O
Oscurito
I recall a Chinese-American comedian appearing a few years ago on the Late Late Show quipping that his girlfriend had dumped him "for a guy that looks just like me". The joke was greeted with a frosty silence. Either the audience found it too politically incorrect to laugh or they didn't know the old trope that all Chinese people supposedly look the same.
It's a well known effect that has attracted controversy. White people often think that people of other ethnicities look alike. This is no minor issue to chuckle about: it can have major effects when, for example, witnesses of a crime are asked to choose the suspect from a line-up.
However according to this article that doesn't mean those who can't see the distinction are ignorant or racist; it's just that we're more attuned to differences within our own race. In any case, east Asians and Africans often report finding that Caucasians all look alike.
I've just come back from the Philippines and while there, I found myself being repeatedly confused with other white guys travelling in the group I was in. These confusions arose irrespective of age or hair colour. Only one guy was immune owing to his being very tall by Irish - never mind Filipino - standards.
And so, I was asked to pay for rounds of drinks someone else had ordered and - in one memorable moment - was thanked profusely for a large tip I hadn't given. Oh well, at least we all behaved impeccably. If one of us had committed a misdemeanour, who knows which of us would have been nabbed. :shock:
It's a well known effect that has attracted controversy. White people often think that people of other ethnicities look alike. This is no minor issue to chuckle about: it can have major effects when, for example, witnesses of a crime are asked to choose the suspect from a line-up.
However according to this article that doesn't mean those who can't see the distinction are ignorant or racist; it's just that we're more attuned to differences within our own race. In any case, east Asians and Africans often report finding that Caucasians all look alike.
I've just come back from the Philippines and while there, I found myself being repeatedly confused with other white guys travelling in the group I was in. These confusions arose irrespective of age or hair colour. Only one guy was immune owing to his being very tall by Irish - never mind Filipino - standards.
And so, I was asked to pay for rounds of drinks someone else had ordered and - in one memorable moment - was thanked profusely for a large tip I hadn't given. Oh well, at least we all behaved impeccably. If one of us had committed a misdemeanour, who knows which of us would have been nabbed. :shock: