“It does not matter if the cat is black or white so long as it catches rats.” -Chinese proverb
A cat is a cat is a cat. But does the same hold true for women? Not according to a recent study based on the Facebook app, Are You Interested. Apparently, most men are drawn to Asian women for dating relationships.
I wonder if this is due to:
- Exoticism: People still think of Asian females as exotic. Even women do–check out Katy Perry’s geisha get-up.
- Diversity in Media: Perhaps this is a result of more ethnic females in mainstream media. Unfortunately, the majority of women I see in magazines and on-screen are not Asian.
- Racial Indifference: That is, race doesn’t matter; men are looking more at the inner workings of women. This pollyanna view can be discredited, though, since the study was about perceived attractiveness based on photos, not actual interactions.
On the flip side, most women (excluding black women) are drawn to white men. I wonder what Asian men think of those results. In college, a friend of a friend created a blog detailing how Asian men couldn’t find any Asian females to date. It’s interesting because I think Asian women are portrayed as sensual, while Asian men are seen as sensitive. (In the YA novel, Eleanor & Park, Park laments how there’s no macho Asian role model, with the exception of Bruce Lee.) Interestingly enough, the new study didn’t agree with my old college acquaintance because it concluded that Asian men don’t prefer Asian women.
I’ve been out of the dating world for a while now, but what do you think of these results? Are they accurate?
I’m of mixed race, but mostly white. That’s the box I check if asked because I know that I get enough bonuses in life from white privilege. Here in Hawaii I also get a boost for having a Chinese middle name and a Samoan last name, but I also chose an Anglo, family-based name as my pen name so as to not ride the “exotic” coat-tails of my ex-husband’s family. Yes, I married a Pacific Islander. I was ahead of my time by being a “white” woman dating a non-white male. I wasn’t trying to be a trailblazer. I just found that about 60% of the guys I dated were non-white. Why? Most of the men I was attracted to where interested in other cultures as well. We had travel and curiosity in common as well as a tolerance for difference.
Great food for thought, Jennifer! And I love all of the tidbits from our post-Thanksgiving Twitterview. We need to do that one again.
Hi, Lori! Thanks for your take on things. That’s an interesting point about curiosity and travel.
Here are the stereotypes that linger:
1) Asian women are seen as either submissive or dragon ladies. Both are mysterious and exotic.
2) Asian men are seen as asexual and untrustworthy, unless they know martial arts. Then they are cool. But just not boyfriend/husband material.
I have non-Asian inlaws. I should ask them why they picked my relatives.
Do I dare? LOL!
Hmm, chats with your relatives… just in time for the holiday reunions!
Interesting topic, Jennifer. Several years ago, i had a conversation with an asian friend who said that she was attracted to white men because it was considered “prestigious” (for lack of a better word). I thought that it was an odd comment and a superficial one. I think the attraction does stem from exoticism, which can be the other way around- Americanism perhaps?
Hmm, Romelle, that’s an interesting idea. I know I always found colored irises more unique; I actually have a friend who wears violet contacts regularly for added exoticism.
Very interesting post! I have mixed feelings about the results of this app. Partly because it’s not considering that Latinos can be white, black, Asian, etc; so that throws the results out the window for me XD As far as most men being drawn to women of Asian descent, perhaps it’s the painful stereotypes that go along with exoticizing Asian women. I’ve heard men say some disgusting things about they prefer Asian women and none of them(for the most part) have to do with the woman as a person but what she can do for a man. Ugh there are a lot of creeps out there that believe their white privilege entitles them to all woman of Asian descent.
I think Asian men don’t get a fair assessment. There are plenty of women who find men of Asian men really attractive and masculine(including myself, I’m a black Latina) but media continues to throw the image of the modern Asian male under the bus :(
I’m not sure about this particular app though??? When I had a dating profile a while back(took it down, way too many creeps) I had too many responses from men of all races that I could barely make time to shift through them all to find the ones that seemed decent; but this app says black women don’t do well on these sites. Gathering up results from a few hundred people or even thousand can’t provide accurate enough results to state this. But it does make me think about how images influence peoples mind on who is “presentable” enough to date.
Great post!
Thanks for chiming in, Libertad. I was talking to my husband about these results, too. He was saying that maybe that certain app also draws in certain types of daters…