Do You Prefer Brown Eyes Or Blue?

[lingyai]

Ok, slightly off topic, but what bugs me is animated characters in movies always having blue eyes, at least the "good" character. Then of course the bad character has brown eyes or red eyes. So telling kids blue eyes= good, not blue eyes = bad.

It also bugs me that female characters are almost always lighter.

[sbk]

There are two places I know of in Thailand where there are significant numbers of Thais with blue eyes. By that I mean if you stay there for any length of time you will soon loose count of how many Thais with blue eyes you see.

Sriracha and Phitsanaluk.

Why these two places have so many blue eyed Thais I don't know.

When I say blue I mean real blue. I once asked a guy working on a market stall in Phitsanaluk if one of his parents or grandparents where western, his eyes where sky blue, startlingly so. Since he was an old guy in his 50s it was clear he wasn't wearing colored contacts.

In Sriracha I once spoke to a woman sitting on the next table in English, as a Thai speaker I never speak to Thais in English, I was convinced she was a Westerner, again her eyes where pale blue. She again explained she has no western ancestry, but she also added I was one of many who make the same mistake.

Sure it wasn't cataracts GH? My husband's 90 year old grandfather had light blue eyes, but, of course, he was also nearly blind. I know alot of people (even not so old) with blue rims around the iris as well as some nearly blue. All cataracts.

Not to say that it can't happen but just curious if you were sure they weren't cataracts?

[GuestHouse]

Sure it wasn't cataracts GH? My husband's 90 year old grandfather had light blue eyes, but, of course, he was also nearly blind. I know alot of people (even not so old) with blue rims around the iris as well as some nearly blue. All cataracts.

Not to say that it can't happen but just curious if you were sure they weren't cataracts?

No, I am absolutely sure 'Blue Eyes' not cataracts.

I should point out, my response here is not based on 'Oh yeh I think I can recall seeing Thais with blue eyes'. But is based on my own observations of something that struck me as being remarkable at the time. I noticed Thais with blue eyes, talked to Thais with blue eyes about thier eye colour and even discussed it with friends that the time.

[Sing_Sling]

Why is it edging into the offensive, it seems to be chugging along without sledging for a change.

Been chatting with a doc friend here and she did say that blue/green/gray eyes are not a natural colour here. You will find that it is either a genetic 'fault' or having had non-Asian ancestry along the line.

One thing one sees often, however, are light-ish eyes . . . the result of an onset of cataracts

I find it puzzeling that a clinician would use the term 'fault' since that is clinically incorrect, the actions of recessive genes are well understood after all.

Whilst rare as I said before it is entirely possible for an Asian to have blue eyes, without resorting to suggestion of non-Asian ancestry. <sigh>

Since I've no idea what you are saying in your first line I'll refrain from comment.

Regards

I'm not quite sure why you are sighing, but if you had actually read what I wrote then you would have seen that there are two possibilities: non-Asian ancestry and a genetic 'fault' (notice the little 's!!!!) It is a fault as it is an alteration caused by some malfunction = fault! It has nothing to do with recessive genes. For recessive genes to come to appear, they have to have been there in the first place.

Again, if you look at albinos, cataracts etc . . . these are gentic faults, whether it fits into your perception of politically inocrrect linguistic definitions or not.

sigh

[duratanium]

To me, the colour does not matter, it is the way the eyes look at you that counts. I believe you can tell a lot from looking into a persons eyes

[A_Traveller]

Why is it edging into the offensive, it seems to be chugging along without sledging for a change.

Been chatting with a doc friend here and she did say that blue/green/gray eyes are not a natural colour here. You will find that it is either a genetic 'fault' or having had non-Asian ancestry along the line.

One thing one sees often, however, are light-ish eyes . . . the result of an onset of cataracts

I find it puzzling that a clinician would use the term 'fault' since that is clinically incorrect, the actions of recessive genes are well understood after all.

Whilst rare as I said before it is entirely possible for an Asian to have blue eyes, without resorting to suggestion of non-Asian ancestry. <sigh>

Since I've no idea what you are saying in your first line I'll refrain from comment.

Regards

I'm not quite sure why you are sighing, but if you had actually read what I wrote then you would have seen that there are two possibilities: non-Asian ancestry and a genetic 'fault' (notice the little 's!!!!) It is a fault as it is an alteration caused by some malfunction = fault! It has nothing to do with recessive genes. For recessive genes to come to appear, they have to have been there in the first place.

Again, if you look at albinos, cataracts etc . . . these are gentic faults, whether it fits into your perception of politically inocrrect linguistic definitions or not.

sigh

Please take the time to learn how genetic processes work. In humans there are three genes involved in eye colouration {pigment} though a fourth is speculated as forming part of the green colouration. At this time the proteins involved within the process have not been fully identified but the genes are located within chromosome 15 & possibly 19 {this is still open to debate, since detailed sequencing has yet to be completed},and include gey, {EYCL1} bey, {EYCL2} bey2 {EYCL3}.

This is not a linguistic, nor heaven forfend, a political, definition but a biological, and scientific one.

By the by which apostrophe s are you highlighting in the post herein?

Regards

/edit chromosome data //

Edited March 30, 2007 by A_Traveller

[Sing_Sling]

So you are saying that Asians have the genetic make-up for blond hair and blue eyes?

Rubbish.

Genes work by directing the production of enzymes, chemicals that control all of the processes that occur in our body. Eye color genes, through the enzymes they produce, direct the amount and placement of melanin in the iris. (The Genetics of Human Eye Colour, SEP)

According to your argumentation there should be blond, blue-eyed babies around in Africa, Asia, South America etc . . . that occur simply by the lottery called genetics, and albinism is a separate issue completely.

As I mentioned, one of my daughters has straight light-blonde hair and light blue eyes . . . is she Asian? Kind of . . she is mixed . . . the other has wavy brown hair and brown eyes . . .

That is genetics at work.

[Jockstar]

Hey some guys like the brown eye.

:D

[A_Traveller]

So you are saying that Asians have the genetic make-up for blond hair and blue eyes?

Rubbish.

Yes they do, however with reference to this thread the eye colour genes are recessive. I've no intention in entering into a sterile debate, if you wish to review the science, feel free so to do, it so happens that from the perspectives of both the genetic and the mathematic, I have done so over many years in the analogue. In addition, with respect, the concept of genetics as a lottery is flawed

Regards.

/edit typo//

Edited March 31, 2007 by A_Traveller

[jdinasia]

Now here's an amazingly silly topic ......

But to make it as simple as possible .... eye color doesn't much matter ... but for those of us IN Thailand ... the point it moot 99.9%

[jdinasia]

Take your pick.

Naka.

CUTE!

[ZukiSuzuki]

Hey some guys like the brown eye.

Yes there are some freakish guy's who like to enter the backdoor of other guy's.

[Sing_Sling]

So you are saying that Asians have the genetic make-up for blond hair and blue eyes?

Rubbish.

Yes they do, however with reference to this thread the eye colour genes are recessive. I've no intention in entering into a sterile debate, if you wish to review the science, feel free so to do, it so happens that from the perspectives of both the genetic and the mathematic, I have done so over many years in the analogue. In addition, with respect, the concept of genetics as a lottery is flawed

Regards.

/edit typo//

Two words:

Rubbish

Mendel (read up)

Done, you may have the last word, and sigh again if you wish while seeing the millions of naturally blonde, blue-eyed Thais walking around you.

[jing jing]

The recessive gene, when present, must be paired with the other parent's dominant or recessive gene to manifest the genetic characteristic in question.

I've never seen a blue-eyed 100 percent Thai person; according to Mendelian principles that would be genetically impossible. However, I've seen a blue-eyed luuk kreung boy who had a brown-eyed German father (whose mother had blue eyes) and a brown-eyed luuk-kreung Thai/American mother (one of whose parents also had blue eyes). That's how the recessive gene works. Any Thai person with true blue eyes - as GuestHouse has desribed - has Western blood somewhere in their ancestry, possibly many generations back and unbeknownst to them.

Incidentally, the boy was stunningly attractive.

Both of my luuk kreung kids have brown eyes (mine are hazel) and very light skin... gee, there's an idea for another topic: which do you prefer, light skin or dark skin in Thailand?

Edited March 31, 2007 by jing jing