Oh. My. Fucking. God. Because I HAVE NO WORDS, allow me to quote from the post:
Recall that women on average are more physically attractive than men. So women of all races are on average more physically attractive than the “average” Add Health respondent, except for black women. As the following graph shows, black women are statistically no different from the “average” Add Health respondent, and far less attractive than white, Asian, and Native American women.
and
The only thing I can think of that might potentially explain the lower average level of physical attractiveness among black women istestosterone. Africans on average have higher levels of testosterone than other races, and testosterone, being an androgen (male hormone), affects the physical attractiveness of men and women differently. Men with higher levels of testosterone have more masculine features and are therefore more physically attractive. In contrast, women with higher levels of testosterone also have more masculine features and are therefore less physically attractive. The race differences in the level of testosterone can therefore potentially explain why black women are less physically attractive than women of other races, while (net of intelligence) black men are more physically attractive than men of other races.
Psychology Today… WHY DO YOU HURT ME SO. Where’s the reflection on the role of racial microaggression in framing this post? Where’s the discussion of the social invisibility of black women? The objectification of women — they’re just more naturally attractive, indeed!
Y’all, I am flummoxed. That someone would SERIOUSLY SAY that black women are ugly because they are too manly and that that would be printed in an… ostensibly SERIOUS periodical… really just appalls me.
ETA: They pulled the article but someone uploaded an archival copy here.
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Probably because we’re dealing with the prejudices of a white-dominated media in a white-dominated society – they don’t even seem to realize how racist it is to only be able to recognize beauty when it comes with white-type features.
Shaun,
I wonder this, too. I’ve always had “excessive” body hair, according to OB-GYNs who were trying to assess my hormone imbalance. For some reason, the first question several of them asked was: “Do you have any Mediterranean blood in your background?” (I don’t, AFAIK.) Then in college I went to an African American nurse practitioner for my yearly gyn exam, and when she asked about my hair, I mentioned what the other docs had said, and she laughed and said the Irish and Scottish were about as hairy an ethnic group as you could find – well, I certainly do have those in my family background. So why were the other docs looking for some Other race to explain my oh-so-offensive hairiness? My guess is that a lot of Americans unconsciously associate ANY unfashionable physical trait with races other than white. Or something. Really, it doesn’t make any sense at all – and these are educated people we’re talking about.
Jennifer Kesler(Quote) (Reply)
Jennifer Kesler,
Yeah, that’s really silly. I’m also strongly of Scottish and Irish descent, and my family is hairy as all get-out. I can comb places where most people have no hair.
But since when have Mediterranean ethnic groups been especially hairy? I think you’re absolutely right.
Patrick McGraw(Quote) (Reply)
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