| Why Is Blond Hair Rare Among Hispanic Children? Over a decade ago when I used to live in El Paso, Texas I went to an elementary school that was like 95% Hispanic and I was the only kid in the entire school that has blond hair. But if you pass by any elementary school that is predominantly WASP, blond haired children are a dime a dozen. Other - Cultures & Groups - 15 Answers Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions : 1 : No 2 : hispanic people have too much pigment 3 : white people are the only people that really get blond hair naturaly and that comes from being up north in Europe and having low melanin and pigments. Hispanics will have blond hair if they are decended or have a lot of european in them. 4 : aztecs normally had black hair spaniards genes are usually recessive 5 : Blond hair is a recessive genetic trait that is not common amongst the native people and spanish peoples that make up most of those of "Lantio" heritage. Interbreeding between Europeans and Latinos is making it more common but usually, if you see a blond Lanina... It is bleached... I.E. Christina Agulara http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_Agulara http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blond_hair Blond (also spelled blonde, see below) or fair-haired is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some sort of yellowish color, going from the very pale blond caused by a patchy, scarce distribution of pigment, to reddish "strawberry" blond colors or golden-brownish blond colors, the latter with more eumelanin. Lighter hair colors occur naturally in Europeans, and less frequently in other ethnicities.[16] In certain European populations, the occurrence of blonde hair is very frequent. The hair color gene MC1R has at least seven variants in Europe and the continent has an unusually wide range of hair and eye shades. Based on recent genetic information carried out at three Japanese universities, the date of the genetic mutation that resulted in blonde hair in Europe has been isolated to about 11,000 years ago during the last ice age. Before then, Europeans mostly had darker hair and eyes, which is predominant in the rest of the world.[16] There is no consensus, but many theories, as to why certain populations in Europe had a high incidence of blond hair. If there had been no specific selective pressure on hair color, scientists estimate it would have taken 850,000 years for the trait to randomly appear, but modern humans, emigrating from Africa, only reached Europe 35,000-40,000 years ago.[16] One theory is that that early men simply found blonde hair more attractive.[17] Canadian anthropologist Peter Frost, under the aegis of University of St Andrews, published a study in March 2006 in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior that says blond hair evolved very quickly at the end of the last ice age by means of sexual selection.[18] According to the study, the appearance of blonde hair and blue eyes in some northern European women made them stand out from their rivals at a time of fierce competition for males made scarce due to long, arduous hunting trips; this hypothesis argues that women with blonde hair posed an alternative that helped them mate and thus increased the number of blonds. Another reason men may have preferred blonde women is that light hair color is a marker of youth; since many Caucasian children have blonde hair that darkens as they mature, blonde girls or women would appear younger and therefore, more fertile. A lighter pigmentation will also reveal any underlining skin diseases much better (eg psoriasis) - thus 'displaying' individuals' evident current and recent health. A theory propounded in The History and Geography of Human Genes (1994), says blonde hair became predominant in Europe in about 3000 BC, in the area now known as Lithuania, among the recently arrived Proto-Indo-European settlers, and the trait spread quickly through sexual selection into Scandinavia. As above, the theory assumes that men found women with blonde hair more attractive.[19] That low levels of eumelanin be somehow associated with an Indo-European speaking population group in particular is questionable because of the time lines proposed for the mutation and as one of the places with the highest occurences of blond genes happens to be Finland, a country notable for a Uralic majority language. In 2002, the disappearing blonde gene hoax cited the World Health Organization (WHO) as the source of a "scientific study" predicting blonds were eventually going to become extinct. This of course, is not true. Although the number of blonds may shrink, it can not become extinct unless specifically bred against. Geographic distribution: Blond hair is at the highest frequency among the indigenous peoples of Northern Europe. Blond and light hair constitute the majority in the populations of Fennoscandia, Poland, Netherlands, Germany[citation needed], and Belarus as well as the Baltic states, parts of Great Britain, eastern Europe and Russia. Ireland, France, Italy, Czech, Slovakia and Slavic countries from Balkan such as Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia also have a significant portion of blonde-haired people. Due to vast movements of peoples from the 16th to the 20th centuries, blonds are also found in the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Generally, blond hair in Europeans is associated with paler eye color (gray, blue, and green) and pale (sometimes freckled) skin tone. Strong sunlight also lightens hair of any pigmentation[citation needed], to varying degrees, and causes many blond people to freckle, especially during childhood.[citation needed] High frequencies of natural blond hair in Northern latitudes can be viewed as an adaptation to the environment. Indeed, lighter skin, hair, and eye is due to a low concentration in pigmentation, thus letting more sunlight in which triggers the production of Vitamin D and other light-dependent reactions.[citation needed] In Central, Western Asia (Western Middle East) and South Asia there is a very low frequency of natural blonds found among some ethnic populations, probably of European ancestry due to migrations or interbreeding. In Afghanistan blonds are also found in the Pashtuns and Nuristani people (up to one third of the Nuristani).[21] Blonds are also found in Turkey (especially in northern (Caucasus) and western (European) parts of the country), northern and western parts Iran (amongst the Lurs, Kurds, Gilakis, Persians, and Azeris).[citation needed] The Levant (Israel (especially among the Ashkenazim, who are of European origin), western Syria, Palestine and Lebanon) have a low frequency of blonds as well. Blond hair is also common among some Berbers of North Africa, especially in the Rif[22]. Aboriginal Australians, especially in the west-central parts of the continent, have a fairly high instance of natural blond-to-brown hair,[23][24] with as many as 90-100% of children having blond hair in some areas.[25] The trait among Indigenous Australians is primarily associated with children and women and the hair turns more often to a darker brown color, rather than black, as they age.[25] Blondness is also found in some other parts of the South Pacific such as the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Again there are higher incidences in children but here many adults too carry this indigenous blond mutation. Some Berber Guanches populations, particularly the now extinct aboriginal population of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands of the African Atlantic coast, were said by 14th century Spanish explorers to exhibit blond hair and blue eyes.[26][27] Blondness was also reported among South American Indians. 6 : only 10% of the world is true blonds. its just genetics :] 7 : because they have more pigments on hair & skin, because in south america the sun is harder than where you come from. 8 : because it just is. plus its only really passed on if the mom has the blond hair. that explains why I have blonde hair. now if my mom looked indigenous and my dad looked white I probably wouldnt have had the blonde hair 9 : Blonde hair is rare in populations period no matter the race because the darker genes dominate. Seeing as how hispanics have darker genes than non hispanics it is easy to see why blonde might be a bit more common in non hispanic white races. 10 : This is maybe because Hispanic come from Aztecs and the prehispanic cultures that were in Mexico a long time ago. The people that live in El Paso, Texas arrived from Mexico when Texas separated itself from Mexico. That's why. 11 : Given our mixed heritage, we do have blond hair children. I know plenty of Hispanic/Latino people who look American. 12 : Really? It's all genetics. Have you seen a truly blonde Korean? A redheaded Thai? Most Hispanic people are from Spanish (Mediterranean which is dark hair) and Indian stock. Not many Hispanic people have Viking or Anglo ancestors - Sweden, Norway, Germany - like WASPs. Not every Mexican can be shoved into this mold, however, as there are other roots from Europe represented there. I did see a couple of little girls with blonde hair in an impoverished area of Chihuahua this winter. 13 : The only time I see a Hispanic looking woman with blond haired children is when she is the nanny of a rich WASP family. For those of you who gave me a thumbs down, you honestly believe that most Hispanics can produce children who look like this http://pro.corbis.com/images/42-16032388.jpg?size=67&uid={607A6708-FB58-41D2-BE01-AD5A9C71609F} Because if you do than you need to put down the tequila. 14 : Hispanic is not a race,hispanic is an ethnicity.Hispanic means you have spanish ancestry,and man hispanics have european influences ad ancestry.But it may be rare,because we have become a mixture 15 : Probably because the majority of Hispanic children in the USA are Mestizo (mixed White and Native.) If you went to a Latin American country which was predominatly of European descent (i.e. Argentina) then you'd probably find more children with blonde hair. But, to be honest, Blonde hair is rare even amongst White children. The only countries in Europe which have a high percentage of natural blondes are the Scandinavean countries and some Eastern European ones. |
Monday, April 18, 2011
Why Is Blond Hair Rare Among Hispanic Children?
