The Most Desirable Race

With America composed of many different races, a question may or may not have loomed in your mind: what race do you prefer to date?

If you have not seen the video, here is the synopsis: a survey was conducted by men and women of different races to see what gender each race preferred. Over 2.4 million people who use the dating app Are You Interested (AYI) were analyzed.

In the first result, Asian, Latino and White women were more likely to respond to White men, while Black women were likely to respond to Black men. Black, Latino and White Men were more likely to respond Asian women and Asian men were more likely to respond to Latino women. When it came to the lowest response rates, Latino, White and Asian women responded the least to Black men while Black women responded least to White men. When men were analyzed, all races responded least to Black women. These next pictures get into the specifics.





The first data table shows the reply rate of men senders to females. This records how females see men of other races as well as the women's response rate with the green color as a high response rate and the red color as being little to no response rate. If you are color blind, numbers 33 and above are high response rates, numbers 27-33 fall under average response rates, and numbers 27 and lower fall under low response rates.







This next data table shows the reply rate of female senders to males. This records how men see females of different races and record the response rates of the males. Just like the previous table, the colors are as followed: the green color is a high response rate and the red color is a little to no response rate. If you are color blind, numbers 33 and above are high response rates, numbers 27-33 fall under average response rates, and numbers 27 and lower fall under low response rates.



The third table sets to find how inclined the respondents were to dating people of their own race.



This last table takes into account the other two tables and averages the matches out. Unlike the other tables, the numbers are significantly higher but the colors are in the order of green as most likely match, yellow as an average match and red as an indication for a least likely match. A green color is 62 and above while a yellow color is from 58-62 and red is anything below 58.



So by looking at these charts what trends can be established? It can be said that women get much more interaction with male respondents than male senders with female respondents. This is because women a\tend to be more selective about who they choose to date. Men seem to respond more to the women who reply to their advances. All men seem to like women outside their race but White men seem to get the most replies from every group of females. Black men and black women get the lowest response rates to their messages, however, black women respond the most. And finally, as much as white women are drawn to white men, Asians and Latinos are more exclusively attracted to them.

After reading the results, I decided to ask my friends about what races they preferred. My friend Rabi, who is African-American told me she prefers black men. My other friend Jaime, who is Asian, prefers Hispanic and Latino men. I asked my friend Margo, who is white , about her preference, and she said that she like white and Hispanic males. It's funny because her boyfriend is both White and Hispanic so I guess that she gets the best of both worlds? Annabel, another one of my African-American friend, said that she preferred both white and black men.

I then asked one of my male friend about who he preferred. My Asian friend Eddy was shocked when he heard the results. He said that he was surprised to find that Black men scored the lowest and that it should be Asian men who should score the lowest, the Chinese men in particular. Why Chinese men? He says that they get the short end of the stick when it comes to attractiveness, especially himself. My Chinese friend Jaime also seems to agree. I then proceeded to say that the people who were involved in the survey probably refer to Korean KPop singers as the epitome of attractiveness. As attractive as they are, Eddy says that they all look the same due to plastic surgery and they are all skinny and feminine looking, however, they have mad dance skills.I then asked him who he prefers and he responded by saying that he prefers Middle Eastern women.

After my friends told me their answers they also added on something else. In this day and age, judging someone on race can be very bias and subjective and if you really want to be with somebody, then you should go for it, and I couldn't agree with them more. I, myself, am not attracted to any specific race, however, if I ever do end up falling love, race will not play a factor in it.

FOBs,ABCs,Desis

To understand the classification of the various groups presented, we first must understand the specific immigration system. A first generation immigrant is one who has moved from another country. A 1.5 generation immigrant is one who was born in their home country, but was then relocated another country at an early age. A second generation immigrant is a child of an immigrant. With this in mind, let's examine a couple of groups that has emerged from immigration.

ABC is the first group. American born Chinese, exist exclusively in America and are usually the children of immigrants. To my surprise, there is a graphic novel about this topic.

Desi, a relatively new term, is an exclusive term for the population of South Asia. This term is different in the fact that it mostly apply to first generation immigrants. The age can vary but the people do not want to deviate from their cultural heritage.

So let's understand the significance behind these two groups. ABC was most likely created by second generation immigrants to diverge from the stereotypical Asian. Almost all ABCs I know play at least one instrument, take as many AP classes as they can, are involved with the school, study, and play tennis. Another group of ABCs are equally smart, but instead of being physically active, they are cooped up in their rooms playing League of Legends. An interesting fact to note is that in China, if you are good at video games, you can drop out of school at an early age and become a full-time gamer. Obviously, you would have to win, but the cash prizes that are offered are very lucrative.  The Dota 2 tournament for 2014 gave the winners a five million dollar cash prize. In China, these gamers are held high and respected as celebrities.

Desis, are created by South Asians. "Desh" is a Sanskrit term meaning "one from our own country" and in the past couple of years or so, it has been popularized by Bollywood.

In my opinion, the Desi mindset can be very different at times. A quality of Desis is that they are very religious. The Red Revolution in China caused an absence of religion and this absence can be seen through present-day. Desis practically are born into religion. With almost every decision one makes, one must consider "God" in the equation. How will "God" see the solution. Will "God" forgive you if there are mistakes made? Because religion was embedded within the Desi, they push these beliefs down on their children, who are the 2nd generation. Living in America, morals are decayed and sexuality is explored, but Desis condemn this completely. The South Asian countries have thrived of off an arranged marriages, status and success. If one is married to a good family, one will become highly successful in their lives. What defines high status? A very lucrative job that can support the family, which is why Desis look to become doctors, engineers or lawyers. I kid you not, every Indian I have spoken to, who came from India, are here to obtain an engineering degree.

The bright side to this is the mindsets of younger Desis. When it comes to marriage, they want to marry the person they love, rather than having the family decide for them.Going back to religion for a bit, Desis are expected to be virgins when they marry. "God" is always watching so rather than humiliating yourself in this life, "God" will punish and humiliate you more in the afterlife. For an arranged marriage, the wedding itself, can last over a week, but there are many ceremonies involved, one of which is a turmeric ceremony. In this the bride and groom are at different locations (men and women are separated; men with the groom and women with the bride) and the family take turns applying the turmeric paste. The turmeric paste signifies virginity and only happens once in a person's life, so the idea of virginity is very scared, but ideas become loose overtime, and now many people are embracing sexuality, however, it is taboo and can be severely punished if caught. A relatable story to this is something that one of my friends experiences every now and then. He has lots of friends back home and he cannot send his girl friends any presents to their dorms because the mail at the dorms are extensively checked, so if it is shown that a male college student has sent a female student a present, everybody will be notified. To avoid this from happening, the present is purchased and mailed under my name. Nobody is notified, and it can prevent a lot of drama.

When looking back at these groups, these emerged as a result to emerge with the current society while holding on to cultural beliefs. The significance of these groups are vital in analyzing the impact of modernization and the affects it has on morality.

Fresh of the Boat Review

Television is a source of entertainment and every season a slew of new shows. Whether these shows are a hit or a miss are up to the ratings it gets, and chances are most shows won't even get past season one. It takes a lot of time for shows to create a a solid fan base and at the same time keep up-to-date with new material to keep the viewers interested.

With that in mind, it is important to note that a new season has started which a variety of new shows. I know that the "Big Bang Theory" and "Modern Family" might probably on of your favorite shows, but please check out and add ABC's newest show "Fresh of the Boat!"  

Here is the trailer for it:

It is a funny a witty show that plays on pretty much all of the typical stereotypes seen with each race (mostly Asian obviously) to create very racist and comedy gold. This is a story about how the main character tries to fit in with the "American crowd." He dresses like a hip-hop artist and dripping swag wherever he walks, just so that he looks cool enough to be noticed by other peers. He starts eating "white people" food and he also starts listening to rap music. The synopsis of this show is basically my life when I was growing up.

Coming from an immigrant family, I pretty much suffered the things the main character of this show suffers from and that is trying to fit in with the "American crowd." I would not go as far as blinging out with swag changing who I am completely, but I did change minor details to help me fit in. I would wear typical American clothes instead of dresses. I would not wear the hijab (nor was I forced to), and also, I would change the food that I would eat in the morning. A typical South Asian breakfast would consist of type of bread called a naan/roti/paratha complemented with a variety of different curries. Then after the meal, one would drink a cup of tea, similar to how people drink coffee in the morning. Well, I was never a big fan of coffee or tea, so I would walk out of the house just eating the curries and bread. This however, turned out to be a big mistake on my part. According to other students, I would smell funny. My breath would smell like asparagus (which is bad?) and mint from the toothpaste creating a combination of a horrible and stink.    

Kids would push themselves away from me and be with their own friend group. It is rare whether or not a random peer would come up and talk to you during the early elementary school phase. In order to make new friends, I would change up my game plan. I would eat "normal" American breakfasts such as cereal or waffles, and wear American clothing such as skirts and shorts. Even my parents tried to adjust to American culture by celebrating American holidays and wearing American clothes but as we all spent more time in America, we realized that it was our differences which made us unique. I started eating traditional South Asian cuisine for breakfast and started dressing more conservatively. By making little adjustments, I was able to fit in the perfect amount I wanted to fit into the "American culture" while still retaining my South Asian identity.  I think that this show will show will portray the main character's transition from be a "hip-American" to coming back to his roots.

One of the main controversies this show has is its title. "Fresh of the boat" can be shortened to an acronym called FOB or FOBS in its plural form, which is mostly used by Asians to my knowledge. Basically, it means first generation immigrants. These people can be classified as people who have a very thick accent, eats very weird food, dresses strangely, and among many other things, have mannerisms that might or might not be socially acceptable. Even though most of the kids who are just like me are of different  ethnicity and are American born, we do not want to associate ourselves with these FOBS because they ruin our "social status."


.......to be continued

Multiculturalism: The White Effect

America is a hub of cultural diversity. According to my book, America is the most diverse place in the world. In no other country has there been an encouragement of cultural diversity than in America.  According to a poll conducted by the PewResearchCenter, Latinos will soon become the majority in the state of California. Most countries would rather stick to traditions, which isn't a bad thing, but it may challenge modern cultural ideals. The most noticeable clash between traditionalism and modernism is westernization.

It is a common theme in life that people want what they don't have. If one has naturally curly hair, one would wish it was straight. If one wants a different hair color, one changes it. Things such as these can be changed without affecting anyone severely, however, what if the issue is skin color? In the following video the black doll white doll experiment was conducted.

According to the kids in the video, the experiment shows that they will almost always choose the white doll over the black doll because there is a preconceived notion that black means bad. Sadly, this preconceived notion doesn't just exist in Africa, but in Asia as well. For example, South Korea has the highest rate of plastic surgery in the world, and it is not just face lifts and boob jobs, but surgeries that make the skin "whiter." In my opinion, these surgeries make the person look like a a pale dead body, but that is none of my business now is it?

These surgeries can be costly so the people who cannot afford it do the next best thing, they bleach their skin. South Asian countries such as India and Bangladesh have an unnatural obsession of fair skin because for generations, women in these countries have been raised to believe that fair skin equals beauty. Men in these countries also are led by this belief and will almost always be attracted to fair skinned women rather than the ones with darker complexion. In arrange marriages, besides the influence and good nature of the family, if the groom's side of the family sees that the bride is dark skinned, it may be the deciding factor to call of the decision of marriage, no matter how educated the bride is.

I remembered that when one of my cousins was looking for a potential marriage partner, most people would not choose her because she had a darker skin tone, even though she was a doctor! She eventually found someone, who was also dark skinned, and they both eventually got married, and let me tell you the pictures of her marriage are horrible! Because of the white-obsessed culture, the make-up that was put on her made her look like a china doll or a very creepy clown. Do you know how becoming black faced is seen as being "offensive," try being white faced, and sadly, everyone was praising her for her so-called "beauty."

It has come to a point in these countries that almost all of Bollywood's actors and actresses are fair skinned. It is an unwritten requirement in Bollywood that in order to be successful, you need to be white. Because the industry of Bollywood is influential, in this part of the world, whatever the actors and actresses do, say, wear, and are the "thing" of now and their bodies are no exception. Skinniness, tallness, and fairness are the forms of beauty for almost all males and females and with the influence of westernization, these beliefs have been reinforce time and time again with extravagant music videos where the back-up dancers are white while the main dancers are of Indian descent,

but obsession over whiteness is a very big problem, to the point that the idea behind it indirectly causes the riots we see in the current news. In the case of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Gardener and hundreds if not thousands of other African-Americans who have died, the reason for their deaths is always justified with their skin color, as well as a somewhat logical reasoning,but it is hard to avoid the influence the skin color has during the event and the decision making process.

It is odd that in America, the idea of beauty when it comes to skin color is the other way around. A somewhat darker complexion is more attractive that a pale complexion, in order words, a tanner skin tone is attractive. I will never understand why people would even try to damage themselves in order to achieve the natural state of beauty, but then again I can never step in their shoes. I am a light-skinned South Asian who also has the desired tan that white people sought to be and unfortunately, I do not know how to approach the solution to this problem. I believe that everyone is beautiful in their own skin and that this obsession over white skin is a different form of white supremacy.

Multi1

This blog is about the impact of multiculturalism.