Poll: Do racial preferences in dating have roots in ignorance/stereotypes?

[Frokane]

Now lets be clear, nobody (or at least I'm not) saying its racist to have a preference for who you want to date. BUT do you think that having a fairly strict prefrence for who you will and wont date is based on any form of ignorance/or racial archetypes?

Now personally I work in the dating industry in my country so I have seen many examples from all ends of the spectrum. A classic and somewhat worn out example is the introverted caucasian anime/video games fan who has strong or even exclusive preference for japanese females. now with this crude example what could one draw from his motivations?


Heres an interesting video that explores this a little bit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjSh_esW9W4[/youtube]



Do you have strong preferences on these things?

If you do then why do you think that is?

How do you view others with preferences?

 

[Queen Michael]

I've got preferences for black women, because on avergae, their lips are fuller and their bodies are curvier (though I know that there's a shitload of variation among them, just like there is among all ethnicities, guys I'm totally not a racist I promise).

 

[Casual Shinji]

I don't buy the line "I don't find this entire race attractive" though, because not only is it a blanket statement that casts an incredibly large net (millions, if not billions of people), its usually spouted by blatant racists.

You don't choose who you're sexually attracted to though. See, I'm sure you could find the most hardcore white supremacists that are still sexually attracted to black people, and the most torlerant individuals on the planet who can't help but to only be attracted to their own kind. Even if neither will want to admit it.

 

[The Lunatic]

People can be attracted to hair and eye colour, I see no reason why large physical differences such as those affected by race wouldn't also be ground for affecting attraction.

I don't really think there's anything wrong with that.

It doesn't really seem to be a thing that people can control.

Racism is about the view of other races, viewing a race as inferior simply because they are that race.

Finding somebody unattractive is not the same as thinking they're inferior.


As for myself? Not sure. I guess my idealised "Husbando" is always imagined to be white, but, I've never considered it a concious thing, and I certainly wouldn't decline a guy just based on the colour of his skin or anything like that.

 

[Dizchu]

I don't think having racial preferences is necessarily racist. People are often attracted to what they're familiar with, so a white person who has lived in a mostly white community will likely have a bias towards white people. A white person that is familiar with or shows a lot of interest in Japanese culture may find far-east Asians especially attractive. Of course there are people that are intentionally biased against other races and consider them inferior, but I don't think the tendency for people of certain races to mostly date others of their own race to be a result of racial stereotypes.

As for me? I have a bias towards Caucasian facial features, skin tones and hair textures. However, I am not unable to find beauty in people of other races.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I dunno guys, I just like having sex.

 

[Parasondox]

I dunno guys, I just like having sex.

I would like to second the honourable gentleman's comment. I just love all women of size, colour and whatever.

 

[Frokane]

I don't think having racial preferences is necessarily racist. People are often attracted to what they're familiar with, so a white person who has lived in a mostly white community will likely have a bias towards white people. A white person that is familiar with or shows a lot of interest in Japanese culture may find far-east Asians especially attractive. Of course there are people that are intentionally biased against other races and consider them inferior, but I don't think the tendency for people of certain races to mostly date others of their own race to be a result of racial stereotypes.

As for me? I have a bias towards Caucasian facial features, skin tones and hair textures. However, I am not unable to find beauty in people of other races.

I dont think familiarity is always a factor into attraction, some people are attracted to the 'exotic beauty' of something they dont really see much of.

 

[DeimosMasque]

It's funny... For me I have a"type" when it comes to men. Lean, tall and of the Caucasian or Latino persuasion. With women... I just love women of all shapes, sizes, ethnicities

 

[Dizchu]

I dont think familiarity is always a factor into attraction, some people are attracted to the 'exotic beauty' of something they dont really see much of.

Sure, I said that it "often" is. There's a tendency for people that are similar to group together in most social settings, which could easily extend to what those people find "attractive". But it's not a rule, just a tendency.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

The race of a person does not bother me when it comes be whether I'm attracted to you physically. If I think you're hot, pretty, cute, or in rare cases beautiful, then that is what you are to. Black, white, Asian, whatever.

However, race does come into play, but in a different way. I think it would be more culture for me. I'm white and live in the U.S. As such, I've been raised in a certain way and I'm accustomed to certain things. Hispanics tend be used to having their families around all the time and big gatherings, but I find that uncomfortable for me. Asians tend be strict and very 'respect your elders' even when your elders are, well...wrong. Again, not my cup of tea.

So yeah, stuff like that is usually what makes me a bit more cautious about dating someone of a different race. What is normal in other cultures is strange and uncomfortable to me, just as what is normal for me causes other cultures to scratch their head and go, "What is wrong with you?"

 

[Ihateregistering1]

So I don't really have that much of a preference, and I've dated women of just about every race (and mix of races) one can imagine. However, I find overweight women extremely unattractive, and in the US at least, rates of obesity amongst black and latino women are significantly higher than white or asian women. In that regard, I guess you could say I have a preference towards whites and asians.

I'm also a big fan of blondes, so obvious preference towards white girls.

The only other time I can think of race really coming into play would be with kids involved. It'd take a really, really special woman for me to be willing to date a single mom, but I'll be the first to admit she'd have to be REALLY incredible if she had a mixed race kid or a kid of a different race than me. I dunno, something about the fact that everywhere we'd go it would be blatantly obvious that the kid wasn't mine makes it tougher than if people could at least think the kid was mine.

 

[chuckman1]

Well I'm white but i prefer non white women.
there are cute white girls of course. I was raised in a place with mainly white or Mexican people.

I think it may be racist to not date someone because of their socially constructed race.

 

[sanquin]

I generally find black women less attractive. Call it racism or whatever, but that's just how it is. I don't care about ethnicity though. It's the slight differences in appearance that's the cause for me.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

I think for the average person, racial preferences do play a part in the stereotypes they see. Women of another race who were interested in me did mention about the stereotype that all black men are dinosauric in the pants region.

Or that we're somehow innately tougher and they would be more safe around me. e.g. "Who's going to trying to fuck with a big black guy?!"

I think all of dating now does boil down to ideals. Would a woman with an A-cup love me as intensively as a woman with a DD-Cup? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean I don't want a certain thing in the bed room. Just as a woman who is not as smart as another woman. I like to have conversations. If the non smart woman can't give them to me, I'm going to be less attracted.

My question is... should someone be allowed to be offended?

If a girl says she isn't attracted to black guys, that means out of everything else... the only thing that matters about me to her is my melanin count. For some reason, that's ok in modern society.

but if a guy says he doesn't like overweight people, he needs to become enlightened. If he doesn't like tall women, he's a pig. Where is the line of "Personal Preference" and "Douchebag" drawn? I personally think it's drawn on the lines of the limitations that people don't want to be put on themselves. i.e. "Hey, don't like different raced people. That doesn't matter to me... but when you talk about fat people and I'm fat, you're simply ignorant!"

 

[MeatMachine]

My question is... should someone be allowed to be offended?

Having a preference is one thing, being a douchebag about your preference is another.

Considering it's a sensitive subject, I don't really see any real situation where someone would have to be totally honest about their preferences, let alone aggressive about it. For a hypothetical example, if an Asian were hitting on me, there's really no occasion I could imagine where I'd HAVE to explicitly tell them, "nah, I don't dig Asians, sorry." There'd always be another way to diffuse the situation and make my lack of interest clear without revealing my unfavorable attraction towards Asians - and being outwardly racist and offensive is something that any thoughtful person would have no trouble with to begin with.

 

[FalloutJack]

I suppose there's a certain aesthetic quality (i.e. their appearance) that I like in women, but that's less about race and more about style. Other qualities that are a must would be smart and funny. I suppose if you hit all the right corners, race don't mean a thing. Besides, how capable are most people of even knowing the other's race? It can be very tricky at times.

 

[Creator002]

For me personally, I'm not sure. I'm mainly attracted to Caucasian women (Caucasian male), very rarely (almost never) finding non-Caucasians attractive. That being said, I'm not consciously racist or wilfully ignorant nor do I consciously stereotype and, of course, there are some Caucasian women I find unattractive.
My belief is that it's evolutionary. Whites reproducing with whites generally makes white babies keeping the "white gene" in existence. I don't know otherwise.