Quote:
Originally Posted by ree-Xi
I wonder if it has to do with the fact that over the past 50 years or so, parents are more likely than they were in the past to marry outside their ethnicity. Think of historical physical traits of different ethnicities - for example, if someone's parents are both 100% Italian, their children may bear strong Italian features (Roman nose, olive skin, etc.). Many native Americans tend to have distinct facial features and hair (prominent cheek bones, very dark hair).
Perhaps having more than one ethnicity in your heritage changes the way people look. If you are old enough, think back to when you could possibly identify someone's heritage by looking at them. The stereotypes still exist, but not as much. We must be very careful not to judge people on their assumed heritage. It's getting better, but it still exists.
Additionally, years ago, it wasn't necessarily proper to marry outside your ethnicity. Even in the 70s and early 80s, I remember ethnic issues going on at our church, which for many years was primarily Irish. Then the Italians moved into the area, and it caused quite a stir. Then Portuguese immigrants moved into the area, and the Church started having one mass a weekend in Portuguese.
Anyway, it's just my opinion based on my personal experiences.
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I hear ya - my grandmother got a lot of flack from her parents for marrying someone whose family was Swiss (and from the German region of Switzerland at that). My parents got a lot of flack from their parents (both) because my mom's dad was Irish Protestant (read: English family that lived in Ireland) and my dad's mom was Irish Catholic. After meeting and getting to know each other, though, they melded pretty well into one big happy American family.
My brother "looks" very German, however. And I "look" very Irish.
In fact, we don't really look that much like each other at all - you would think my SIL and I are actually sisters and he married in - if you didn't see how much he looks like my dad (who looks like his dad, who looked like his dad, etc).
/hijack (on my part, at least)
I was looking at some of my cousin's pictures from the mid to late 90s when she was an active with Chi Omega. I can not believe how much things changed in the six years between when she joined and when I joined - but some of the pictures are pretty funny as far as wardrobe. The hair was curly with the curled under bangs and tons of plaid school-girl type skirts. I'm so glad I went through after 2000, where it seems like the fashion is a little simpler (of course we went from spending an hour curling our hair to spending an hour straightening our hair every day).
I can't wait until I can look at my pictures and think "WTF was I thinking with THAT outfit?!?!"
Hybrid Mode
