Why do people think Greeks are so dark? Where did the stereotype come from?

[Sikeliot]

Weren't you the one that wanted to stop shit storms regarding skin color?

Yes, but I have an honest interest in knowing where the discrepancy between my views and that of others on here comes from. Do most of the Greeks I meet just look abnormally light? Did all the light ones move to the US and the dark ones stay behind? Or is it just people making jokes?

Nobody thinks Greeks are so dark, except for Americans, that is.

Other Balkan users on here seem to think average Greeks look like Assyrians and Turks.

[Loki]

Dark is a relative term, I guess. They'd be dark to a central and northern European, and light to a Levantine.

[Sikeliot]

I am going to a Greek festival in a week. I will look around and see whether it's really true that Greeks look like Turks and Armenians. But I bet you the same thing will happen this year as the past three... I'll be looking around for people who look like that, and then realize the only one in the general vicinity who looks that way is me.

I can't even find people who look like me amongst the Greeks in my town.

[rashka]

I think it's because of Mediterranid and Alpine features. Also they tend to be hairier (or it might show up more because of the coarser/darker hair) so this might be the reason for this stereotype.

[Sikeliot]

I think it's because of Mediterranid and Alpine features. Also they tend to be hairier (or it might show up more because of the coarser/darker hair) so this might be the reason for this stereotype.

Well that makes sense, and I don't deny that a minority of Greeks may be swarthy in a non-Euro sense, but I think the stereotype is taken way too far. At best, you could say Greeks look like the Calabrese but even they are darker/hairier as a group. I am hairy myself.

[Constantine13]

Some Greeks, yeah, especially Pontians and Cypriotes, really are dark. Those will be the ones Westerners notice, not the rest who blend in. Combine that with the "It's all Greek to me" weirdness factor of people not understanding modern Greek culture, and well....

Greeks' unique history, geography, and biology make them prime targets for people with agendas too (Sicilians get it even worse). The ego is a powerful thing. A Balkaner, for instance, wanting to believe he's "indigenous" or some other claim, will likely find his Greek neighbors upsetting to his self image. So he builds a psychological wall to protect himself from the (possibly brutal) truth that what his mommy told him just might not be so. Hence ideas like "Ethiopian Greeks."

Also, I notice "they" often don't portray Greeks accurately on TV. I remember watching Casino Royale a few years ago. There was this guy on there...Alex Dimitrios. As soon as I saw him, I was like "WTF? This guy isn't Greek." I checked the credits, and well...he wasn't.

[ChocolateFace]

I. Why do people think this?

Because they are dark.

[Sikeliot]

Greeks' unique history, geography, and biology make them prime targets for people with agendas too (Sicilians get it even worse). The ego is a powerful thing.

That's the thing. On here we don't. This week alone I've seen more anti-Greek trolling, and the thing is based on my own experiences, MOST Sicilians fit the stereotypes, and most Greeks don't. However, Cypriots and Pontians are quite a bit darker than Sicilians.

I am a fairly typical Sicilian despite being mixed with other things, and I stand out amongst the Greeks in my town because many of them look lighter and more (for lack of better term) "Eastern European". That's why I don't get why there is so much stigma attached to Greeks here.

Half of my relatives look more stereotypically "Greek" than most Greeks. Hence why I go to Greek events expecting to look like average and I don't.

[wvwvw]

I don't see many people believing that it is you in fact who *indirectly* keep trying to portray us as swarthy.

[Sikeliot]

I don't see many people believing that it is you in fact who *indirectly* keep trying to portray us as swarthy.

You've responded yourself to plenty of posters who have made comments, have you not?

Actually it's the opposite. I don't know why you think that. Have you even looked at the pictures I post?