Talk:Human skin color/Archives/2011/February

Cultural effects
The Cultural effects section is an absolute mess and a disgrace to Wikipedia. It cites very few sources, appears to come greatly from speculation, and seems to take jabs at various races. It is difficult if not impossible to say that any form of NPOV (Neutral Point of View) is obtained here. If you have the ability to re-write this section and include proper sources, please do so. 74.70.29.88 (talk) 17:30, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

I so agree. I will try, over time. I teach this stuff regularly, and I bet my students go to wikipedia when I assign a paper on this topic, so I'd like to see it reflect the actual state of the knowledge. kagillogly--Kagillogly (talk) 20:36, 21 September 2010 (UTC)

I have reworked this section to try to get it to flow a bit better... I've removed most of the unreferenced claims, and left most of the existing referenced text as is - just re-ordered it and added a few references of my own where it seemed appropriate. Tobus2 (talk) 14:21, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

Eskimos
Why are Eskimos as dark as southern Native American tribes if Europeans became paler due to climate? Alaska and Canada are harsher than Europe. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.136.162.64 (talk) 07:56, 20 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Perhaps they've not inhabited the area for as long as Europe's whites. Evolution is a slow process. —ᚹᚩᛞᛖᚾᚻᛖᛚᛗ ( ᚷᛖᛋᛈᚱᛖᚳ ) 02:50, 8 January 2011 (UTC)

Presumably the mutations for light skin is Asia happened after the Eskimos separated from them... plus Eskimos eat lots of fish, rich in Vitamin D, so they wouldn't benefit from light skin as much as farmers would.Tobus2 (talk) 16:49, 7 February 2011 (UTC)

multiple use of the same quote.
The quoted section below (including the introductory remarks) are repeated several times through the article, all slightly innacurately.

In his foreword to Peter Frost's 2005 Fair Women, Dark Men, University of Washington sociologist Pierre L. van den Berghe writes: "Although virtually all cultures express a marked preference for fair female skin, even those with little or no exposure to European imperialism, and even those whose members are heavily pigmented, many are indifferent to male pigmentation or even prefer men to be darker."[5]

Sorry first time user, do not have time or inclination or knowledge on the subject to correctly edit. However if i didn't know any better, i'd say someone is trying to drive references (sales) to a certain book. (Fair Women, Dark Men)

203.101.239.175 (talk) 18:17, 5 January 2011 (UTC)


 * I've rewritten that section so it only includes the one quote, and taken the one in the introduction out. I don't have a copy and can't find one online, so I haven't checked it for accuracy. Tobus2 (talk) 14:15, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

Genetics
The genetics section is very sparse in the genetics department - it reads more like a history of the evolution of human skin tones that a description of the genes involved in skin colour. I intend to rewrite at least the 1st paragraph with details of the genes shown and suspected to cause the various skin tones we have today. I'll probably also add a sub-heading "Evolution of Skin colour" for most of the current section's contents.Tobus2 (talk) 16:47, 7 February 2011 (UTC)

Done.Tobus2 (talk) 16:47, 7 February 2011 (UTC)