Is It Better to be Mixed Race?

[undyingking]

Did anyone see this on Channel 4 last night? I'll try and pick it up on a catch-up service when I have a moment, but this article on the subject by the presenter is interesting reading. Although, being the Telegraph, many of the comments are frankly scary

Comments

No, I didn't see it

[fractalgeek]

The Metro this morning summed it up as "Annoyingly smug presenter; whatever you gain in hybrid vigour, you lose in the stress and disadvantages of prejudice"

Re: No, I didn't see it

[undyingking]

Mm, right. Levels of prejudice vary a lot depending on where you live, of course.

[secondhand_rick]

This seems like common sense to the complete layman that is me (apart from you being attractive, of course).

[undyingking]

... which is extremely uncommon sense.

[karohemd]

When I saw that in the TV guide I thought, urk, this can only go wrong so I didn't watch it.

What is your heritage, if I may ask?

[undyingking]

My mother is British (half English, half Scots) and my father is from north India.

Mm, any discussion of "race", even in a scientific context, is often likely to go wrong. Yet clearly people find it an intuitively useful concept, however shaky the rationale.

[watervole]

It's going to depend on the specific health question.

Genetic diversity is often good for overall disease resistance.

However, many genes became widespread in populations in order to deal with specific local risks like malaria or TB. In those cases, inbreeding may be better if the population is still subject to the original health problem. (An adaptation may be useless or even dangerous in the absence of the original threat)

[undyingking]

Mm, also applies I guess to eg. adaptations to a prevalent local diet.

[floralaetifica]

"I'm living proof (or possibly disproof) of the bit about mixed-race people being more attractive"

IIRC, Kat used to say that in Hawaii they say that hapa (mixed race) people are more beautiful.

[undyingking]

Mm, it's the perception in India too, as long as the race being mixed with is lighter-skinned. Mixing with a darker-skinned race would not generally be seen as enhancing attractiveness.

(This is, I think, partly for historico-cultural reasons going back to when the Indo-European people who now predominate in India conquered / subjected the darker-skinned people who lived there previously. The caste system partly existed to make sure these groups were not mixed. So while I wouldn't say there's exactly a stigma about being dark-skinned, it's certainly seen as a looks disadvantage.)