The Study of Racialism

thea · New User Joined: 08 Dec 2005 {Posts: 33 }

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bjork

"Björk Guðmundsdóttir[ˈpjœr̥k ˈkvʏðmʏntsˌtoʊhtɪr] (help·info) (born November 21, 1965 in Reykjavík, Iceland) is an Icelandic singer-songwriter, composer, and actress.

She is best known for her expressive range and an interest in many kinds of music, including pop, alternative rock, jazz, ambient music, electronica, and folk. She has won numerous awards, and has received 12 Grammy Award nominations and an Academy Award nomination.

Her record label, One Little Indian, reported in 2003 that she had sold more than 15 million albums worldwide.[1] Her most recent album, Volta, was released worldwide on May 8, 2007. She was ranked #36 on VH1's "The 100 Greatest Women in Rock and Roll" and #8 on MTV's "22 Greatest Voices in Music".

Name and Ancestry
Björk usually goes by her first name only. This is not a stage name or affectation; it is normal for an Icelander to be referred to by his or her first name, as almost all Icelanders' last names merely indicate the name of the father (or occasionally the mother). See Icelandic naming conventions.

Björk means "birch tree" in Icelandic (the meaning of Icelandic names is often transparent), cognate with Old English beorc and the modern English word. Though many English-speakers pronounce her name "Byork," a more accurate approximation would be "Byirk," which she has pointed out rhymes with "jerk."[22] Guðmundsdóttir is pronounced roughly "GVUTH-munds-doh-tear", and means "Guðmundur's daughter".

Björk's father, Guðmundur Gunnarsson, is a well known union leader in Iceland and was nationally recognized before his daughter became famous. Her mother's name is Hildur Rúna Hauksdóttir, and has also been politically active.

Although many have commented on her East Asian/Inuit facial features (she was teased as a child with the taunt 'China girl'), Björk denies any such ancestry

There is more information at the site regarding her musical career.

I viewed some of her music videos on youtube and alot of people constantly commented negatively on her appearance. People stated she was ugly, wierd looking, retarded etc. It seems alot of the comments were from people residing in the U.S.

Is it possible that she does have North Asian-i.e. Siberian, Inuit ancestry though not recent. Maybe from a hundred or more years ago and it suddenly came out phenotypically on her. If blond blue eyed Heather Locklear has subsaharan and Native ancestry in her lineage isn't it possible for Bjork to have distant Inuit/Siberian lineage?
(Similar comments were also passed aboout Tom Cruise's baby girl, and many denials that the kid could have some distant Asiatic lineage, though most also said the baby looks like that because of some Native American descent. Isn't that similar since Native Americans and N.E. Asians are related somehow? What if 2 blond blue eyed "white" Americans had a biological child who looked completely Native/Asiatic? I guess I'm asking since there is alot of dicussion about black parents with phenotypic white kids. Are there any studies of white parents with phenotypic Asian kids like Bjork?)

MivharMeni · Regular User Joined: 04 Jun 2005 {Posts: 70 }

I've always thought she was Sami.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_people

bluestocking · New User Joined: 20 Jun 2007 {Posts: 36 }

Sami ancestry would be my guess too. I've met some Sami people at the Scandinavian American festival that is held every year here. It draws a lot of people from all of the Scandinavian countries. Bjork doesn't look like the typical Viking. A lot of the Sami can resemble some of the Central Asian people from the former Soviet Republics.

G-Man · Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2990 }

Are there Sami in Iceland?