andamaners and related folk go back 70 millennia or more. Back to top Salsassin Suspended Joined: 04 Apr 2005 {Posts: 3508 } Posted: Fri 03 Nov 2006 01:14    Post subject: The Sidi and the Habshis were both soldiers and slaves from East Africa who migrated or were brought over in th 12the century. There are other dark skinned populations, not from Africa in the Negrito, Adivasi and Dravidian populations. India has also had European admixture way before the English. From the greek to the portuguese. Bombay is actually Bom Baia. Good Bay in Portuguese. Some groups to consider: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Indian http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_India http://adaniel.tripod.com/europeans.htm Back to top G-Man Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2649 } Posted: Fri 03 Nov 2006 13:36    Post subject: Relatively fair skin and light-colored eyes are more common in Indian sub continent or south Asia and may have nothing to do with recent European admixture. The famous picture of the blue or green-eyed Afghan girl from National Geographic comes to mind. People forget that parts of the Indian subcontinent are crossroads areas that border other regions in which people have an appearance quite unlike those found in the rest of India. The people in India from those areas probably reflect the various genetic influences from their surroundings, both inside India and adjacent to it. More on the Sidi from Afro Pop World Wide:http://www.afropop.org/multi/feature/ID/251/Sidi+Goma%3AFrom+India+to+Tanzania Question: Aren't there descendants of Alexander the Great's armies in Pakistan or Afghanistan? In one of Carlton Coon's books I have he has pictures of these very European-looking South Asian people who dressed similarly to people in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Back to top MivharMeni Regular User Joined: 04 Jun 2005 {Posts: 70 } Posted: Sat 04 Nov 2006 09:58    Post subject: What planet do people not watch Bollywood movies? I know I'm not the only one here that had the Indian Stars package with my cable......... Back to top triguy Superuser Joined: 27 Apr 2005 {Posts: 878 } Posted: Wed 08 Nov 2006 15:24    Post subject: mixedmom wrote: fwsweet wrote: Melani23 wrote: And she is from South India (Dravid) as well. I think these fair E. Indians (no recent admixture) are from Eastern-Euro and/or Armenian descent from way back. Did you know that there are ancient Christian communities in India? She might be Zoroastrian. The Zoroastrians were a culture/religion in ancient Iran since at least 500 B.C., but were driven out when the Muslims conquered the country. The fled to southern India and are still there. Fair skin tone and light eyes are not uncommon among them. To my eyes, Aishwarya Rai looks nothing like the people of India. My perspective would probably be different if I were more familiar with Indian culture. If she is from the Zoroastrian group, it would seem that this ancient Persian group must be practicing endogamy and not mixing with the darker Indian population. I think that she has very Indian features: her eyes and nose are classically Indian. Also, if you look at the Hindu caste system, colorism has been embedded in it with the Brahmin class, fairer complexion, and the Dalit/Untouchable class, very dark-skinned. If you look at any of the Indian paintings, you'll see women portrayed with fair skin. And, in marriage advertisements, there is explicit ads asking for fair-skinned women. Colorism is supposed to be a direct result of the so-called Aryan invasion that established the Hindu caste system. I have met a few Indians with light colored eyes, most have been Brahmin. However, India also has a number of mixed-race Anglo-Indians or Portuguese-Indians (and African-Indians). Genes flow. Famous Anglo-Indians include Ben Kingsley, Englebert Humperdink, and the actress Rhona Mitra. Back to top G-Man Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2649 } Posted: Fri 10 Nov 2006 13:42    Post subject: Quote: Englebert Humperdink I always wondered about him. Back to top Powell Guru Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2174 } Posted: Sun 12 Nov 2006 17:40    Post subject: Other white Eurasians Anna Leonowens of "The King and I" http://www.thaistudents.com/kingandi/owens.html http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blleonowens.htm http://www.answers.com/topic/anna-leonowens http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Leonowens http://library2.usask.ca/herstory/leonow.html http://www.amazon.com/Anna-Leonowens-Life-Beyond-King/dp/0919001696 Her distant relative, Boris Karloff http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000472/bio Merle Oberon http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0643353/bio http://www.abc.net.au/tv/documentaries/stories/s657300.htm http://classicmoviefavorites.com/oberon/ http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/2440/oberon.html Back to top Powell Guru Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2174 } Posted: Sun 12 Nov 2006 17:59    Post subject: Aishwarya Rai Here's an internal Indian discussion on the whiteness of Ms. Rai: http://www.topix.net/forum/who/aishwarya-rai/T0IM96P634SN1MGNR/p2 Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First         The Study of Racialism Forum Index -> Women's Interests -- Men Welcome All times are GMT Goto page 1, 2, 3  Next Page 1 of 3 Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group