Ethiopian Women!

[foxybrownsugar]

I found a thread, "Ethiopian Ladies" that does have a few hair care tips in it. I'll bump it!

thanx, this thread has been a very good read and I hope that there are no hard feelings. BTW, My mom said today, when she was a girl growing up down south they use to rub butter on there legs (she didn't mention hair). They were too poor to afford lotion and such, so, maybe eithopian women use ghee for the same reasons.

 

[MissMarie]

people keep mentioning who they are mixed with as a counter argument. no where have i stated that ethiopians/east africans in general did not intermarry with middle easterners. they are geographically close so its only plausable that relationships formed.

my challenge was to the assumption that those intermarriages resulted in the 3 hair that some east africans have. that phenotype is african, it is not the result of genetic admixture.

genes tell the truth and what they reveal is often different from what oral tradition holds.

ITA, since East Africans were the first people it'd make more sense to talk about how some Arabs are brown in complexion because of E African ancestry, but in reality trying to pin certain features as belonging to one group or another when they have intermingled so frequently for so long is impossible.

Most people know that the African American population contains some admixture. And we know that generally mixing with Euro-descended people results in a lighter range of complexions. Yet, that doesn't mean that any African American's complexion which isn't deep mahogany to blue black is because of their non-African ancestry, because if one looks at different West African populations there are medium complexions that are present there without European admixture (just as their are many with very high, defined cheekbones that many AA assume are an indigenous American trait only). So a person's medium complexion can be an inheritance from their African ancestors, as an East African's hair type can as likely be from their African as their Arab ancestors.

 

[Shine-On]

I ooh and ahh over hair that is beautiful because I admire the effort (or lack thereof) it takes to keep it that way. You are absolutely right, I don't know any hair type that isn't beautiful or capable of being healthy when properly cared for. At the same time I acknowledge the extra care it takes to grow and maintain curlier textured hair and when I see a healthy head (whatever the race or nationality) I take notice.

I think testimonies have proven that even with genes on our side, we still have to put forth an effort to reach our hair goals or maintain our hair's health. Whether that effort is protective styles, low maintenance, altering our diets/water intake/exercise routines or more frequent washing, it is always interesting and most times beneficial to share regimens and advice. Maybe I should have writted: I saw two women today. They had beautiful hair and they happened to be Ethiopian.

When I returned home that day, I brainstormed a bit and questioned the hair practices of these women. Did their hair (some curly, some kinky) become dry at the ends due to their curl pattern? If so, did they oil them? Baggy them? What were they using for moisturizers and how often? Did they wash frequently or infrequently? What about tangles and deep conditioners? Did they have a line that was popular amongst them? Our discussions have included India, Haiti, DR, Jamaica, etc. Why not explore Ethiopia?

Jwhitley6, I think your hair is pretty (very). My next question is, what's your regimen? Same thing here . Cruzians (St. Croix) have lovely heads of locks and I admired them when I visited last year. I didn't hesitate to ask how they maintained them and took notice of the different eating habits during my stay (plus I was always hungry ). It's all in the name of growth.

 

[Shine-On]

thanx, this thread has been a very good read and I hope that there are no hard feelings. BTW, My mom said today, when she was a girl growing up down south they use to rub butter on there legs (she didn't mention hair). They were too poor to afford lotion and such, so, maybe eithopian women use ghee for the same reasons.

Thank you! I thank all others for the history lesson. I really enjoyed this post!

 

[Mestiza]

thanx, this thread has been a very good read and I hope that there are no hard feelings. BTW, My mom said today, when she was a girl growing up down south they use to rub butter on there legs (she didn't mention hair). They were too poor to afford lotion and such, so, maybe eithopian women use ghee for the same reasons.

I found a thread, "Ethiopian Ladies" that does have a few hair care tips in it. I'll bump it!

YW! :wink2: ITA! This thread is very good and interesting!

I had my hands on some ghee last week and put it back. I mentioned it in general conversation to my mom (not African, though) and she said that my grandma has used it on her hair when she was younger.

 

[diamoness]

um......4b's and c's have pretty hair too. We just never get any credit.

 

[DahomeyAhosi]

Wow I'm glad I'm not the only one who picked up on this. It's amazing when people try to impose their generic book learning to people's very real experiences.

With all due respect, Ximenia, how are you going to tell this girl about her own ancestry?

I do agree w/much of what you are saying... and it's obvious that you have done your research about African history, which I can definitely appreciate and respect. But I disagree w/you on this one. *shrug* Perhaps the key word in question is "given." Regardless of "who gave what to whom," Somalian people are made up of Arabic and African ancestry. I have a few Somalian coworkers who have stated this as well. So essentially, yes, this would make them genetically "mixed".... even if the mixing of ancestry occured centuries back.

 

[ximenia]

Wow I'm glad I'm not the only one who picked up on this. It's amazing when people try to impose their generic book learning to people's very real experiences.

wow, "generic book learning." is that a line from the beverly hillbillies?

i wasnt expecting the conversation to deteriorate to that level.

most of the interesting facts we've contributed to this thread, including kinikakes, are the result of exposure and education or "generic book learning" as you call it. ive personally enjoyed this discussion as have others. there are quite a few knowledgeable sistas on this site and i hope they dont feel like they have to dumb it down (or keep their "book learnin" to themselves) in the future. sorry you felt the need to insult it. i personally think that conversations like this and knowing about our past is a good thing. i also see it as sharing rather than imposing.

 

[punchinella]

I hope that I am not getting off the point by getting back to the original point.erplexed Shine On was admiring some beautiful hair and wanted to find out some of their practices. Not all Ethiopian women have beautiful long hair, no matter what your genetics, if you do not take care of your hair you will lose it. As one of the other posters said we are willing to take hair tips from East Indian women (like amla etc) and their hair is not even on the chart So why can't we do the same for our Ethiopian sisters whether their hair is naturally that way or not

 

[MissMarie]

ive personally enjoyed this discussion as have others.

i personally think that conversations like this and knowing about our past is a good thing. i also see it as sharing rather than imposing.

I think that this was a nice conversation, and I did enjoy your posts Ximenia. We should be able to disagree here without stooping to insulting each other.

When you break it down all human groups are mixed, no one lives in complete isolation from others that can be labelled as different (ethnicity, race, culture). Quantifying degrees of mixedness barely makes any kind of sense in places like the US where you have people from completely different continents that came together at one point in time. So it makes even less sense in areas where groups have intermingled for over thousands of years, its hard to even strongly delineate which features belong to whom when the two separate groups of people actually share many features (and genetics).

It's not trying to tell someone they're not mixed, its recognizing that its kind of pointless to argue which of two very intermingled groups are responsible for type 2 and 3 hair in a certain population. Probably to some extent both are depending on the specific circumstances of specific groups of people and specific individuals like those posters have mentioned here.

People in the Horn have hair from type 1 to type 4, some of that comes from their indigenous ancestors, some of it came from the those who left for SW Asia developed new traits and returned and intermingled, some of it comes from those who went further south and west into the continent developing new populations and new traits and returning to the Horn and intermingling with the regional populations there.

Until geneticists, bio anthropologists, archaelogists and such are able to isolate the genes responsible for certain outward physical traits and then map them we won't know for sure.
And in a discussion about hair care tips it shouldn't really matter.

 

[amara11]

They do have beautiful hair. I'm not sure what their hair practices might be, but IMO it's probably mostly genetics. In my experience, most Ethiopians and Somalians tend to have hair that is more on the curly side. I used to date a guy from Somalia and he had hair that was kinky/curly, but his brother (different mother) had hair that was straight.

Exactly- from a Biological standpoint (the one im always takin cuz thats my major!) Its a lot about genetics. Im sure there are some with highly efficient regimes, but that's not an overall majority. We hate to hear this response sometimes but- sigh...... they're born with it!erplexed

 

[Cheleigh]

I hope that I am not getting off the point by getting back to the original point.erplexed Shine On was admiring some beautiful hair and wanted to find out some of their practices. Not all Ethiopian women have beautiful long hair, no matter what your genetics, if you do not take care of your hair you will lose it. As one of the other posters said we are willing to take hair tips from East Indian women (like amla etc) and their hair is not even on the chart So why can't we do the same for our Ethiopian sisters whether their hair is naturally that way or not

I don't think you're off point. I think the challenge is that it seems that (from previous discussions on this topic) many Ethiopian women don't do much of anything at all to get beautiful long hair--I mean not outside of what many LHCF members already know to do:
-Keep hair natural
-If relaxed, do it infrequently
-Keep hair moisturized and/or strengthened
-Wear protective styles
-Ensure proper diet and nutrition

To me the bigger challenge seems to be that the "worse" our hair type, the more we try to do to it. Maybe that's the inherent problem--maybe it's not so much that type 1, 2, 3s are so much more genetically gifted than type 4s, but that type 4s try to push and prod our hair into some idealized look or behavior more than most other hair types--and as such, we suffer the consequences.

Oh, maybe that's the subject for another thread.

 

[amara11]

Wow I'm glad I'm not the only one who picked up on this. It's amazing when people try to impose their generic book learning to people's very real experiences.

That's a really good way to describe what ppl do sometimes. It's like when some people (me being Nigerian/African) come to me and tell me about practices in Nigeria- based on what they read/saw heard. I appreciate that you took the time, but why not ask someone who's experienced it? IMO they're wayyyy better sources anyway. Good point!

 

[amara11]

I don't think you're off point. I think the challenge is that it seems that (from previous discussions on this topic) many Ethiopian women don't do much of anything at all to get beautiful long hair--I mean not outside of what many LHCF members already know to do:
-Keep hair natural
-If relaxed, do it infrequently
-Keep hair moisturized and/or strengthened
-Wear protective styles
-Ensure proper diet and nutrition

To me the bigger challenge seems to be that the "worse" our hair type, the more we try to do to it. Maybe that's the inherent problem--maybe it's not so much that type 1, 2, 3s are so much more genetically gifted than type 4s, but that type 4s try to push and prod our hair into some idealized look or behavior more than most other hair types--and as such, we suffer the consequences.

Oh, maybe that's the subject for another thread.

I agree 200%. A LOT of the people that I know that have long hair- and have had it for a minute- happen to have very low maintenance routines... Keep in mind that by "low maintenance" i do not mean low care. It just means that the manipulation of the hair is lower. Ever wonder why guy's hair grows so fast when they keep it in cornrows? Its like weeds! They dont mess in their hair the way we do sometimes. Our bodies were blessed with the natural ability to function at optimum levels without the need for our own 2 cents (providing that we give them proper nourishment). Sometimes by trying to speed this up we interfere with this.

 

[africa]

I don't think you're off point. I think the challenge is that it seems that (from previous discussions on this topic) many Ethiopian women don't do much of anything at all to get beautiful long hair--I mean not outside of what many LHCF members already know to do:
-Keep hair natural
-If relaxed, do it infrequently
-Keep hair moisturized and/or strengthened
-Wear protective styles
-Ensure proper diet and nutrition

To me the bigger challenge seems to be that the "worse" our hair type, the more we try to do to it. Maybe that's the inherent problem--maybe it's not so much that type 1, 2, 3s are so much more genetically gifted than type 4s, but that type 4s try to push and prod our hair into some idealized look or behavior more than most other hair types--and as such, we suffer the consequences.

Oh, maybe that's the subject for another thread.

Good point. I couldn't have phrased it better.

 

[punchinella]

I agree 200%. A LOT of the people that I know that have long hair- and have had it for a minute- happen to have very low maintenance routines... Keep in mind that by "low maintenance" i do not mean low care. It just means that the manipulation of the hair is lower. Ever wonder why guy's hair grows so fast when they keep it in cornrows? Its like weeds! They dont mess in their hair the way we do sometimes. Our bodies were blessed with the natural ability to function at optimum levels without the need for our own 2 cents (providing that we give them proper nourishment). Sometimes by trying to speed this up we interfere with this.

ITA with both of you

 

[amara11]

wow, "generic book learning." is that a line from the beverly hillbillies?

i wasnt expecting the conversation to deteriorate to that level.

most of the interesting facts we've contributed to this thread, including kinikakes, are the result of exposure and education or "generic book learning" as you call it. ive personally enjoyed this discussion as have others. there are quite a few knowledgeable sistas on this site and i hope they dont feel like they have to dumb it down (or keep their "book learnin" to themselves) in the future. sorry you felt the need to insult it. i personally think that conversations like this and knowing about our past is a good thing. i also see it as sharing rather than imposing.

I dont believe she meant that those sistahs have to dumb it down (nor do I think she was being insulting). SHe's referring to the fact that a lot of times, "book knowledge"- i.e knowledge acquired from reading/researching NOT from any source of actual experience, is not as valuable as that which we can get from the ppl that the "book" is referring to. I gave an example in an earlier post but here's another. If you had a book about Mexico (more than likely written by a NONmexican), and you knew 5 mexican ppl from various parts of their country- wouldnt you trust their particular remarks about Mexico over the "book"? think about what some books say about black ppl- I'd rather have a white person come and ask me about my ppl, than gathering their info from their own reading, research alone etc.
thats my interpretation of what she was saying. Then again.... i could be wrong!

 

[ximenia]

That's a really good way to describe what ppl do sometimes. It's like when some people (me being Nigerian/African) come to me and tell me about practices in Nigeria- based on what they read/saw heard. I appreciate that you took the time, but why not ask someone who's experienced it? IMO they're wayyyy better sources anyway. Good point!

i completely agree and i would never tell anyone from another culture that i know more about their cultural practices than they do based upon what was read in a book. no ones cultural practices were being challenged in this thread. on the contrary, people were seeking information about the hair care practices of ethiopians. the conversation veered into a discussion of the genetic origins of peoples which often tells a different story than what oral traditions relate. my statements centered on genetics, i made no comments about anyones cultural practices.

 

[amara11]

And about them being mixed with arabs etc, yes it's true, but have you thought about it the other way around? If they weren't mixed with Black African would their hair be so curly and coily and beautiful? As much as I appreciate Arab hair, it's nothing compared to African hair... (I know many Arabs are also Africans, but you know what I mean)

I dont think it's necessary to put down their hair to build up our own (even tho u stated you "appreciate" it)- both types are beautiful in their own right. As far as whether their hair would be curly w/o Black African genetic influence- we can't make the assumption to either extreme of the possibilities- African hair is not the only inherently curly hair....

 

[amara11]

i completely agree and i would never tell anyone from another culture that i know more about their cultural practices than they do based upon what was read in a book. no ones cultural practices were being challenged in this thread. on the contrary, people were seeking information about the hair care practices of ethiopians. the conversation veered into a discussion of the genetic origins of peoples which often tells a different story than what oral traditions relate. my statements centered on genetics, i made no comments about anyones cultural practices.

And if you ask any sophisticated geneticist- even they do not have an answer as to how and where the genetic origins/ genotypes and phenotypes arose. Some have stong hypotheses (i.e Dr. Spencer Wells of the National GENOgraphic Project- the one attempting to tell interested individuals where their ancestry lies) however this is still hypothesis/theory. We often depreciate word of mouth and opt to place trust and value in science and what science says. But any scientist will tell you that the vast majority of the body of knowledge that we have gained with respect to science is theory, i.e not fact, i.e yet to be proven. Therefore we would be remiss to uphold that which is claimed to be "genetic origin" as a higher value of reference than oral tradition- being that such genetic origins have yet to be scientifically proven. This coming from someone was has done research in Genetic labs and worked with Geneticists- much of what we think we know, as of yet it is still theory.

 

[amara11]

the features we ascribe to africans (big nose/lips) are common among west africans. east and south africans have different features and those features were not acquired through 'mixing' they are present and original to the african genotype.

As someone of direct African descent, and as a scientist in the making (Cellular and molecular biology major) I have a few problems with this statement. Again, we do not know what features are the "original" african genotype. And the correct term for physically observable characteristics is "phenotype" not genotype. Genotype refers to genes- that which is inherited-not observed. Phenotype refers to the observable characteristics that the expression of the genotype yields.
As an African. Africa is a continent-made up of countries. It is complex and no singular set of adjectives can be used to describe it. We dont mesh Canada and mexico into generalizations when we discuss America. We can't do that with Africa either. Not saying this is what you are doing, but to ascribe the features of the east and south africans and deem them as the african genotype- when there is presently no scientific basis for such an argument is improper. The African genotype (much less the varied phenotype) is too diverse to be classified using a singular term. So even if those phenotypes you were referring to are representative of East/ South Africa, or can be traced back scientifically a few 1000 yrs ago (East Africa in and of itself being made of many countries) Their indigenous phenotypes can not be ascribed as the "African" phenotype (present or original). Does that make any sense. My point is that being that we dont have scientific proof of the origin, we cant make any assumptions as to what is was. That being the case, we cant ascribe the features of any particular region to be the (present or original) representations of the entire continent.

 

[ximenia]

I dont believe she meant that those sistahs have to dumb it down (nor do I think she was being insulting). SHe's referring to the fact that a lot of times, "book knowledge"- i.e knowledge acquired from reading/researching NOT from any source of actual experience, is not as valuable as that which we can get from the ppl that the "book" is referring to. I gave an example in an earlier post but here's another. If you had a book about Mexico (more than likely written by a NONmexican), and you knew 5 mexican ppl from various parts of their country- wouldnt you trust their particular remarks about Mexico over the "book"? think about what some books say about black ppl- I'd rather have a white person come and ask me about my ppl, than gathering their info from their own reading, research alone etc.
thats my interpretation of what she was saying. Then again.... i could be wrong!

i agree. i have always put more merit in what a native historian has to say about their culture than what an outsider has to say. i also look to black historians to give me an accurant portrayal of black history.

as i noted above, my comments centered on genetics, i havent challenged anyones cultural practices in any way in this thread.

 

[ximenia]

the features we ascribe to africans (big nose/lips) are common among west africans. east and south africans have different features and those features were not acquired through 'mixing' they are present and original to the african genotype.

Again, we do not know what features are the "original" african genotype.

we do know. forensic anthropologists are able to determine the 'race' of a human skull and skeleton based on its morphology. certain features are recognized as belonging to certain groups. of course theres room for error or over generalization but badly decomposed bodies are identified everyday based on genetic markers.

And the correct term for physically observable characteristics is "phenotype" not genotype. Genotype refers to genes- that which is inherited-not observed. Phenotype refers to the observable characteristics that the expression of the genotype yields.

from post #87:

curly 3 hair is present in blacks where there is no genetic evidence of mixture with non-blacks. that phenotype exists in pure africans.

i referred to curly hair (an outward expression of a dominant gene) as a phenotype in that post so i know what it means.

 

[Isis]

I found a thread, "Ethiopian Ladies" that does have a few hair care tips in it. I'll bump it!

Thank you Mestiza for bumping the thread. I enjoyed reading what the LHCF Ethiopian ladies and LHCF members from other African countries had to say.

 

[amara11]

we do know. forensic anthropologists are able to determine the 'race' of a human skull and skeleton based on its morphology. certain features are recognized as belonging to certain groups. of course theres room for error or over generalization but badly decomposed bodies are identified everyday based on genetic markers.


Scientifically, your argument has no basis. Scientists can't determine the race of a skull by looking at morphology. Morphology is shape- i.e qualitative. They can make deductions and they can conclude that the race was LIKELY xyz based on the skull- but until they have the ancestral/family history- they can not make a POSITIVE CONCLUSION- something ppl do all the time, but SCIENTISTS are hesitant to do. They cannot be certain because the information that distinguishes between races is NOT carried in our DNA, and biologically- there is no basis for the definition of race. There is no biological distinction between races. You can look that up, do your own research, ask a scientist, or what have you, that has been a scientific question/issue for decades. You are referring to qualities that can be observed and have therefore been attributed to one race or another.

"Certain features are recognized as belonging to certain groups"- Again, SCIENTISTS dont make this distinction- science has yet to provide mechanisms that support such. If you are unaware about the debate- Wikipedia does an excellent job of explaining it when you do a search on the term "race" in the first few paragraphs.

You're confusing scientific basis with qualitative, generally accepted distinctions between races- which are based on culture/ ethnicity/region etc- NOT SCIENCE!

Badly decomposed bodies? Of course scientists have been able to identify them- that shouldnt be news to anyone. Your use of the term genetic markers is incorrect and is not the basis for which they do this however. Identification of such is based on extraction of DNA- which then yields information regarding genes based on the sequences obtained from such DNA. It seems like its synonymous with the definition:

"A genetic marker is a known DNA sequence (e. g. a gene or part of gene) that can be identified by a simple assay, associated with a certain phenotype."
(wikipedia)

However, you must note that here they are referring to the phenotype (observable biochemical characteristics) of the ASSAY that they performed NOT the characteristics of the individual. There IS a difference. For instance if they find a sequence that turns has markers in it that turn purple when treated with a certain enzyme, they can then deduce more information about the gene it came from based on the "markers" in the gene that caused it to turn purple when reacted. The two seem the same- but what you were referring to is Identification based on DNA.
- genetic markers are identifications of genes/sequences on the basis of analyzing their behavior by targeting the gene's markers. These genes are also called "reporters" because they announce (so to speak) the presence of a gene in a culture. They are used to determine whether the gene of interest has been taken up by or expressed in the cell or organism population.

If you have a cell and you dont know whether a gene is there or not, you determine this by directing reactions of their markers. If a gene marker responds- the gene is there.

Its the same concept with the black light when forensic scientists are trying to determine if there is blood in a room. They spray the room with a chemical and they wait to observe the phenotype (biochemical characteristics of the BLOOD- not the whole room) If the blood is there- "reporters" that are native to blood will fluoresce a certain color- indicating that blood covered that particular surface.

That's my point- we DO NOT know and to use scientific terms in an argument as proof- when science itself has not indicated that such distinctions are fact- is an improper combination of scientific evidence and as you yourself stated "anthropology: which is the study of humanity with relation to culture.

 

[Tru_Mind]

Of course hair can benefit from various products used by the different cultures. I think the issue causing some of the dissent is that most likely, Ethiopian hair is just naturally that way (without much help from products). If that's the case, then why ooh and awe over it, since all hair types are beautiful when properly cared for.

I agree with you.

When I read this thread...well some of it, because I was saying "OMG here we go again." Yep, I knew what was causing this thread to turn, but I just didn't want to go into it...not anymore.

My point was why should these things matter? I don't understand what's wrong with saying that Ethiopians have gorgeous hair. You know? It's nothing like saying look at these bi-racial people with gorgeous hair. It's just not the same.

Anyway, if a group of people are mixed or not...it does not matter to me. So what...its hair.

A couple of years ago I watched The Real Eve Video and before that I read about the topic, and from my understanding their hair and features are naturally theirs. It has to do with migration, climate change and adaptations to different climates. I know that it’s hard to believe that Africans can have curly hair …or even straight hair. It has to do with where Ethiopia, Egypt, Somalia, Eritrea, Morocco, etc is located. I can’t remember how long it takes for the changes to occur, but it takes thousands of years. It's too much for me to explain. I see some have attempted to explain on this thread. I've tried and others have tried to explain this once before on this board...it's just too much to explain.

I know someone that didn’t know that Morocco was in Africa. I don’t know where they thought it was. They said Moroccans don’t look African.

My answer is yes Ethiopians mix...just like most races do. Mixing is not what makes their hair look the way that it does. According to the research their hair and features are naturally theirs...PERIOD. I know that you're wondering if they mix than how is it that their hair and features are naturally theirs.

"Certain features are recognized as belonging to certain groups."

They are many books on this topic that explains so much more. I agree with you too amara.

I just don't get it. I know that if you ask some Ethiopians what they are mixed with they will say "nothing." Why Africans have to be mixed to have curly hair?

On the old thread India was brought up. Indians come in really dark to light shades. To me they can look like Africans with straight black hair. Why Ethiopians can not naturally look the way that they do if Indians can. So...I guess the dark Indians are mixed with Africans...right? Nope.




-tru

 

[FlowerHair]

If you go back far enough EVERYONE is African.

Ethiopians may be mixed a thousand years ago, but what group of people isn't? Only those who lived on an island with no means of leaving and no one to visit them. We have dark people here in Sweden that are mixed with Belgian immigrants that came here in the 16:th century. They are no less Swedish just because they don't have the typical Blond hair and blue eyes.

Mixed Africans live in every African country. They can be mixed recently or in ancient history. If you go back 100-1000 years, people along the coasts on both sides of Africa are mixed with Arab, Portuguese, British, German, you name it. People who live on the border to Arab countries are mixed.

I know a woman from Kenya who has type 1 hair because her family has been mixed in the past with Arab. So what? She is 100% African anyway, the same way that many of you on this web site are 100% American. If you have lived in a place for 400+ years where else can you belong other than the place you were born? My colleague is from Africa, says she is of Portuguese heritage but looks completely East Indian. She's probably a little bit of each.
Africans are not only blacks south of Sahara, Africans are everyone that lives in Africa, including white people

 

[foxybrownsugar]

I have a degree in biology also. And scientists do have different theories but the evidence found so far all points to the origins of life beginning around the nile-tigris-euprhates rivers. "certain features are recognized as belonging to certain groups" cannot be proven because we all know that genes can be carried but not expressed (phenotype). Scientists have always argued over origins i.e "creation vs. evolution" there has always been two schools of thought. The debate is neverending...

I just wanted to add that scientists are using mitochondrial DNA to help trace ppl ancestors too.

 

[Mahalialee4]

Perhaps we could post this on an "anthropology thread", lol. I just want to hear some more about hair care. Can we just agree that we all love long healthy beautiful hair as women of color regardless from what part of the earth those colors come from and the bottom line is "what can we learn from their hair care, regimes, practices that we can apply to our own hair and scalp to maximize the natural beauty of our own hair...after all, isn't that really what these ladies, Ethiopians, Indians etc. do? Maximize the beauty, strength and health of their hair and scalps? peace. bonjour

 

[sassyhair]

Perhaps we could post this on an "anthropology thread", lol. I just want to hear some more about hair care. Can we just agree that we all love long healthy beautiful hair as women of color regardless from what part of the earth those colors come from and the bottom line is "what can we learn from their hair care, regimes, practices that we can apply to our own hair and scalp to maximize the natural beauty of our own hair...after all, isn't that really what these ladies, Ethiopians, Indians etc. do? Maximize the beauty, strength and health of their hair and scalps? peace. bonjour

Amen....when reading this post I felt like I was part of a congregation hearing a sunday sermon. Back to the regularly scheduled posting...please!