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A common theme I keep finding it is important to keep in mind is that looks/physical appearance does not always make a good way to judge cultures and peoples' similarity.
There are examples where cultural differences don't match people's appearances.
For example, Eskimo and North East Asians might look similar compared to most people in the world, but they are not alike at all in culture. Igloos and sled dogs are so far different from imperial palaces, tea ceremonies and dragon dances.
Another example could be black American culture compared to African immigrants' culture in the United States, or Haitian immigrants to France or Canada having a totally different culture to Chicago's old stock African-Americans.
The other contrast in when people look very different in looks/appearance but share the same culture.
For example, Brazilians will all share the same Carnival and dance to the samba, no matter if blond or black-haired, of Italian, African or Japanese ancestry. They will all partake in the same food, music, dance and speak the same Portuguese language no matter their looks. For Brazilians, it seems, even more than say white or black Americans, culture doesn't get too hung up or tied up to looks.
What examples of each can you think of, where loads of different looking people share such a common culture, or loads of similarly looking people have such different culture?
One could say the same about the US, Australia, Canada.etc which have people from all over the world sharing a similar culture (depending on how integrated they are). The US is the best example of this I would say.
In Central Asia many Turkic people look more East Asian but their culture seems more aligned with the Middle East.
Black people have very diverse cultures despite many people thinking there's a generic black culture. One example is the culture of Congolese people and Barbadians, people look similar but the cultures are very different.
Barbadians have a hybrid European (mainly British) and West African culture.
Its very evident in London actually when black Africans and Black Caribbeans live side by aide you can tell the difference in cultures; Black Caribbeans integrate in UK culture much much more easily and seem less uncomfortable with the general culture than Black Africans. This could be due to the fact that Caribbean culture has that European hint for example, speaking English, using common food ingredients and coming from an essentially very similar government structure.
White Europeans look similar, enough yet a white Ukrainian are very different to a white South African...
Black people have very diverse cultures despite many people thinking there's a generic black culture. One example is the culture of Congolese people and Barbadians, people look similar but the cultures are very different.
Barbadians have a hybrid European (mainly British) and West African culture.
Its very evident in London actually when black Africans and Black Caribbeans live side by aide you can tell the difference in cultures; Black Caribbeans integrate in UK culture much much more easily and seem less uncomfortable with the general culture than Black Africans. This could be due to the fact that Caribbean culture has that European hint for example, speaking English, using common food ingredients and coming from an essentially very similar government structure.
White Europeans look similar, enough yet a white Ukrainian are very different to a white South African...
Exactly. Africa is actually genetically the MOST diverse continent. To me it's pretty obvious that a Somali looks totally different to a Congolese, a South African Zulu/Xhosa, a Bushmen (e.g. notice how Nelson Mandela has the epicanthic folds from his part Khoisan ancestry). They certainly are not one generic 'black African' group. And then you have people like the pygmies who are almost like a sub-species of human and the most distinct population of all.
Yes, well the Caribbean is a colonial culture, so they would share a lot of cultural things compared to say Nigerians. While Nigeria was a British colony the level of influence wasn't as strong. Same with Ghana.
The accents are of course totally different...the Nigeria accent sounds tonal, sing-songy, almost Asian (I believe many speak a tonal language...well tonal languages are common in Africa), whereas the West Indian accents are of course very different.
Exactly. Africa is actually genetically the MOST diverse continent. To me it's pretty obvious that a Somali looks totally different to a Congolese, a South African Zulu/Xhosa, a Bushmen (e.g. notice how Nelson Mandela has the epicanthic folds from his part Khoisan ancestry). They certainly are not one generic 'black African' group. And then you have people like the pygmies who are almost like a sub-species of human and the most distinct population of all.
Yes, well the Caribbean is a colonial culture, so they would share a lot of cultural things compared to say Nigerians. While Nigeria was a British colony the level of influence wasn't as strong. Same with Ghana.
The accents are of course totally different...the Nigeria accent sounds tonal, sing-songy, almost Asian (I believe many speak a tonal language...well tonal languages are common in Africa), whereas the West Indian accents are of course very different.
I always think it's funny when people, well meaning or otherwise, try to turn Africa and its descendents into one monolithic culture.
I mean, seriously... compare an Ethiopian to a Somalian, in terms of culture and appearance, despite their relative proximity. Now go to the other side of the country, and compare a Tanzanian to a Congolese. Now, a Zulu to a Hutu. And then, an African-American from Chicago to a Belizian... an African-English to a Hatian... these populations are as diverse, if not moreso, than a Swede to a German to a Spaniard to an Italian.
Exactly. Africa is actually genetically the MOST diverse continent. To me it's pretty obvious that a Somali looks totally different to a Congolese, a South African Zulu/Xhosa, a Bushmen (e.g. notice how Nelson Mandela has the epicanthic folds from his part Khoisan ancestry). They certainly are not one generic 'black African' group. And then you have people like the pygmies who are almost like a sub-species of human and the most distinct population of all.
Yes, well the Caribbean is a colonial culture, so they would share a lot of cultural things compared to say Nigerians. While Nigeria was a British colony the level of influence wasn't as strong. Same with Ghana.
The accents are of course totally different...the Nigeria accent sounds tonal, sing-songy, almost Asian (I believe many speak a tonal language...well tonal languages are common in Africa), whereas the West Indian accents are of course very different.
Some West Indian accents are sing songy, too especially the Trinidadian accent and to my ears the St Lucian accent both very similar but different at the same time sharing that sing songy tone.
I compared Barbados to the west African country because most Afro-caribbeans are of West African descent, roughly from Ghana, Sierra Leone down to Congo. West African and Afro Caribbean cultures actually share a lot in common. Many music genres have their roots their (partially) with some of the music in both sides of the Atlantic sounding VERY similar.
You're right that Africa itself is very diverse ethnically and culturally and that's excluding North Africa...
I always think it's funny when people, well meaning or otherwise, try to turn Africa and its descendents into one monolithic culture.
I mean, seriously... compare an Ethiopian to a Somalian, in terms of culture and appearance, despite their relative proximity. Now go to the other side of the country, and compare a Tanzanian to a Congolese. Now, a Zulu to a Hutu. And then, an African-American from Chicago to a Belizian... an African-English to a Hatian... these populations are as diverse, if not moreso, than a Swede to a German to a Spaniard to an Italian.
Yep...I think it's also because African cultures are not as well known compared to European or Asian cultures.
Some West Indian accents are sing songy, too especially the Trinidadian accent and to my ears the St Lucian accent both very similar but different at the same time sharing that sing songy tone.
I compared Barbados to the west African country because most Afro-caribbeans are of West African descent, roughly from Ghana, Sierra Leone down to Congo. West African and Afro Caribbean cultures actually share a lot in common. Many music genres have their roots their (partially) with some of the music in both sides of the Atlantic sounding VERY similar.
You're right that Africa itself is very diverse ethnically and culturally and that's excluding North Africa...
That is true, but of course Caribbean culture is a real hodgepodge of different influences now: African, British, Spanish, French, East Indian (e.g. the cuisine a bit), even things like Chinese, for instance the cuisine of Jamaica has some Chinese influence.
Armenians and Georgians share a similar culture to the lower Middle Eastern people like Iraqis, Jordanians and Lebanese (in music mostly) but they're different looking to them (on average).
Armenian man (on average they're more 'light' featured, similar to Russians, quite to the contrary that they are dark like the Kardashians):
One could say the same about the US, Australia, Canada.etc which have people from all over the world sharing a similar culture (depending on how integrated they are). The US is the best example of this I would say.
In Central Asia many Turkic people look more East Asian but their culture seems more aligned with the Middle East.
People say that but really America is a white country with over 200 million white people.
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