A comment I just wrote about racism...

[calichillout]

This racism thread is very interesting. What I'd like to hear though is a discussion of how culture underlies people's preferences for different races. Physical attraction is often bread by cultural influences. Here's my personal example. I'm biracial (half black, half white) but I grew up in White suburbia (I think there were 3 black students in

Comments

[cowslayer]

What I find most interesting in this post is your perception of yourself. You are biologically half black and half white and culturally mostly white yet you seem to consider yourself to be black. Quite complex self perception you got going there

[calichillout]

Hey! I'm going to write you back in two seconds, sorry I haven't yet. Hmmmm...you're right about my perception of myself. So the reason that it's so complex is that skin color is quite obvious and you can't escape it. People just looking at me will always judge me as being black, no matter what my culture is. And because of this, there is a certain amount of discrimination that comes because of this. Especially in the form of physical attraction preference. So, yes, I do consider myself black at times because I do believe that I can help out that part of my racial background by showing that I can make it and therefore, so can they. I know that's a little off because I'm not purely black. But, upon initial impression, that's what people see. It's like Halle Berry. She's biracial as well but her mom (who's white) always told her to consider herself black because that's what society would see. Now, my parents never said that to me, but after exiting my 95% white hometown, I realized that, at times, I'm definitely seen for black and

[cowslayer]

What I also find interesting is the way in which men are attracted to other men. To vastly stereotype, straight women are somewhat forgiving on the physicality but seem to look much more for certain romanticism, care and security. Straight men look for hot versions of their mothers and physicality is very important. Gay men seem to view other men the way straight men view women but in essence, there is little difference between what gay men and straight women find physically attractive. In my opinion, that fact strongly suggests some sort of genetic basis to homosexuality. I kind went off on a tangent there, didn't I?

[ericcraig80]

thats.the.results.of.the.superficiality.of.gays.

[dudepower1982]

I've found I'm not so much attracted to the skin color of a dude, as much as his body and physique - - and his personality. I may initially think a guy is hot, but if he's a nasty person I will gradually come to find him less and less attractive.

Most of my huge crushes are other white bois. But that's cuz I have a thing for blond boys. And while admittedly most of my crushes are other white bois, a lot of my major crushes have been guys who aren't white - - and keep in mind that I'm not in a very racially-diverse area of the state. It's really more about does he have a nice body, is he sensitive/friendly, and does he have a likable personality.

Overall, I find that I have more in common with guys (both gay and straight) who are around my own age, in general - - when compared to females (even lesbians) of ANY sexual orientation or older men.

[adamsniche]

Wow. This is an excellent post. I have a lot to say on it and will have to break it into segments due to time contraints.

First off, I think every point you made is on the money. What's particularly interesting to me is the recent observations I've made about how my tastes in men have changed and how these changes have just ... happened. Luckily for me, my background has been anything but racist. Unfortunately, though, I've not had many close friends who are black. On the other hand, I've had ONE black dude who was a roommate and my excellent friend. Oddly enough, being black was not at the top of his "who-I-am" list. Let me ask you to list your own, in order of magnitude. For example, for me, although these lists are in constant flux as we grow and learn, I would first say that I am male. Next I'd have to say I was a liberal. Third would probably be that I love dick and am completely unimpressed with pussy. The list goes on an on, of course, but what I find novel is the fact that I am white is really far down on the list. I think my

[mylifebeforeart]

Hi, I found you through my roommate Aaron's LJ.

I tend to agree with you about race and attraction. I am Asian but grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood, so that's who I found myself attracted to. When I moved to Tucson, my highschool was mostly Latino, and I had a few crushes on guys there. College had a lot more Asian guys, so I dated a few then. When I lived in China, I dated almost exclusively Chinese boys.

When I go into bars here, I think that about 60% of the guys write me off because I'm Asian, and about 5% want to date me because I am--creepy. So that cuts down options considerably. In China, I felt like I could have my pick of guys, but here there is definitely a race thing going on, even if most gay guys wouldn't acknowledge it.

Anyway, thought I'd share thoughts on this.