How Europeans Evolved White Skin (clothing, culture, experiences, 2014)

[saxonwold]

Originally Posted by Safinator

Paul bettany coloring must be like 1% of the british population.

The thing seems to me that you are not acquainted with British and Irish people or you have an agenda. There are many British people who are as blond/blonde or blonder than Paul Bettany and they definitely more than your 1% joke!

Examples:
Iwan Thomas (athlete) of Welsh ancestry.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-enpIggml2x...wan+thomas.jpg
Paul Hughes (Soccer player) English descent.
http://gms.cachefly.net/images/69840...bd193a/960.jpg
Olly Morgan (Rugby player) English descent.
http://img.skysports.com/07/10/218x2...gan_580206.jpg
This rugby player is of English descent.
http://img.skysports.com/07/10/218x2...ott_581052.jpg

Lindsey Sharpe (athlete) of Scottish descent.
http://files.stv.tv/imagebase/129/62...nsey-sharp.jpg
He's of Irish descent.
http://cdn2.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/m...h342/pic981484
Gorgeous British woman of Irish ancestry
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...53WoeNkGPXJ-rQ
In the picture below of an English school, we see that the white or indigenous English have predominantly various brown and blonde shades. These are in turn comparable to people of Northern European ancestry and they are by no means any specifically darker. While those of immigrant descent have the darkest and blackest hair.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8027/7...329f9387_k.jpg
I do believe that you do seem to exaggerate. The British as a whole are light-haired, but not quite as blonde-haired as the countries, I mentioned which are the blondest in Europe. Dark hair is common but is not predominant. I also plenty of German, Dutch people who are dark-haired

[saxonwold]

Originally Posted by Safinator

Am I exaggerating? The big majority of Northern and Central europe is more likely to be blond than brits.

Britain has a lot of pale skin (but actually not paler than Other central/northern europeans) and good amount of light eyes (Although certainly not as light as many other areas in Northern Europe.) but when It comes to hair color they are usually on the darker side of the spectrum for northern/central europeans.

Yes, indeed the British especially those of Celtic ancestry have higher frequencies of pale skin tones (skin phototypes I and II) than other Northern Europeans (This includes the Scandinavians who are the closest in paleness to them). Continental Europeans (including the Scandinavians) as you call them, are more likely to tan than the British. Within Britain, it is the regions which have higher frequencies of red hair genes which are the palest. This is as expected, people who have reddish hair or those who are carriers of the red hair gene regardless of hair color and those who have a freckled complexion have the palest skin tones. The only group to have a higher frequency of pale skin tones (I and II) than the British, are the Irish their western neighbors. The results of a paler skin in the North Atlantic region had to do with adaptation to a cool, cloudy climate. As a whole, western parts of Europe are lighter-skinned than eastern parts of Europe. I would rather stick to facts and insist, than to stick to my personal opinion which may be bias.
Description of skin types according to the Journal of Investigative Dermatology:
Phototype I - Ivory White skin tone (when unexposed to sunlight), this skin burns easily, never tans.
Phototype II - White skin tone (when unexposed), this skin burns but tans slightly with difficulty.
Phototype III - White skin tone (when unexposed), this skin burns moderately and tans moderately and unifomly.
Phototype IV - beige -olive skin tone, lightly-tanned(when unexposed), this skin burns minimally, tans moderately and easily.
Phototype V - moderate brown skin tone or tanned(when unexposed), this skin burns rarely, tans profusely.
Phototype VI - Dark brown or Black skin tone (when unexposed), this skin never burns and tans profusely.

Ratios of skin phototypes within some Indigenous European populations. Within White/European populations, skin phototype I to IV are usually found, but V is sometimes found in Mediterranean ones.

Phototypes I, II, III, IV.

Belgium - 13.2%, 20.7%, 37.7%, 28.4%
Denmark- 7.5%,24%,52%,16.2%
France - 11.6%, 25.7%, 30.9%, 31.8%
Finland - 8%, 25%, 57%, 10%
Germany - (I+II)32%, 40%, 28%
Iceland - 4%, 14.5%,65.5%, 16%
Ireland - 26%, 50%, 19.6%, 4.4%
Italy - (I+II) 10.3%, 45.8%, 44%
The Netherlands - 6.5%, 19.5%, 52%, 21.8%
Spain - 1%, 9%, 45%, 40%, 5%
Sweden - 2.1%, 26.5%, 62.7%, 8.5%
Swiss German-speakers: 1.9%, 17%, 56.2%, 23.9%
United Kingdom - 14.9%, 39.7%, 37.2%, 8%

[saxonwold]

Originally Posted by rokoko

I said I was being refered to as blonde in the UK but not in Lithuania. yeah that man is blonde. I am darker than him, although, less creepy looking.

Your hair color is most likely light brown, the guy I posted is what I would call a blonde-headed man.

[saxonwold]

Originally Posted by Safinator

Am I exaggerating? The big majority of Northern and Central europe is more likely to be blond than brits.

Britain has a lot of pale skin (but actually not paler than Other central/northern europeans) and good amount of light eyes (Although certainly not as light as many other areas in Northern Europe.) but when It comes to hair color they are usually on the darker side of the spectrum for northern/central europeans.

The majority of Northern and Central Europeans are not blonder-haired than the British, but the majority of Scandinavians and Estonians. In terms, the British are much more similar to Northern Europeans and have a much higher average than that of Central Europeans. The correct analysis shows that in Britain, 48% have blue eyes, 30% have green eyes, 22% have brown or dark eyes. Firstly we see that blue eyes is the commonest eye color and gives a total of 78% for light eyes, this is lighter than any Central European including Germany and Poland and even slightly higher than the Netherlands. Southeastern Scotland has the highest frequency for blue eyes(57%!) in the British Isles and 86% have light eyes in Southeastern Scotland. Scotland as a whole is roughly as blue-eyed as Denmark. According to a medical study done on malignant melanoma in the Swedish and Norwegian populations, in a period of almost ten years (1991-1999), where both ministries of Sweden and Norway were involved, the eye color distribution among these Scandinavians were as follows; blue eyes in Norway (50%), in Sweden (50%), green/gray/mix eyes in Norway (39%) and Sweden (36%). This gives a total of light eyes for Norway (89%) and Sweden (86%). So British aren't that much different from Scandinavians in terms of light eyes

[saxonwold]

In both France and Switzerland, brown eyes are still the most common eye color. About 55% in France and 45% in Switzerland for dark eyes.

[mordovar]

Originally Posted by Bernie20

They would be smiling at you just to be friendly. I doubt they were aware you were checking out the colour of their eyes.

The Irish are not very concerned with that sort of thing in my experience.

Could you imagine a tourist entering a bus and checking the colour of the eyes of passengers? More than smiling, they would be afraid.

[saxonwold]

We all should know that within Northern Europe, are two extremes forms of depigmentation when it comes to hair color. Blonde hair reaches a maximum eastwards in Scandinavia and Estonia, it is usually linked with a fair skin and blue or gray eyes. Red hair on the other hand reaches a maximum westwards in Great Britain and Ireland, it is usually with a very fair skin or freckled complexion and blue or green eyes. It is also genetically a more recessive gene than blonde, thus will usually mask itself in fair or dark hair, but manifest itself individuals who have a very pale skin tone which is very sun-sensitive. For this reason in Celtic populations, there are many dark-haired individuals who have a high frequency of very fair skin tones with or without freckles which doesn't tan or tans with difficulty while many blonde-haired North Germanic/Finnic individuals of Scandinavia or Baltic countries tan moderately or well. So evolution of white skin among Europeans is mainly linked to climate. We also see that Northern Europe has a gloomier climate than Southern Europe, so lighter skin was more advantageous in the north and hence gave rise to white skin.

[mordovar]

Originally Posted by ABQConvict

This is called 'projection'. You are projecting your own line of thought on other people and assuming they are cogitating the same mental concepts you are consumed with at the time. The brown eyed boy probably just thought you were giving him 'the eye'.

The Irish aren't sitting around reading your mind or wondering what some random person thinks about their eye color.

I find the "projection" too psychodelic to be real.

[waviking24]

The Atlantic Celtic population was actually probably dark haired and dark-mixed eyed with skin that could tan.

[saxonwold]

Icelandic scientists, and an international team of researchers from the National Human Genome Research Institute, the study itself was led by Steimgrimsson from Iceland since 2007. They discovered a variations in a gene which influences hair and eye color and causes freckles. This gene is called the IRF4, causes in individuals who carry the variation to have brown hair, blue eyes, freckles, and a skin that is very sensitive to sunlight. The phenotype has been called the "Irish phenotype" as it is most common Ireland, but is also found in Iceland and the rest of Europe at lower frequencies. This just shows that as our human ancestors moved away from the equatorial regions of Africa, they were more likely to loose pigmentation in their skin, hair and eyes.

The Irish are known for their very fair skin:
http://f3.thejournal.ie/media/2011/0...es-310x415.jpg

http://www.dowlingphotography.com/wp...eland_0178.jpg