Expectation to 'date down' because of race?

Hey, I was the one who made the original comment. What I mean when I said that certain people "expect" black and brown folks (specifically Asian men and all black people) to date down due to race is the following:

  • Race influences attraction on a societal, macro scale.
  • On average, black folks and Asian men are - at least on first blush - viewed as less attractive partners than folks outside of those groups, regardless of how attractive they are compared to folks within those groups.
  • Moreover, both groups have significant cultural baggage that has been put upon them by dominant social narratives (e.g. black women as sex-driven, Asian men as "effeminate", etc.)
  • Because of parts #2 and #3, people in these groups are more likely to be approached by 1) generally well-meaning folks who, consciously or subconsciously, gravitate towards the members of said groups because of the increased likelihood of a positive response compared to people outside of these groups and/or 2) fetishists

Which I suppose is all fine and good if the intentions of the approaching parties are pure, but:

  • They aren't a large portion of the time, and
  • It's really fucking obvious to those of us who have been in the dating game for a while
/r/OkCupid Thread