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Why are all egyptian singers white? A lot of Egyptians is dark-skined and they are virtually all light-skined.
Posts: 653 | Registered: Sep 2003
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"However, racial prejudice is not exclusively directed at those from sub-Saharan Africa. Upper class Egyptians, often fairer than their poorer compatriots, invariably look down on lower class Egyptians who tend to be darker in complexion. There is a subtle correlation between lower income and darker complexion. The Egyptian upper classes and elites tend to be noticeably lighter in complexion than their poorer and working class compatriots. "They labour in the sun," is sometimes the cynical explanation.
But, a more accurate explanation would be that Egypt has for thousands of years been ruled by foreign, and lighter-skinned, invaders -- Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Turks, the French and British. A large section of the pre-revolutionary Egyptian elite could trace their ancestry to Balkan, Caucasian and Turkish roots. Moreover, Napoleon Bonaparte's French expedition was notorious for sowing its seeds in places like the Delta city of Mansoura whose women are reputedly "exceptionally beautiful"; in Egyptian common parlance that means fair-skinned, with light-coloured eyes and hair.
Not only are the poorer classes darker in complexion, but they tend to display more "African" cultural traits. Much of the music they enjoy has rhythmic beats that are reminiscent of those of the music of Africa south of the Sahara, with an emphasis on drums and percussion. The elite tend to favour classical Western-influenced music or Middle Eastern (Turkish and Persian) musical strains dominated by stringed instruments. While the poorer and working classes are more likely to dance spontaneously and with abandon in public, the elites tend to be more restrained. Much clapping and ululation accompanies street parties in low income areas, the elites, in sharp contrast, shun these "baladi" literally "country" traits, suggestive of the African."
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HA HA HA ... ITīS A JOKE?!? AFROCENTRISM IS TOTAL ABSOLUT COMPLETE NONSENSE!!!!!!! RACISM!!! I HATE IT!!!!! ITīS ONLY A QUESTION ... AND MOHAMMED MOUNIR IS A NUBIAN AND I SPEAK ABOUT EGYPTIAN ARABS NOT NUBIANS, ABOUT ARAB PEOPLE ...
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Okay, so now we narrow it down. You have predetermined something in your mind and you are out to prove it, that's not a question it's a statement. But let's play some more and see how much more we can narrow it down:
Khaled Agag is very dark, and Halim was extremely dark and people practically worshipped him. And then there is Shereen (ah ya leil) she is nearly black. These are just off the top of my head because I never tried to think who's dark and who's not. And to preempt you, I don't know if all Egyptians are colour blind, but I know I am.
Why didn't America have any dark skinned president before? We got Nasser and Sadat!
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I have noticed the trend of the entertainment to be lighter skinned. I am not egyptian. I am a louisana Creole. My family fled Haiti after the revolution. But the case is the same. When people are ruled by disticnt groupsm the people tend to glamourise the features of the ruling caste. In cases like this it is not uncommon worldwide to find the dark idol the exception to the rule. This is true from india to south Africa.
Posts: 23 | From: NY | Registered: Apr 2004
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I donīt know why didn't America have any dark skinned president before, because I am not American ... !!! I saw pictures of these singers and they are not very dark-skinned :-) ... Allah knows better!!
By the way, how many egyptian singers are from Egypt? One my egyptian friend said me that most of egyptian singers are white, because they are from Delta and Upper Egyptians are illiterate and conservative.
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And Abdelhalim is very dark, he was known as "el-3andalib el-asmar". Shereen ah ya leil is darker than Colen Powell for God's sake. How do you measure "how dark" people are? How dark do they have to be for your satisfaction basha?
And you make a very weird assumption, you assume upper Egyptians are all dark. WRONG!! I don't know which singer comes from which province because I don't check their ID before listening to them! But here are some surprises for you (and for many people), you know who's a sa3idi actress? Yossra, Shereen seif el-nasr, and Sana Gamil. LOL! They ain't dark. So let's narrow it down some more baby.
[This message has been edited by kimo_the_maniac (edited 03 May 2004).]
quote:Originally posted by kimo_the_maniac: No ... why?
I asked because when you said "And then there is Shereen (ah ya leil) she is nearly black." this just isn't true. I have met her and talked to her and I would never use that adjective to describe her skin tone. She is more like "lightly tanned" if that.
Laura
Posts: 3291 | From: I DO believe in Karma! | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Laura: [QUOTE]Originally posted by kimo_the_maniac: [b] No ... why?
I asked because when you said "And then there is Shereen (ah ya leil) she is nearly black." this just isn't true. I have met her and talked to her and I would never use that adjective to describe her skin tone. She is more like "lightly tanned" if that.
Laura
[/B][/QUOTE]
That's exactly my point Laura. You see her as lightly tanned, I see her as rather dark, and in reality no one in Egypt seems to care!! Couldn't find any of her photos online :-(
BTW Laura, how is she? She looks ... uhhh worrying. And how did you talk to her, do you speak Arabic? I am almost positive she doesn't speak English, or does she?
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I was just introduced to her and she did speak in english a little as far as I remember but the rest of the conversation was all in arabic with the people at our table. I dont know about the "worrying" stuff. She was singing at my husbands nieces wedding and of course was very bubbly and in good spirits because of the occasion. I was shocked at how short she is...and so petite!! It's hard to tell when you just see these people on tv.
quote:Originally posted by kimo_the_maniac: That's exactly my point Laura. You see her as lightly tanned, I see her as rather dark, and in reality no one in Egypt seems to care!! Couldn't find any of her photos online :-(
BTW Laura, how is she? She looks ... uhhh worrying. And how did you talk to her, do you speak Arabic? I am almost positive she doesn't speak English, or does she?
Posts: 3291 | From: I DO believe in Karma! | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:Originally posted by kimo_the_maniac: And Abdelhalim is very dark, he was known as "el-3andalib el-asmar". Shereen ah ya leil is darker than Colen Powell for God's sake. How do you measure "how dark" people are? How dark do they have to be for your satisfaction basha?
And you make a very weird assumption, you assume upper Egyptians are all dark. WRONG!! I don't know which singer comes from which province because I don't check their ID before listening to them! But here are some surprises for you (and for many people), you know who's a sa3idi actress? Yossra, Shereen seif el-nasr, and Sana Gamil. LOL! They ain't dark. So let's narrow it down some more baby.
[This message has been edited by kimo_the_maniac (edited 03 May 2004).]
Shouf average upper Egyptian is darker than one from Delta, moush kida? A man from Luxor or Qena is different from one from Tanta or Beni Suef ... usually. I know that there are some exceptions but generally itīs that way.
To say who is "dark" is hard. I know it very well, but I think that for example Sadat was clearly dark-skinned, Naser was a little lighter and Mubarak is light-skinned.
By the way, Shereen can speak english because she is not illiterate (I presume)!!! Even I can a little speak despite the fact that my english is terrible!!!
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Did you also know that many black/dark/tanned people...have white skin...and many white/light people have black skin??? Talking about roots, that is.........................
quote:Originally posted by Ayazid: Shouf average upper Egyptian is darker than one from Delta, moush kida? A man from Luxor or Qena is different from one from Tanta or Beni Suef ... usually. I know that there are some exceptions but generally itīs that way.
To say who is "dark" is hard. I know it very well, but I think that for example Sadat was clearly dark-skinned, Naser was a little lighter and Mubarak is light-skinned.
By the way, Shereen can speak english because she is not illiterate (I presume)!!! Even I can a little speak despite the fact that my english is terrible!!!
By the way, Shereen can speak english because she is not illiterate (I presume)!!! Even I can a little speak despite the fact that my english is terrible!!!
The word illiterate is defined as being unable to read or write. It doesn't mean not knowing a second language.
Posts: 3291 | From: I DO believe in Karma! | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Monica: Did you also know that many black/dark/tanned people...have white skin...and many white/light people have black skin??? Talking about roots, that is.........................
Ya Monica ... I donīt know it. How it is possible?
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Nasser's father was actually an Arab,but his mother was a fellaha in a village in Minya. His father lived in a village that had been settled by Arabs from Hejaz. He was not a full Egyptian;of course most modern Egyptians are not.
Posts: 8675 | From: Tukuler al~Takruri as Ardo since OCT2014 | Registered: Feb 2003
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Shoof ya Ayazid...scientifically/ genetically speaking...emmmmmmm
''''Being white is only the absence of colour.... so, to be white you need to have low expression of melanin. This is more about expression levels of genes. A person is white if they have no melanin so both parents must be white or one needs to have had a white parent (so has one gene which is not for black skin) has been passed on. If one parent is half white and half black and the other is white, then the child could either be white or black (thought probably not as black as the parent). If both parents are light brown (meaning they have one gene for melanin and one for without) then the child could be white (if it gets both genes for light), light brown (if it gets one gene for white and one for dark) or black (darker than the parents) if it gets both genes for dark skin.
It isn't really that the black is more dominant than the white gene. It is just that being white is like having a blank canvas and any gene which instructs to make dark pigment is going to show up over the white. The most simple way to explain it is an example of goldfish. Goldfish were a kind of dark colour but in some types this pigment was lost. The underlying gold then showed up but in some types this was lost and the underlying white (lack of pigment) showed up. There is a disorder where people with black skin lose pigmentatioin and areas are then white (see Vitiligo society) It is just all about levels of expression rather than dominance.
White people have freckles so they have very low expression of melanin except in these areas. They have the ability to produce melanin but generally the genes they have cause it to be expressed at very low levels''''
Interesting...
quote:Originally posted by Ayazid: Ya Monica ... I donīt know it. How it is possible?
[This message has been edited by Monica (edited 04 May 2004).]
quote:Originally posted by Ayazid: To say who is "dark" is hard. I know it very well, but I think that for example Sadat was clearly dark-skinned, Naser was a little lighter and Mubarak is light-skinned.
Shouf enta ya 7abiby. Sadat was lower Egyptian and Nasser was upper Egyptian. Kabsa we labsa :-)
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On a Talk show, there was this man stating that when he met his Egyptian bride to be, she was 'white'... after meeting her about 20 times, they married...
The next day...he discovered she was dark skinned!!!! he had no objection to her skin colour, he says ~ as he did not like her because of her 'skin' or looks.. but was totally disappointed because of her 'camouflage' the marriage lasted 8 months!!!
Why this 'complex' you think?
[This message has been edited by Monica (edited 04 May 2004).]
quote:Originally posted by Ayazid: By the way, Shereen can speak english because she is not illiterate (I presume)!!! Even I can a little speak despite the fact that my english is terrible!!!
Well it turns out she can't LOL, where did you get the "of course" part? And your logic is weird, it's like saying that fish must like to eat chocolate because they are not elephants.
What has illiteracy got anything to do with ESL? Naguib Mahfouz can't speak English very well but he's hardly illiterate.
And what do you expect to hear in response to your comment on your English? Oh, I know here goes: "Oh no Ayazaid your English is wonderful, it's much better than ours, bravo 3aleik." (groan).
quote:Originally posted by kimo_the_maniac: Well it turns out she can't LOL, where did you get the "of course" part? And your logic is weird, it's like saying that fish must like to eat chocolate because they are not elephants.
What has illiteracy got anything to do with ESL? Naguib Mahfouz can't speak English very well but he's hardly illiterate.
And what do you expect to hear in response to your comment on your English? Oh, I know here goes: "Oh no Ayazaid your English is wonderful, it's much better than ours, bravo 3aleik." (groan).
quote:Originally posted by Flamenca: Even if an Egyptian singer is dark, they use so much make-up nowadays that you will never now his or her real complexion.
Some go the other way, e.g. Latifa and Lucy have artificially tanned their skin to a ridiculous shade.
quote:Originally posted by kimo_the_maniac: Some go the other way, e.g. Latifa and Lucy have artificially tanned their skin to a ridiculous shade.
LOL I didn't say all of them make themselves WHITE. The point is to make yourself completely different, it seems to be in in the showbiz. Look at Amr Diab's blonde hair.
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