Tanning. Is it a valid marker of racial ancestry?

[zathuras]

If a person is nicely tanned, does that make them probably med or some other darker caucasoid sub-race.

And if someone never tans but always burns or only tans very minimally, does that mean they are predominately of non-med ancestry.

And exactly what populations of europe do tan in the summer? Do Alpines and Nordics tan at all? And if so do they ever tan darker than meds?

[Mike the Jedi]

I don't know but I have seen some pretty dark tans on peoples of Northern European ancestry in my time. Some so dark they could pass as Middle Eastern.

[MC anunnaki]

Scandinavians can tan and tan well. Some get almost as brown as mulattos. Finns and people from the British Isles don't seem to be able to tan as much. But a tanned Scandinavian still looks Scando and not Med or Middle Eastern. Likewise, a light-skinned Middle Eastern doesn't look Euro just because he has light skin (which many of them do when they've lived here in this sunless country for a while).

[oslonor]

anunnaki said:

Scandinavians can tan and tan well. Some get almost as brown as mulattos. Finns and people from the British Isles don't seem to be able to tan as much. But a tanned Scandinavian still looks Scando and not Med or Middle Eastern. Likewise, a light-skinned Middle Eastern doesn't look Euro just because he has light skin (which many of them do when they've lived here in this sunless country for a while).

I think tanning is not really the question. I agree that a tanned scandinavian is still a scandinavian. Persians living in south look persians even with tan and untanned Azeris in north are still Azeris even they have no tann.

[asdf]

I think tanning is not really the question. I agree that a tanned scandinavian is still a scandinavian. Persians living in south look persians even with tan and untanned Azeris in north are still Azeris even they have no tann.

This wasn't the question at all--which was do different groups tan differently. Whether an Azeri Turk looks "Persian" or not has nothing to do with anything.

[zathuras]

So really its all about facial features then? Thats what determines race?

Isn't it wierd that scandanavians tan but a lot of scottish people with red hair don't? I too have seen some very dark tanned swedes. But freckled irish scottish people don't tan at all they burn.

[Miguel Antunes]

It would seem that red haired people are the ones that tan the less....or nothing at all! We all know about that famous iraqui red haired general...and he wasn´t tanned at all..even under the bright middle eastern sun...a blondish person would probably get some tan...
And I might had..that whille i am not a red haired, my hair is dark brown but...when I was younger it was kind of reddish...and i have red beard....but it is very hard for me to get tanned...the oposite of my brother...and his hair was blondish when young...

[zathuras]

praetorian said:

It would seem that red haired people are the ones that tan the less....or nothing at all! We all know about that famous iraqui red haired general...and he wasn´t tanned at all..even under the bright middle eastern sun...a blondish person would probably get some tan...
And I might had..that whille i am not a red haired, my hair is dark brown but...when I was younger it was kind of reddish...and i have red beard....but it is very hard for me to get tanned...the oposite of my brother...and his hair was blondish when young...

Not necessarily. There are some red heds with brown eyes and even freckles and they tan somewhat. Its wierd. I've seen some light skinned black girls with naturally red hair. Red hair is a really funny thing. All races have, even some mongoloids.

[Hairless]

zathuras said:

praetorian said:

It would seem that red haired people are the ones that tan the less....or nothing at all! We all know about that famous iraqui red haired general...and he wasn´t tanned at all..even under the bright middle eastern sun...a blondish person would probably get some tan...
And I might had..that whille i am not a red haired, my hair is dark brown but...when I was younger it was kind of reddish...and i have red beard....but it is very hard for me to get tanned...the oposite of my brother...and his hair was blondish when young...

Not necessarily. There are some red heds with brown eyes and even freckles and they tan somewhat. Its wierd. I've seen some light skinned black girls with naturally red hair. Red hair is a really funny thing. All races have, even some mongoloids.

My sister was born with a red Mohawk and the pediatrician accused us of coloring and shaving it ;D She now has dark brown, almost black hair, and light brown skin.

[Dienekes]

The inability to tan is an informative trait. It is much more frequent among people living in the northern parts of Europe than it is in the Mediterranean.

The ability to tan in itself is not very informative, because tanning is a human quasi-universal trait.

[dorlandt]

if i dont have 'hot' sun exposure for a few months, when i *do* finally go into the sun i develop a "sun rash" which can only be described as an allergic reaction to the sun. its not from steam or sweating but just sun exposure... my grandmother had this as well as my father and other siblings.

i am quite pale, and freckle easily and have dark red hair and brown eyes. i tan somewhat... but i have to go through about 1.5 weeks of sun rash before i can be outside to tan so i dont like to

having said that, now that my siblings and i are in the us, we do not experience sun rash when we holiday. perhaps we are out in the hot sun more. nevertheless, we are all naturally very very pleased with this development.

[murphee]

I go from pale white to burned. Hair used to be red-blonde when young, now is light blonde with no red and some grey. My skin hates the sun, and I avoid it completely, wearing hats and protective clothing when I have to be in it, also SPF 15 and above lotion for face and hands. As a result, I have no signs of photoaging of the skin, smooth and unwrinkled.

[Educate Me]

where do you go on vacations?

[Crimson Guard]

Probably Alaska

[aroundtheworld]

I hate the sun. I tan at the drop of a hat-literally. I put on sleevless shirt and go to the car...within seconds there is brown. It sucks.

My ex tans easily. He is pale white but immediately gets this grey-ish tone within 20minutes of sun exposure. That gray turns into a light brown.

After 3 days of working in his yard, he is accusing of being AmerInd. or Mulatto or "Black Greek" . One idiot in Georgia called him Jose' and Julio and asked if he could speak English after we went to a water park for a weekend.