Okay, so if you're either, you're probably both, but they're answers to quite different questions.
Why do people from Iran always want to refer to themselves as 'Persian', rather than 'Iranian'? I am certainly no expert in this area, but my rough understanding is that 'Persian' is an ethnicity (and distinct from, say, 'Arab'), whereas 'Iranian' is a nationality (and distinct from, say 'Iraqi'). But when someone asks 'where are you from?' or 'where does your family come from?', they're asking about nationality. You'd certainly find it odd if someone from England responded that 'I am Anglo-Saxon' when asked where he was from.
It's as if some PR flack from Madison Avenue decided that 'Iranian' had far too much negative baggage associated with terrorism, but 'Persian' sounded old-worldly and vaguely mystical. So no matter which question was asked, just answer 'Persian'. Pretend that you've just walked out of 500BC when 'Persia' actually described a specific empire! You'll have no trouble getting work as an extra for the movie 300 or as a model for "a stowaway on a merchant ship, known by no one, scorned by all!" (a la Prince of Persia).
Still, the Madison Avenue guys would have a point. Don't believe me? Here are some random images that came up on the first page of the Google image search for 'Persian'.
Persian
Persian
Persian
Now, let's compare this with some random image selections from the first page of the search for 'Iranian'
Iranian
Iranian
Iranian
Hmm, come to think of it, maybe it's not so strange after all.
Is there a difference in D.N.A.? (I do not mean the carpet)
ReplyDeleteBetween 'Persian' and 'Iranian', you mean?
ReplyDeleteOnly 'Persian' has a possible meaning in terms of DNA - Iranian is just a statement about where you were born. The same way that 'Anglo-Saxon' is a statement about your genetic heritage, but 'English' is a statement about the place where your mother was when she gave birth to you.