“While everyone is entitled to their preferences, true love has no colour…”
- Xenocrates
In the film Obsessed (2009), a deranged white woman (played by Ali Larter) comes on rather quite strongly to a powerful executive (played by Idris Elba) who happens to be a black man. Thereafter, the entire movie becomes a setup for the penultimate cat fight between the white woman and the black man’s wife (played by Beyoncé Knowles). While it is obvious that the film’s ludicrous plot is nothing more than a visualisation of the revenge fantasy of every black woman who has ever lost a lover to a white woman, it does beg the question: Do black men prefer white women? If so, why? I explore this, and a number of other intriguing details in this thought provoking piece on sex and racial politics.
What is wrong with Interracial Union?
In short? Nothing. Why? Because scientifically speaking, there’s no such thing as race. As it pertains to human beings, a person’s race is the equivalent to the colours of horses, cows, dogs, birds, butterflies and ice cream that could possibly exist. Yes, I did say ice cream. Race is nothing more than a particular assortment of DNA that has some level of conspicuous consistency.
Race is literally the result of the fine tuned distillation of the human genotype across the planet over hundreds of millennia in particular geographic locations. The process of natural selection caused a particular set of DNA markers to arise as the most conspicuous permutation in any given migratory group. The human genotype has billions of possible racial manifestations. Therefore, if the planet was much bigger, we’d have more races.
So why do people often have a problem with interracial unions?
Because of culture. Races were formed at about the same time cultures arose. Culture is formed psycho-socially in exactly the same way that races are formed genetically. Culture represents an average of human cognition in any given group. Because of culture, certain rules and practices are accepted as the de facto standard of behaviour in each group.
Now, before European cultures developed the cognitive capacity to go out and intermingle with others, each culture had already developed a set of standards as it pertains to beauty and self perception. Even though the golden ratio of beauty applies ubiquitously, there are some idiosyncrasies within each culture that describe how they perceive themselves. This is critical in understanding why interracial unions cause such consternation.
Race makes up for about 3% of our DNA. However, because it determines over 90% of what we look like, people have developed cultures which dwell on overstating its significance. Thus wherever people appear to show preference for one race or another, it has as much to do with our DNA as it has to do with our cultural definitions.
What causes Interracial Union?
In short? European conquest. It is only natural that when human cognition evolved to the point where we started to travel the world more efficiently, thus appropriating foreign states, races and cultures became intermingled. It’s an inescapable reality.
All that is happening today is that the genetic distillation which created human races 70,000 years ago is now operating in reverse. As we become more of a global village through technology, we are slowly becoming one race once more.
On White Men and Black Women
One lucky white dude. David Bowie snagged himself a black supermodel.
While this is for the most part no longer the case, white men of ages past have long vilified black men as being soulless, unsalvagable, savages from the dark continent who are supposedly incapable of reason or logic. That was a great part of the propaganda campaigns which drove racism in the American south.
This however didn’t pacify their desire for the supple shapeliness of the African female. Long before black people were given the chance to become educated, white men indulged themselves (in secret, of course) in the dark chocolate of Africa. This however, is not because white men ubiquitously prefer black women. There is a strong psychological contingent to this behaviour.
Black females represent a forbidden fruit untainted by the sexual constraints of white society. Thus it is not uncommon that some white men have sought to pacify their tastes for the exotic by indulging a black woman. The taboo effect enjoyed by few white men is propagated by the larger majority of white males who have their own prejudices.
The psychological release of indulging in a cultural taboo is very much a function of the existence of that taboo in the first place. Thus if there was a more universal acceptance of interracial unions, the taboo effect would practically cease to exist.
There are white men out there however who indulge in black women not because they’re black, but because they’re women and that’s what men are generally attracted to – women. There is a certain sex appeal in black women that is notably different from others. If you’re a man who loves curves, it doesn’t matter what race you are; black women (like this one) will always appeal to you the most – provided you can get over the xenophobia.
On Black Women and Racial Self Image
Beyoncé Knowles - That's not her real hair.
Why do so many black women augment their appearance? The whitening of black female icons like Beyoncé Knowles and even the Marvel Comics X-Men character Ororo Munroe (aka “Storm”) is proof positive that there is something else at work here.
While the latter is merely a function of the ultimate male fantasy (a woman with the aesthetics of a Caucasian and the body of a Negro), the former is most probably a manifestation of a desire to achieve that appearance. But why?
There has been a long running Joke that Beyoncé Knowles would never have her look without the fake hair. While that was most probably coined by bitter black women who feel betrayed by those who engage in this practice, there is a whole industry dedicated to this niche. Why though? Isn’t it enough to look black?
In the popular Marvel Comic book series The Fantastic Four, there is a conversation between the Black Panther and Ben Grimm where he tries to advise Grimm on what not to say to his wife so that she is not offended about her uncanny appearance as a white woman, even though she is black. You can read the entire conversation here. (© Copyright 2006, Marvel Entertainment)
The conversation no doubt alludes to the popular trend where black women augment their appearance with qualities that do not naturally occur in black women. Black women who practice this categorically claim that it is because they just want to “change their appearance“. However, that is debatable at best.
© Copyright 2007, Marvel Entertainment
One can’t help but wonder if they’re trying to appeal to white men or black men who have developed a taste for white women. Either way it is probably neither here nor there. Everyone is entitled to their quantum of hypocrisy. However, if we are to believe that black men are going for white women to the extent that even black women are trying to look white, one has to seriously consider the penultimate question:
Do Black men prefer White women?
This is a very popular question. There are a number of myths that have been propagated as to why it is perceived that black men prefer white women. A lot of it is red herring, but it is interesting to consider anyway. I present the most well known of these theories and follow up with commentary and actual facts:
Myth:
Black men prefer white women because they’re fairer, prettier, more attractive, etc.
Fact:
There is certainly more genetic variation in Caucasians (e.g. eye colour, hair type & colour, nose shape, etc.). In fact, anthropologists have noted that there are four distinct types of Caucasians. There are notably fewer such variations in other races. The reason for this genetic disparity between Caucasians and other races is irrelevant.
More importantly, this greater number of variations will certainly be more notable to others, irrespective of ethnicity. Science has shown that humans generally prefer genetically averaged mates. A greater number of variations increases that number exponentially. So it’s not just black men for whom there is an appeal.
In fact, where as many black women believe that more and more black men are going for white women, there is a far greater number of white men going for black women. It is just not as publicised as unions between black men and white women – largely because of a sensational bias.
A white man taking a black woman for a wife doesn’t carry the same appeal as a black man taking a white woman in the same capacity. The latter is seen as more of a triumph (however silly) of the black race considering the history of race relations between white and black men. The former however, isn’t considered as such.
The truth is that a lot of highly successful black women face a crisis when it comes to finding a suitable black man as a mate. It is a well documented fact that black women tend to be more xenophobic than black men. They are far more reserved about marrying outside of their race than black men. However, the shortage of good black male stock has forced many black women to relax their ethnic preferences when looking for love.
The reality of the situation though is that most black men prefer conspicuously curvaceous women, of which black women are the clear front runners, seconded only by latino women. White American culture by contrast seems to have a weird obsession with unhealthily thin females. In that context, a thin white woman does not appeal to any black man – irrespective of social engineering.
Then again, there are people who have a natural taste for the exotic. As I had mentioned before, there are actually more white men who have a taste for black women than vice versa (U.S. Census 2005). In fact, white men are many times more likely to marry outside of their race than any other. Thus the contention about black men desiring white women is largely the stuff of either racism or gross insecurity.
Myth:
Black men prefer white women because they’re more docile and less obnoxious.
Fact:
All women carry the genetic traits that make them naturally more dramatic than men. There is no evidence to suggest that black women are more dramatic or obnoxious than white women – stronger nerves maybe, but not necessarily more obnoxious. That last part has more to do with culture than it does ethnicity. Nobody is naturally more ignorant because they are black (although some think that is debatable).
This illusion is nothing more than a function of social constructs which separate the educated rich and the uneducated poor. Then there is the misrepresentation of black people (by black people) in the media. Black culture as defined by black people sells black women as loud, obnoxious distasteful women as is often portrayed by Tyler Perry’s Madea films.
Women from all races behave in more or less the same way in western culture according to social predisposition. White “trailer trash” Betty-Maes are often no less crass than the black “ghetto mom” Laquisha’s. On the other hand, sophisticated, successful black women are often indistinguishable from their educated caucasian counterparts.
In fact, one of the social constructs that many people conveniently ignore is that black women who grow up in white suburban neighbourhoods acquiesce the behavioural patterns of the other kids in their environment as they grow up. These girls are then unfairly accused by their black friends of “acting white” and going after white boys in social situations.
One’s environment goes a long way towards influencing behaviour and preference. You can observe the same pattern among a lot of black men who end up marrying white women. However, many people conveniently ignore this and create their own fallacious presuppositions that white women are somehow out to get them.
Golf God Tiger Woods with Super Model wife Elin Nordergen
Myth:
Black men prefer white women as a status symbol.
Fact:
There are a number of reasons why a black man would marry a white woman, and virtually none of them have anything to do with using her as a glorified hood ornament just because she’s white – no pun intended. I’m pretty sure if most black women had a Michele Obama or Beyoncé Knowles or Rihanna appeal, this idea would vapourise immediately.
Men go after trophy wives. That’s a fact. Whether they are black or white is irrelevant. A trophy wife is usually that über-femme that has distinguished herself in such a way that having her on any man’s arm would make him look like the penultimate alpha male, irrespective of her ethnicity. Men don’t select women exclusively for ethnicity. It’s largely about raw sex appeal. Whichever package presents it best gets the most votes (or penises).
There are many white men who go after unusually well endowed black trophy wives (like David Bowie and Iman). But you never hear about those. There are many black men whose black wives are sex icons (like Jay-Z’s wife, Beyoncé). But you never hear any contention about those either. How odd is it then that it is the black men notching a hot white girlfriend who get all this negative attention?
A white woman is perceived as being a trophy wife to a black man not because she’s white, but rather because her appearance renders her exotic. It would be no different if he had married an Asian, an Indian or any other female who is conspicuously not black. Thus the quintessential nature of the hypocrisy is exposed as little more than another manifestation of an inferiority complex.
I feel bad for those black men who married for true love only to be made out as a villain or a traitor by his black sister folk just because he’s the only person who showed up at the family reunion with a woman who looked different from all the other women there. White men who married non-white women face a similar kind of nonsense everyday. I guess people are naturally stupid that way.
Myth:
White women go for black men because they have larger penises.
Fact:
Medical doctors will certify that there are probably as many white men with a large penis as there are black men. The average size of the male penis remains relatively the same across ethnic groups, averaging out at 5.9 inches. People believe otherwise because of the sensationalist fantasy of a black man pummeling a helpless white female as is often propagated in pornographic movies.
To be fair however, there is a larger population of black men who appear to have a larger penis. To understand why this is, you have to examine male anatomy. In most men, a part of the penile shaft is hidden inside the body, connected by a ligament to the pelvic bone. This hidden portion is about an additional 2 cm in length. Penis enlargement surgeries simply cut this ligament so that the penis hangs down further.
Now the penis has three main uses: 1. Urination 2. Intercourse and (less known) 3. To act as a heat sink. The penis shrinks during cold weather, and extends during warm climate. However, the penises of African men drop further out of the body because of the heat. This allows the vascular action of warm blood circulating in the penis to dissipate the excess heat in their bodies in the warm African climate.
Scandinavian men by comparison don’t need this extra heat dissipation feature as they live in the colder climatic regions of the planet. But their penises are essentially the same length. It’s just that most of it is withdrawn into the body. This is why penis enlargement surgery rarely has any useful effect on men of African descent. It was largely designed for Caucasian and Asian men.
Now, natural selection in the African continent has given the men with more of their penis external to the body a much greater preference by choice females for reproduction. Over the centuries, the men who had weaker pelvic ligaments (and thus the appearance of a longer penis) reproduced more. Even though their numbers grew, they still do not outnumber African men with a standard length penis.
Most of these men with a longer phallus are of West African descent, and thus constitute the black men of today’s African-Americans and Caribbean nationals. They are specifically black men who have settled in the American South and northern Caribbean territories like the Bahamas, Cuba and Jamaica. The large majority of other black men have an average sized penis.
Pornographic movies have no doubt capitalized on this and popularised the misconception that black men somehow categorically have larger penises. This is simply not true. If there was some genetic consistency with black men for having larger penises, that would imply that black women have correspondingly deeper (or stretchier?) vaginas. However, they don’t.
In fact, most women (black or white) will tell you that a man with an unusually lengthy penis is more frightening than one with a standard sized shaft. Many men try to insert the entire phallus into a woman, even though the vagina is barely 4 inches deep. This means that the extra length will most often infringe upon the cervix, causing great pain and discomfort.
So size does matter to a woman – particularly if she doesn’t want to become permanently injured. So what about the massive black penises that are often seen in porn movies?
The monster phallus of black actors seen in porn are augmented – just like the breasts of almost every white woman that co-stars. While porn rarely uses special effects, the actors are nothing more than plastic surgery sculptures – animated effigies of the ultimate male and female fantasy couple. However, 5.9 inches is more than enough penis to please any woman – whether she is black or white. Thus this myth is utter rubbish.
At this point, I would say that one shouldn’t believe everything seen on TV. So do yourselves a favour: Kill your television. It will free you of 9/10ths of the rubbish that is commonly propagated in western civilization. It will also save yourself some useful brain matter in the process for more important tasks.
Conclusion
The Tiger woods family
So do black men really prefer white women? Absolutely not. There is no evidence to suggest this to be even remotely true. In actuality, the question is irrelevant as love warrants no justification. Even if there are black men out there who prefer fairer characteristics, the large majority of black men still prefer black women. The concept of black men preferring white women is largely the product of sensationalist propaganda and stereotypical misrepresentation.
Additionally, most people are naturally xenophobic. Therefore interracial unions are not very commonplace – even though it occurs with greater regularity in the Caribbean and the UK. This means that black men who are open to white women are still in the stark minority – even though this is probably no consolation to the black women out there who have lost their black male lovers to a white woman. Consequently, that leads to another question:
Is that the real reason why black women don these aesthetic modifications like weaves and coloured contacts to make them appear more white? I don’t know for certain. However, the fact that Black African females almost never do this insinuates that this practice by black females in the west is most probably related to immersion in white dominated societies featuring white dominated media.
Either way, I don’t think black females in the west will be honest about this practice, so I won’t even bother to ask. The cognitive dissonance that produces the needless suspicion of black men with white women probably speaks more to insecurity than to any genuine reason to fear such a thing. If black women were truly in danger of loosing their black men, the race would have been more substantially diluted by now – not that such is necessarily a bad thing.
The people who are xenophobic like the racist aryan neo-nazis and the hypocritical insecure black folk who terrorize people who dare to love outside of the box have their own inexplicable preferences as well. Their hypocrisy is thus unforgivable. While everyone is entitled to their preferences, true love has no colour, culture, religion, race, class, creed or social demarcation.
We’ve come a long way since the dark ignorant days of Miscegenation. So for all the interracial antagonists out there, know this: Love is free. It always has been and always will be and there’s absolutely nothing you can do to stop it.
