The Evolution Of Skin

Anthropologists and geographers have studied and overtime come to the conclusion that distribution of skin color is not random. Darker skin color has been found to typically come from near the equator and lighter skin colors are typically coming from closer to the north and south poles. Over the years, researchers have found that darker skin colors has protected the

Darwin knew that skin color was one of the most important ways in which people varied. And he was somewhat interested in the pattern of skin color. He knew that darkly pigmented individuals were found close to the equator (closer to the Sun’s UVA & UVB); lightly pigmented individuals, like himself, were found closer to the poles (further from the Sun’s harmful radiation). UVB rays (burning) are absorbed by the epidermis skin layer, and UVA rays (aging and wrinkling) are absorbed by the dermis skin layer. Darwin rejected the idea that human skin pigmentation was related to the climate, even though he missed that there was a fundamental relationship between the intensity of ultraviolet radiation and skin pigmentation; skin pigmentation itself

16. Human populations living in areas of intense sunlight tend to be darker skinned because of the

The PBS series “Race: The Power of an Illusion” effectively works to expose race as a social construct and deconstructs the false notions that race is a biological marker. The series first discusses that all human beings originated from Africa but dispersed about 70,000 years ago to various places in the world. As a result of this migration, people were spread to different locations throughout the world with different environmental conditions that affected their physical traits. It was many years after the migration in which people began to display these new physical traits such as slanted eyes, fair skin, and differing hair textures. While the series notes the physical changes that occurred during the migration it also emphasizes that race while it may seem apparent in skin color and other physical features has no real biological basis.

As the research continues it becomes ever more important to discuss how exactly the differing pigmentation of one race of people actually occurs, because I feel that it has an effect on the way colorism is handled throughout the African American community. There are two ways in which a person of African descent can be of a lighter complexion; the first being amalgamation, which is the coming together of both the black and white races and reproducing to make a mulatto or mixed race child and the second is the use of cosmetic creams in attempt to bleach one’s skin until they too appear mulatto (Dorman 48). This is relevant because, it shows the extremes that people are willing to go to reach the highest plateau of social acceptance. Many of these creams were painful acidic chemicals slowly burning away the pigmentation as people slept, while others were considered mild abrasive materials used to “gently” scrape away dark pigments (Dorman

Darker skinned individuals are situated more near the equator and have less folates. The opposite goes for light skinned people.

In the podcast “Race Doesn’t Exist. Or Does It?” talks about what we can really say about race and what genetics can tell us about race. They begin to talk about how our race and genetics are very similar, but there is a small difference between us. We all started in same place together which was Africa, but then humans began to leave to different areas across the globe. DNA is being copied, but sometimes the coping isn’t perfect which creates coping errors. They have identified 180 little variations in the DNA that people who share the same ancestry. DNA can’t specifically tell you a lot about the color of your skin, but it can rule out different skin colors by looking at the different ancestral percentages. DNA can tell you your eye color though.

Race is not a biological reality because there are no indications of some biological DNA that would have a certain outcomes of a race. The variation in skin tone comes from the mix of certain races. For example, the mix of black and white would result a skin color of Latino. However, the mix of white and yellow (Asians) will most likely result a child having more essential characteristics of white people. It is impossible to classify humans into races because human is making a new race every single moment from the combination of two people who come from different races. Light skin and dark skin have a lot to deal with the temperature, latitude and langtitude of the region. It could be characterized by a regions, instead of ethnic groups. Race

This is not too provocative but relevant to this weeks discussion. My husband and I were talking about the lighter skin colors in Neanderthals because of the genome sequencing the scientists have done on DNA from finds. He asked why they would have lighter color skin when they were not even human. I told him

Melanin, which is also called pigment, is what is responsible for the color of skin and hair color. In humans, the more melanin you have, the darker your skin will be. The less melanin in a humans skin, the lighter the skin will be.

Melanin Mondays are days on social media where women of color are celebrating their beautiful brown skin and their high content of melanin. I tied the social media movement with the “Human Variation and Race” lecture to explain to my mother the purpose of melanin. Melanin is responsible for most of the variation in lightness and darkness of skin (Foley). Jokingly, my mother responded saying, “Well you are really light, and so does that mean you have no melanin?” Of course, I wanted to joke back with her, but I wanted her to fully understand the concept of melanin and the role it plays with race. I had to explain to her that everyone has the same number of melanocytes, but vary in the melanin that the cells produce (Foley). I simply explained to her that since I have light skin, little melanin shows at the surface of my skin. I then elaborated on the term melanin, and it explained how it is a biological adaptation. Studies have shown that those who live closer to the equator tend to have darker skin. I then went on to explain to her how a high melanin content protects people from sunburn or illnesses associated with it, nutrient photolysis, and how melanin is found in other parts of the body (Foley). She was easily able to tie in melanin with race, with the basic idea that African Americans obviously have more melanin. Towards the end of the

The color of the skin of each person is determined by their heritage and melanocytes. Melanocytes are cells that produce melanin, a pigment that plays a fundamental role in protecting against the harmful effects of ultraviolet irradiation from the sun. Therefore, the geographic area where we live also has some involvement in the color skin. This means that people living near the equator (Ecuador), with intense UVB irradiation, have developed darker skin to protect them from the harmful effects of UVB irradiation . Instead, those living in the higher latitudes, closer to both poles, they get a clearer skin to maximize vitamin D production.

This idea was first presented by Ford (1940) , who hypothesised that melanism might arise in a population as a result of a mutation and, in polluted areas, was adaptive. As such, individuals with melanism gained a selective, cryptic advantage and so, through natural selection, melanics rapidly spread throughout the population, and typical forms declined.

Melanin determines the color of our skin, eyes, and hair. Dark-skinned individuals, for example, have higher levels of melanin in the skin than their counterparts with light skin. Melanin also helps to protect the skin against sun damage.

To most common people in America, the perception of race and the innate discrimination that it creates are held in facts. They believe that biologically, there are actual genetic differences between people with different skin colors. This common misconception has led to conflict throughout all of history, including war, slavery, and blatant racism. With this problem in mind, it has become the goal of many anthropologists to change the way that race is perceived. Anthropologists have argued for many years that race, in the way that it is culturally defined, doesn’t exist. They have insisted that skin color variation is just simply that, human variation. For the anthropological approach on race to be understood, it’s important to research and analyze the history, science, and current state of race and racism.