Exploring Stereotypes – Part 1

I’d been meaning to write this for a while in light of the controversial article released on Psychology Today regarding beauty and black women falling below the supposed standard. I thought it would be an excellent time to explore some of the pervasive stereotypes about race, beauty and the “understood” interests of both men and women of most races. I preface that anything I note here is meant to look at the stereotype, not to explain it, make sense of it, nor condone it. Each individuals view of what is attractive varies widely and is subject to the influence of ones culture, background and  regional factors, among others. Frankly, this is more to show how nonsensical it is to even attempt to examine beauty in a vacuum or to even consider a scientific base on something that is fundamentally subjective.

In industrialized countries, society holds a key influence on how different races are perceived, and the stereotypes I’m about to mention are either created by these influences or are perpetuated by them. I’ll start with the ladies first…

**Asian women want black or white men. They are usually reluctant about having to date other Asian men, but do so because they feel they have no other choice.**

Really?! I’m sure we’ve all heard this one. There is a love of showing Asian women as weak creatures, as women in constant search of a green card (American reference here, but probably shown as stereotypical in other countries) and as freaky yet submissive in bed. Think of every Asian porn you have ever seen. Come on. This is one we can do without.

**White women want black men because of the big penis.**

While there are studies of penis size among races out there substantiating this on the whole, surely that isn’t the only reason? Apparently, Latinos can count themselves in that stereotype too, but even among Latinos alone, there are a ton of stereotypes, way too many to discuss here. White women date plenty of other white men, but nothing gets a stereotype going more than the “jungle fever” thing. Haven’t heard THAT phrase in a while, huh?

**Black women really want other black men, but can’t stand that they are good for nothing and got baby mamas galore. So they settle for white men because they make real money. Asian men, you make good money but sorry: your penis is too small.**

Again… really? I’ve heard this statement right out of the mouths of some Black women and I’m astounded they’ve bought into the hype. There are statistics here as well in terms of pregnancies, education level of Black men and so on, so some of it can be substantiated, but again, there are many more factors that shape a decision. Note, no comment on Black women and Latino men..  big grey area, perhaps?

And yes, there are many other groups out there. If you know some more, please do tell and share your comment. Look, the fact of the matter is that stereotypes are full of hooey. I have to break this whole discussion into two parts because the male side of this is full of even heavier loads of crap. Stay tuned…

Tags | men, relationships, society, stereotypes, women