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

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

In YOUR opinion...as "someone of color". See thread title.

My $0.02 as the white person here...I tend to identify caucasians by hair color. I think other whites do as well. Example: When I started dying my hair red, people in my church started mistaking me for another redhead in our church. Even people who had known us for years couldn't tell us apart from behind, and she's got a good 4 inches on me.

Originally Posted by MysticCat

I do too, at least at first. That said, I think I do identify by differences in skin tone as well.

I identify caucasians by hair color and eye color.

Originally Posted by DTD Alum

It's funny, I have a hard time telling just about anybody apart for the first few times I meet them. I am terrible with faces no matter what the race and it usually takes a couple interactions before I can pick you out of a crowd. On the other hand, I can remember people's first and last names much easier than any of my friends. I will say that I am better at remembering and differentiating faces of my own race than I am with other races, but I'm pretty hopeless either way.

If I run into someone in a different setting than where I usually see them, I often don't recognize them at first. I'm really really horrible with names. It's embarrassing. Sometimes I introduce myself to someone who I've already met. It's awful.

Originally Posted by DrPhil

So the nonwhite GCers have shared stories.

Do the GC white folks want to share a "we all look alike" story in which they were confused for another white person? Perhaps a white person who they look like and/or a white person who they look NOTHING alike.

This is white folks' opportunity to be the "what do whites (your people) think about this" representatives. That's a rarity.

My sister-daughter and I were mistaken for each other all the time, even by our sorority sisters. We hung out together a lot and lived together, we had similar body types and hair color but my hair was long, hers was short, she has green eyes, I have brown. I have a big Italian nose, she has the tiniest nose of anybody I've ever seen. I don't think we look that much alike, just body type and hair color but that was obviously enough for people to confuse us.
There are pics of us somewhere here, probably in the retro thread.

I have two co-workers, young, female epidemiolgists who started the same week. They both have long dark hair but one has very dark brown eyes and is really stunning. The other has hazel eyes and is, well, not stunning at all. Some people didn't even realize they were two different people. When they were sitting next to each other at a meeting one day, three different people said to them "There are two of you?"

And, the oddest one.. there is another epidemiologist who seems to change her hair color every other week. Sometimes she wears glasses, sometimes contacts. Sometimes she wears her hair up, sometimes down. Each of those changes makes her look TOTALLY different. I don't recognize her sometimes and she's been in our department for 4 or 5 years now. It is really bizarre how completely different she can make herself look.

ETA: Found the pic with my sister-daughter that people confused me with. Wow, we did have the same hair length at one time. You can't tell in the picture that her eyes are super green either. http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...39#post1756939 We look more alike that I thought.

[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.

[southbymidwest]

Hmmm. A friend and I have been confused for each other for years (we're talking at least 16 years) from a lot of different people of varied ethnic backgrounds, including Latino, Asian, South Asian, Persian, Black, White, in different places. The only thing I can think of is that we often co-chaired volunteer committees together, were class moms together, in some of the same social circles...so we were seen together/at the same place a lot. Now mind you, I am 5'10", brown eyes and hair, pale skin, and with a mishmash of an accent. She is 5'7", blonde, blue eyed, perpetually tan, with a strong southern accent. The kids at school never seemed to confuse us, it has always been the adults.

[rhoyaltempest]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

I think that's a bit of a stretch because if that was the case then only white people would be confusing black/Asian/Hispanic faces. As we have seen, this phenomenon isn't isolated to just one race. All but 6 of my coworkers are Hispanic and I've been mistaken for the "other white guy" on SEVERAL different occasions when I first came on board.

The best one was when my SUPERVISOR called me into his office to see how a certain project was coming along... a project that was being handled by the "other white guy".

I don't need to make a stretch of anything. Thanks.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

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.

Thanks. And the results for the individual are not necessarily the same in that moment.

The difference between "haha...this Black guy jokingly said 'you all look alike' when he confused me with my friend" or "that was an offensive thing to say" versus "I'm reminded that I'm just THE Asian person in this group" or "that was an eery flashback to a particular time in this nation's history."

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Thanks. And the results for the individual are not necessarily the same in that moment.

The difference between "haha...this Black guy jokingly said 'you all look alike' when he confused me with my friend" or "that was an offensive thing to say" versus "I'm reminded that I'm just THE Asian person in this group" or "that was an eery flashback to a particular time in this nation's history."

Indeed.

Now off to bed before I go post angry things about the Australian teen not allowed to bring her girlfriend to a school dance. (I just broke your rule about posting that I was leaving, but neener neener.)

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

Indeed.

Now off to bed before I go post angry things about the Australian teen not allowed to bring her girlfriend to a school dance. (I just broke your rule about posting that I was leaving, but neener neener.)

Don't be such a tease. Please create a thread so we can post angry things.

As for my rule, as you say, YKINMK.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Don't be such a tease. Please create a thread so we can post angry things.

As for my rule, as you say, YKINMK.

Fine, making a thread, then bed. As if saying it makes it more real...