# Are black women generally less attractive then white women? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 27, 2009, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163 "2009-01-27T01:16:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163/221 "2010-07-31T16:13:07Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > > [@descamisado](#): > > > > Uhm, no. While it is true that my brothers and cousins had their noses wide open as teenagers for a chance to fuck a particular, willing white girl, she was a dog by any standards and they freely admitted it. They just panting after her just because they wanted the opportunity to say they fucked a white girl, not because she was particularly hot. > > Uhm, yes. > > Even though she was a dog, she was white, and therefore “attractive” in a way that a black girl who was equally a dog could not be. This conclusion is silly. Before my husband was my husband he worked at a place with a bunch of white guys who were all keen to get with a black woman. Why? Because none of them had and they thought it would be cool to say they’d been with a black chick. The same guys used to say how they wanted to have sex with a dwarf, a woman with a prostetic limb, a woman over 6 feet tall, whatever. In every case it had nothing to do with the supposed attractiveness of the woman and everything to do with being able to put another notch on their man-slut belt. It’s all male posturing and has nothing to do with the woman’s looks. As to if black women are less attractive than white women - uh, no. There are many beautiful black women in the world, and many dog ugly white women. Same goes for every other race as well. It’s perfectly reasonable for a person to say that 'Race X is less attractive _TO ME_" but to try to generalize is absurd. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163/222 "2010-07-31T16:16:31Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > As to if black women are less attractive than white women - uh, no. There are many beautiful black women in the world, and many dog ugly white women. Same goes for every other race as well. It’s perfectly reasonable for a person to say that 'Race X is less attractive _TO ME_" but to try to generalize is absurd. Seriously. This is my point. I cannot believe people are trying to discuss this as though it were some serious debate. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163/223 "2010-07-31T16:34:18Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > > [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > > > As to if black women are less attractive than white women - uh, no. There are many beautiful black women in the world, and many dog ugly white women. Same goes for every other race as well. It’s perfectly reasonable for a person to say that 'Race X is less attractive _TO ME_" but to try to generalize is absurd. > > Seriously. This is my point. I cannot believe people are trying to discuss this as though it were some serious debate. Are you saying that it’s ridiculous that people would find black women unattractive or are you saying that it’s ridiculous that one race could be objectively more attractive than another? I don’t think I’m a racist but, what can I say? I’m attracted to what I’m attracted to. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163/224 "2010-07-31T16:36:49Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Are you saying that it’s ridiculous that people would find black women unattractive or are you saying that it’s ridiculous that one race could be objectively more attractive than another? The latter. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163/225 "2010-07-31T16:44:26Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Are you saying that it’s ridiculous that people would find black women unattractive or are you saying that it’s ridiculous that one race could be objectively more attractive than another? > > I don’t think I’m a racist but, what can I say? I’m attracted to what I’m attracted to. I would have thought this made it fairly clear: > [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > It’s perfectly reasonable for a person to say that 'Race X is less attractive _TO ME_" but to try to generalize is absurd. If you’re attracted to purple polka-dotted women with only one leg, 4 arms and a full facial tattoo that’s entirely up to you but to suggest that women with those characteristics are more attractive, _generally_, than women with other characteristics is absurd. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163/226 "2010-07-31T16:46:10Z")
Yeah, it seems obvious now. Haven’t slept in over 24 hours. Let’s blame that. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163/227 "2010-07-31T16:52:31Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Yeah, it seems obvious now. Haven’t slept in over 24 hours. Let’s blame that. 😛 Have a nap big guy - you’ll feel better. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BigBertha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163/228 "2010-07-31T16:59:10Z")
I read only the Op and was sure it was a joke, who on earth wouldn’t find Beyonce attractive? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163/229 "2010-07-31T17:07:08Z")
> [@BigBertha](#): > > I read only the Op and was sure it was a joke, who on earth wouldn’t find Beyonce attractive? Me, for one. She CAN look halfway decent, but she looks bloated much of the time, at least these days. I did not go to see her when she performed in Bangkok a year or two ago, but from the photos, she looked pretty fat. The newspapers all remarked on that, too. I find her face rather harsh. Too angular. She looks like she’d make a wicked dominatrix. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163/230 "2010-07-31T18:06:42Z")
I don’t get the special appeal granted to Beyounce. She’s pretty, but it’s an artificial kind of prettiness. Obviously fake hair, a nose that’s been worked on, and (in my suspicious mind) artificially lightened skin detracts from beauty rather than enhances it. My litmus test for attractiveness is how a person looks without those special effects. I don’t think Bey would fair well. She wouldn’t be ugly, of course, but I don’t think she’d be turning heads either. Of course, YMMV. I love that movie “A Bronx Tale”. One reason is because the black girl in it is so beautiful–and in such a simple, genuine way–that it’s hard to imagine how any of those macho guys could not fall head over hills for her. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163/231 "2010-07-31T18:10:42Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > > [@descamisado](#): > > > > Uhm, no. While it is true that my brothers and cousins had their noses wide open as teenagers for a chance to fuck a particular, willing white girl, she was a dog by any standards and they freely admitted it. They just panting after her just because they wanted the opportunity to say they fucked a white girl, not because she was particularly hot. > > Uhm, yes. > > Even though she was a dog, she was white, and therefore “attractive” in a way that a black girl who was equally a dog could not be. She wasn’t more attractive than a black girl, even a dog, she was just a particular sexual experience my brothers and cousins wanted to say they’d had. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163/232 "2010-07-31T18:20:05Z")
They only screwed her because she was willing – very willing – so, if being “more attractive” is based on spreading your legs for anybody, then I guess she was. I know, you’re going to say she’s was more attractive than a Black woman because she was an easy target and therefore first choice, but then, under that criteria, so is a five-year-old (the ease not the willingness). ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163/233 "2010-07-31T21:28:53Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > > [@BigBertha](#): > > > > I read only the Op and was sure it was a joke, who on earth wouldn’t find Beyonce attractive? > > Me, for one. She CAN look halfway decent, but she looks bloated much of the time, at least these days. I did not go to see her when she performed in Bangkok a year or two ago, but from the photos, she looked pretty fat. The newspapers all remarked on that, too. I find her face rather harsh. Too angular. She looks like she’d make a wicked dominatrix. I think Beyonce’s cute, and most people would find her pretty attractive, but not those who prefer slender women. My boyfriend thinks her thighs are unfortunate… But ‘angular’? [This](http://topnews.in/light/files/Beyonce-Knowles3.jpg) is almost the definition of ‘soft features’, to me. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163/234 "2010-07-31T21:39:21Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I don’t get the special appeal granted to Beyounce. She’s pretty, but it’s an artificial kind of prettiness. Obviously fake hair, a nose that’s been worked on, and (in my suspicious mind) artificially lightened skin detracts from beauty rather than enhances it. Ehh…Fake hair in the black community = fake tan in white community. In other words, it is common accessory that I think has little or nothing to do with race. And as for [her nose](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://turbo.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2009/10/beyonce-knowles.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.inquisitr.com/49960/beyonce-knowles-life-sacrifice/&usg=__fIKPq5gDrUgPfGfyFOksoZ0Ay0E=&h=400&w=300&sz=29&hl=en&start=3&tbnid=nJjYenZQG3coxM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=93&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbeyonce%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1T4ADFA_enUS340US341%26biw%3D1419%26bih%3D637%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1), it looks like any of hundreds of black noses that I see every day. Not particularly angular. Most black noses I see aren’t exactly spread wide across the face as a lot of people seem to think of when they think of black noses. My [own nose is rounded](http://www.flickr.com/photos/12477794@N02/4847544526/) without being really spread out in that cool way a lot of African noses are. So, I don’t think it’s a given that her nose had work. Ditto with the skin lightening. She seems kinda carmel brown, not exactly [lil’ Kim style light](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://cest.moi0.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/lil-kim-now.jpg&imgrefurl=http://cest.moi0.tripod.com/id6.html&h=318&w=230&sz=16&tbnid=JOeojtMezAWScM:&tbnh=254&tbnw=184&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dlil%2Bkim%2Bskin&usg=__tIVXecjFB6yDKFJe5OOVrtjTNu4=&sa=X&ei=H5VUTLmpB4KC8ga3yrH8BA&ved=0CBkQ9QEwAw). So, yeah, those are just my opinions on Beyonce. By the way, I think she’s pretty overall. Very pretty. Speaking from an inner-city urban black angle: When I was a kid, I thought being barbie beautiful was where it was AT. Anything else was not pretty. But the ghetto is weird…it is sort of…outside of society in some ways. Not to go all over the place with this, but you know how in the book 1984 the protoganist talks about how free the Proles are because they are pretty much ignored by larger society? Yeah, the ghetto can feel like that sometimes. So we sometimes create this world for ourselves that would seem so foreign to those outside of it that they would think we were making it up if we opened up about it too much. For instance, the idea that Hallie Berry would be considered white, or even mixed in the hood is crazy. She would be one of dozens of pretty ‘light-skindded’ black girls around. No one would even know she was mixed. Someone like Mariah Carey would be pegged as mixed, but probably called black. It’s weird. Another example of how blacks in the inner city may see beauty very differently from others is who is touted as hot in the media. Someone like Tyra Banks wouldn’t really be considered hot in the hood. I mean by that, some random thick as grits black girl walking into the party with her would most likely steal all her thunder. I still get mildly surprised when anyone in the ‘outer world’ finds black women attractive, because I have actually started to believe that our beauty was something that only we in the trenches recognize. I mean, I can’t even link to a picture of the kind of girl that gets the most attention in the hood, because there is no representation of her in the media. Not even in hip hop videos. I mean, back in the day, when rap videos first came out, you might find some girls that folks in the hood call really beautiful or hot or whatever. But now adays, you only get a representation of what white America calls beautiful, which is different than how we actually see it. I know I can’t speak for all of the nations ghettos, only the ones that I’m familiar with, only from my perspective, but I would say that yes, overall, I think black women are less attractive than other women, _if by that we mean what do most people overall think of black women. If one asks me personally what I think of the beauty of black women_, I would have to say I find black women in general, the most beautiful women in the world. I get the feeling that people have a picture of what they think a black woman is and anyone that doesn’t hit that dead on is called ‘black but white features’ or something. That pic even sven linked to looks like any of hundreds of black American girls I know. I can’t imagine the mental gymnastics I would have to do to see her as black but somehow not really black. If it were determined that most people in most societies consider black women less attractive (we can only speak subjectively, obviously, when it comes to something like this) then I don’t see how that should bother or offend anyone at all. Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder, and when certain people that you adore find you beautiful, that’s all that matters. I can assure you, there is no shortage of great men that find black women gorgeous. There was this white girl in the hood that was gorgeous. Men, white and black, were always chasing her. Problem was, the kinds of dudes she was into, which was the more militant 5%ers\* in our circle weren’t interested. The moment she would land one of the ones she felt was militant and pro-black enough for her, they cancelled themselves out just by showing interest, so she was back to square one. She wanted a particular kind of ‘beholder’ to find her beautiful, and it was a fruitless journey. There are all kinds of beholders out there that will find her beautiful and that will find black women beautiful. We shouldn’t get caught up in ‘who’s the hawtest kind of woman evah’ games. \*5%ers are a group of black men that consider themselves Gods, known in black ghettos ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163/235 "2010-07-31T22:56:14Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > I still get mildly surprised when anyone in the ‘outer world’ finds black women attractive, because I have actually started to believe that our beauty was something that only we in the trenches recognize. So, I’m curious about this. I find [Alek](http://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/books/a-model-life-revealed/story-e6freqkx-1111114773751) to be [absurdly](http://www.forumtime.it/Forum/index.php?showtopic=4862&mode=threaded&pid=30479) [beautiful](http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/0a2j6Mihl2S/Model+Muse+Embodying+Fashion+Costume+Institute/2QE8EIoQgh2/Alek+Wek). Like I could stare at pics of her for hours and hours (there are a few gals like this). I also think she has a more stereotypically ‘black’ look - natural hair, wider nose, darker skin, etc. If Alek walked into a ghetto party (assuming she was dressed in an appropriate way and acting in an appealing way) would she get any play with the fellas, or would they totally ignore her in favour of someone else? ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163/236 "2010-07-31T23:45:34Z")
Ok, alice, you know I don’t speak for all ghetto black folks, and I can only speculate and give my own opinion, so hear it is, from the heart. She would get lots of attention. She is gorgeous, and if she showed up dressed and looking like a Vogue model, dudes will eat that up, especially in the older clubs, what we call ‘the grown and sexy clubs’ which usually attracts upper 20s to mid 30s. Now, she is not the typical hood hottie. There are many flavors of that, but she isn’t really fitting any of those. Doesn’t matter, because she is hot enough to overcome the typical hottie rules. For instance, shaved heads are super duper trendy in the clubs right now. Mohawks are popular in like music videos and stuff, but on the street level, straight up bald or verrrry short naturals are trending hard right now. So she’s hot. But the typical ghetto hottie might look something like this; Brown skinned (not really lightskinned and not really dark) Slimmer in the waist, _ **very thick** _ in the thighs, hips, ass, tits. Bigger lips, nice weave, pretty smile, dimples. A lot of black people like what we sometimes call ‘chinky eyes’. (my apologies to my Asian board members). That means that girls that have eyes that are very almond shaped are often praised for that. That is the typical kind of girl that gets a ton of attention from guys in the hood. But there are so many variations of beauty, in so many shades and shapes that I hesitate to pin things down. I’m just trying to crack the door a bit on the ‘ghetto angle’ for anyone who is interested in my viewpoint. If a girl with all the attributes I noted were to enter a ‘fine as hell’ contest in any party in any hood I have been to, (and hood partying is kind of a thing for me, from NYC to Boston to D.C. to Vegas to Detroit, to Philly, etc…) she is going to win, and I would put my rent on her over any other female, including Pamela Anderson in her heyday, or Tyra Banks in hers. And I have seen a lot of different beauty standards across classes when it comes to black folks, and I know I would get exhausted trying to reach across all of those demographics, so I’m offering my opinion on what I see in black ghettos in particular, since black ghettos are what I know and love the most. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163/237 "2010-08-01T03:31:06Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > My boyfriend thinks her thighs are unfortunate… I think they’re her best features. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163/238 "2010-08-01T12:11:16Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > Before my husband was my husband he worked at a place with a bunch of white guys who were all keen to get with a black woman. Why? Because none of them had and they thought it would be cool to say they’d been with a black chick. > [@descamisado](#): > > She wasn’t more attractive than a black girl, even a dog, she was just a particular sexual experience my brothers and cousins wanted to say they’d had. The “badge of honour” hypothesis doesn’t really work as an explanation for anything. The stats on interracial relationships, are about _relationships_, not one-night stands, and badge of honour is surely not going to be as important a factor. And the fact is, statistically, black guys pair up with white women much more often than white guys with black women. If it were all about novelty and/or bragging rights it should all balance out. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163/239 "2010-08-01T12:18:26Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > The stats on interracial relationships, are about _relationships_ …not to imply anyone mentioned relationships. What I was trying to say was “Even if we restrict our discussion to relationships…” ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163/240 "2010-08-01T14:13:50Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > What I was trying to say was “Even if we restrict our discussion to relationships…” Why would we do that? **Shodan’s** goofy assertion is that because a bunch of black guys he used to know wanted to have sex with an ugly white woman, that must mean that white woman are hotter than black women. To me, that conclusion is totally absurd - they wanted to have sex with the ugly white woman because she was willing, and she was a novelty. Hotness or not-hotness had nothing to do with it (at least IMHO). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-black-women-generally-less-attractive-then-white-women/483163.md?page=13)