"They all look alike": Understanding the "other race effect"

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Elephant Walk

Happens all the time...especially when comparing people to stars and stuff.

I don't look much like Mark Wahlberg or Kenny Chesney, yet I've gotten both of them.

Interesting. I would wager to say that there are plenty of white stars the people could compare you to if you look nothing like Wahlberg or Chesney. LOL.

Were you mistaken for Mark Wahlberg and Kenny Chesney? Have you ever been mistaken for another white person?

[Alumiyum]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Interesting. I would wager to say that there are plenty of white stars the people could compare you to if you look nothing like Wahlberg or Chesney. LOL.

Were you mistaken for Mark Wahlberg and Kenny Chesney? Have you ever been mistaken for another white person?

I have. It was a problem at a camp I worked at one summer, because several superiors constantly confused myself and another girl, and we were counselors in two different cabins. We both had brown hair and eyes, but she is significantly taller than I am and our faces are not alike at all. I just assumed it was because of our hair and eyes and because we were about the same size (except in height). It's also happened to me in a couple of classes. In one, the professor kept mixing up myself and the girl that usually sat two rows behind me. They'd mark her absent when I was and vice versa. Again, brown hair and brown eyes, and about the same size. Her face is much slimmer than mine and her nose is much smaller. It drove her crazy, too. In the other, about the same thing happened, but it didn't take nearly as long for the professor to get us straight (about 3 classes). This one was not very good with names, either, though so maybe they're just really bad at differentiating people in general.

One of my blond and tan friends (very popular look down here) has one of those faces that just looks familiar. We'll go to the mall and people will call her someone else's name...it happens all the time. She does honestly look a little like Carrie Underwood, but for some reason she never gets that, just people thinking she's their friend. She must just have a generic sort of face and I'm very sure the blond and tan combo doesn't help.

ETA: I almost forgot the biggest one...I have a cousin with the same last name as mine and we were in the same grade from junior high to high school...my first name is the same as her middle name. So I understand the names can be confusing, but the lunch lady would charge our things to each others' counts, without fail unless we remembered to tell her who we were twice to make sure she chose the right one. When we registered every fall, voted for class president, all that stuff we had to double check to make sure they had gotten the right person with the right name. The thing is, we look nothing alike. Nothing. Different hair and eye colors, dramatically different body types and heights, no similar facial features, very different voices...nothing in common but the names.

[DrPhil]

AGDee and Alumiyum, are these nonwhites who were confusing you with another white person?

I notice differences between the stories the white GCers have shared as compared to the nonwhite GCers.

[agzg]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

AGDee and Alumiyum, are these nonwhites who were confusing you with another white person?

I notice differences between the stories the white GCers have shared as compared to the nonwhite GCers.

I've had a nonwhite superior *blink blink* before registering what my name/who I am was before, but that's the extent in a professional setting. To be honest, I think it's really disrespectful to not learn the names/faces of your coworkers, especially those you've been working with for months.

I was mistaken for a friend while in grad school and working at tar-jay by a black coworker, but my friend and I spent a lot of time together and had similar hairstyles/color (and truth be told, we looked like we could be related if she didn't tan so freaking well). He didn't give me the "you all look alike" line, just apologized for brain farting and kept it moving.

I think the "they all look alike" is bullshit, anyway. People that use that phrase are seriously trying to find a more crass way to say "I have a strong racial bias that devalues who you are as an individual" and I think that goes for all races.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by agzg

People that use that phrase are seriously trying to find a more crass way to say "I have a strong racial bias that devalues who you are as an individual" and I think that goes for all races.

That's all well and good but it really doesn't go for all races. Meaning, they all equal 4 but the logistics behind that are the interesting part. Even reading and listening to people's stories in this thread and off the Internet over the years highlights the differences that some of us have discussed in this thread.

[agzg]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

That's all well and good but it really doesn't go for all races. Meaning, they all equal 4 but the logistics behind that are the interesting part. Even reading and listening to people's stories in this thread and off the Internet over the years highlights the differences that some of us have discussed in this thread.

You don't think it's diminutive to be told "you all look the same?"

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by agzg

You don't think it's diminutive to be told "you all look the same?"

What I think her point is that although the results for the individual may be the same in that moment only some occurrences of "you all look the same" will have the societal connotations. Whether it's an oddity in your week or one more thing that indicates a pattern of treatment by society.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by agzg

You don't think it's diminutive to be told "you all look the same?"

The likelihood of being told that is minimal even when people say it jokingly.

I am typing in terms of the embedded ideology (beyond what people say because I tend to pay attention to actions and ignore words) and the potential outcome of "they all look alike" (which is different than understanding physical similarities in racial and ethnic groups). The embedded ideology and potential outcome aren't the same across race.

[Alumiyum]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

AGDee and Alumiyum, are these nonwhites who were confusing you with another white person?

I notice differences between the stories the white GCers have shared as compared to the nonwhite GCers.

In two of the three examples, yes. The friend I mentioned gets it from all races, ages, both genders...everyone. But I think it's just something about her face that looks familiar to people.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

AGDee and Alumiyum, are these nonwhites who were confusing you with another white person?

I notice differences between the stories the white GCers have shared as compared to the nonwhite GCers.

Both whites and nonwhites. My theory is this: Everybody seems to use 2-3 characteristics to initially identify people. Hair color definitely seems to be the standout in all of these stories. I know for me, eye color probably comes next and then body type. Not necessarily height because the vast majority of people are "taller than me".. so it wouldn't matter whether someone is 4 inches taller or 8 inches taller, they are "tall" to me. I'm thinking that the two to three characteristics that I use developed because those are the things that were most quickly identifiable, even from a distance, when I was a child and pretty much only had exposure to Caucasians and some Filipinos. So, very early in life, I could distinguish between most people by hair color, eye color and body type. Since two of the three tend to be much more similar in other races, it requires more detailed observation to distinguish among people. If someone grew up in a more homogeneous environment, where more people had the same hair and eye color, they would not learn to use those characteristics. They would learn, from a young age, to use different types of characteristics.

Conversely, the characteristics that non-whites would use to distinguish between people are characteristics that are more similar among whites than different.

I do find that I have a harder time distinguishing between, say, the white dads of marching band students. Why? They now are all gray and balding and wear glasses so I have to find other characteristics to go by. Until I have some real interaction with each of them, I have a hard time figuring out who is who. Once I actually interact with them (anybody, really), I then use deeper characteristics to distinguish them.

When I look at police artist renderings of people they are looking for after a crime, I'm always kind of shocked that a witness could give them enough information to get a realistic looking picture. I don't think I have a good enough memory for facial characteristics to do that. Unless there is an extremely unusual characteristic, I'm not sure I notice things like shape/size of nose, face shape, eye shape, etc. of someone I don't know.