ramou:

I avoided this article yesterday because I occasionally get into a head space where I simply cannot. After handing in my thesis proposal that basically seeks to prove that Black women have a hell of a lot harder time dating and being thought of as potential partners than their White counterparts, I just haven’t been in the mood to read some more about why no one is trying to date me.

The “science” backing the article is offensive and, you know, not fucking science. Saying in earnest “The only thing I can think of…” in a study that you want people to take seriously is laughable and makes me think that maybe, just maybe, Kanazawa is trolling us. For what it’s worth, I don’t take anyone seriously who insists that there are biological and genetic differences that account for why one race is inferior/superior to another.

However, I do think that there is something to be said about this “study” and where we go from here. You would be hard-pressed to convince me that we - society - don’t perceive Black women, or women of color generally, as less attractive than White women. There are far fewer women of color represented as symbols of beauty in…well, okay…anywhere. (This is, of course, not including publications, magazines, etc. geared towards women of color. And in these publications it is essentially us reassuring each other that we are beautiful. No one else is really telling us that.) The question that we should be asking is why? Why are Black women perceived to be less attractive than White women? Why are there so few Black women presented (except for in the Black ladies’ edition of Vogue Italia, of course) as symbols of beauty? Why can almost all of us reading this count on one hand the Black women who are presented to us as symbols of beauty?

Let’s start talking about those things.

(Source: ramou)