# Social Stereotypes vs. Truth. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 3, 2000, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-stereotypes-vs-truth/28057 "2000-08-03T22:51:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![muffinman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@muffinman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muffinman)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2000, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-stereotypes-vs-truth/28057/1 "2000-08-03T22:51:32Z")
I’ve noticed several social stereotypes that seem to have at least some basis in reality. #1: Overweight Black Women. Does obesity run higher in black women, and is this a result of cutural factors (more accepted) or biological factors. #2: Asians w/ Eyeglasses: We all know the old stereotypes of the japanese as having gigantic glasses, but is there any truth to this? Do asians have more frequent of more severe vision problems. #3: Disclaimer: Please do not flame me. I am not coming here to spout off racial rhetoric or incite anger. These are questions that have puzzled me for some time. After all, I live in hillbilly land of north Florida. I KNOW that theres basis for all the stereotypes of us folks here. (I.E. My great-uncle was once quoted in the newspaper saying “I like my women like I like my coffee… sweet, hot, and WHITE!” Incedentally, he was also Sherrif at the time… IN TALLAHASSEE, OUR BELOVED CAPITAL! ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2000, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-stereotypes-vs-truth/28057/2 "2000-08-03T23:01:16Z")
I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to your question. Interestingly enough, I asked my girlfriend the exact same thing concerning Asians and eyeglasses (she’s Korean). She didn’t know the answer either, but it certainly seems to be the case. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2000, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-stereotypes-vs-truth/28057/3 "2000-08-03T23:52:05Z")
I assume that you are referring to obesity in black women, about which I have no knowledge except guesses. However, there is a grain of truth in the fact that black people (of African descent) have denser internal structures, such as bones. That’s why, although blacks have succeeded at nearly every sport, and are now by far the majority, there are very few black swimmers. They sink. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2000, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-stereotypes-vs-truth/28057/4 "2000-08-03T23:55:53Z")
> [@](#): > > That’s why, although blacks have succeeded at nearly every sport, and are now by far the majority, there are very few black swimmers. They sink. I live in an apartment complex that’s about 65% black, and we have a pool, and I can assure you, they do not sink. ---
**Author:** ![Yue\_Han](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/eada6e/32.png) [@Yue\_Han](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yue_Han)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-stereotypes-vs-truth/28057/5 "2000-08-04T00:13:37Z")
The “black bones are heavier” thing has been, err, floated here before, and the general consensus was: There are few great black swimmers for the same reason there are few great black tennis players and golfers: Money. Swimming pools cost money. Access to golf courses and tennis courts cost money. Poor people don’t often excel in those sports. And sadly, a lot of black people are poor. (Also, even affluent black people, until very recently- and sometimes even now- have been barred by prejudice from facilities such as country clubs that offer pools, tennis, and golf.) –John ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-stereotypes-vs-truth/28057/6 "2000-08-04T01:33:18Z")
Yes, black American women are more prone to obesity than white American women. See [http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/journal/race\_class/othergirlsstuff.html](http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/journal/race_class/othergirlsstuff.html) > [@](#): > > The statistics are startling. Sixty-six percent of African-American women are overweight and 37 percent are technically obese, meaning that they are 30 percent above ideal body weight. The figures for Mexican-American women are similar: 66 percent overweight and 33 percent obese. For Caucasian women, the figures are slightly lower with 49 percent considered overweight and 24 percent, obese. Asian-American women are less prone to obesity than white American women. > [@](#): > > Recent research shows that social class measured by income and education can be more powerful than genetics in predicting future health problems, including obesity. ---
**Author:** ![Needs2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5e925/32.png) [@Needs2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Needs2know)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-stereotypes-vs-truth/28057/7 "2000-08-04T12:11:04Z")
I can remember watching a program quite awhile back that profiled women and children on assistance programs. I used to often see women paying for their groceries with food stamps and wondered why they were so fat! The state government must be feeding them pretty good. Stupid me! This program addressed the fact that families on assistance often had very poor diets nutritionally. Their budgets did not allow for lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, which are more costly. Neither did the fact that their checks came in once a month and didn’t allow for frequent trips to the grocery store. Their diets were often very high in fat. I can remember it showed a woman (not black) boiling balogna for dinner. There is also a cultural difference in the foods that many African Americans eat. I would imagine this goes for Hispanic people also. Their traditional diets are loaded with high fat foods. But then I’m Southern and a traditional Southern diet is also high in fat. You know…“PORK FAT RULES” Needs2know ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-stereotypes-vs-truth/28057/8 "2000-08-04T12:27:52Z")
About the eyeglasses thing: I have no idea if there is a correlation between large eyeglasses and any particular race or ethnic group. However, I can tell you a little about bad eyes and large eyeglasses from personal experience. It used to be that if you had any eye problem that required a large degree of correction, you were stuck with thick lenses and clunky frames to hold them in. Now, however, corrective lenses are available in plastics which can be made significantly thinner than glass lenses. Hallelujah, says this myopic one; in spite of being blind as a bat, I can wear small, wire-framed glasses that don’t dominate my whole face. (Also my nose no longer has those weird dark spots where the glasses touch it.) So in the past it was possible that a group of people more prone to vision problems would also be more likely to wear clunky looking frames, but it is becoming less likely now - the new lenses have been around long enough that many of the old glasses will be wearing out and needing replacement. HOWEVER, don’t overlook the possibility that the true explanation is as simple as this: the cheap frames are often the clunky looking ones. People who don’t have the money to buy more stylish frames, or who come from a culture that frowns on spending large amounts for personal vanity, would therefore also be more likely to wear clunky looking eyeglasses. I strongly suspect this is where the “geeks wear ugly glasses” stereotype comes from; the geek is likely to figure that the cheap ones work just as well, and there are other things he’d rather use the money for. ---
**Author:** ![zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a88e57/32.png) [@zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zero)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-stereotypes-vs-truth/28057/9 "2000-08-04T14:12:20Z")
Why do white people wipe their noses with their hands? Bonus question: Why don’t white people iron their clothes? ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-stereotypes-vs-truth/28057/10 "2000-08-04T14:28:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zero \* > \*\*Why do white people wipe their noses with their hands? > > Bonus question: Why don’t white people iron their clothes? > \*\* Troll. 1. It’s probably diet. I agree that a disproportionate number of the really, _really_ fat people I’ve encountered are black. As stated before, poor people tend to eat the cheap, fatty foods. And black society is Southern in nature, so their cuisine tends to include alot of fried foods. 2. Maybe it’s just style? On some types of faces (such as mine) large glasses look better than small ones. I’ve got wire frames, though, not the big bulky plastic frames. ---
**Author:** ![labdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5fc32e/32.png) [@labdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/labdude)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-stereotypes-vs-truth/28057/11 "2000-08-04T14:34:52Z")
In rich countries like the USA poverty and obesity often go together. About 50% of black people and 10% of white people live below the poverty level. Therefore, you get lots of fat black women. ---
**Author:** ![zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a88e57/32.png) [@zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zero)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-stereotypes-vs-truth/28057/12 "2000-08-04T14:52:58Z")
Generally a typical American diet seems to be higher in calories than many other countries. Some of the serving sizes on grocery food items and restaurant entrees are just colossal. Plus, an American diet is typically heavy in simple starches, like bread and sugar, and meats, which are high in fat. Maintaining a suitable weight while consuming these goodies requires a lot of effort. There’s a bias against larger women in Caucasian culture, but there doesn’t seem to be the same bias in some minority cultures. So, Caucasian women tend to be lighter, and blacks and Latinos tend to be heavier. IIRC, there’s also a statistically large amount of Caucasian women who suffer from anorexia and bulimia. As for the eyeglasses, I doubt there’s a correlation. There seems to be a lot of people in general who need eye devices. Perhaps Asian people are less likely to use contacts? ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-stereotypes-vs-truth/28057/13 "2000-08-04T15:42:16Z")
I believe there is a correlation between hours spent reading and eyeglasses. Asians tend to spend more hours reading and studying and do seem to have a higher incidence of myopia. Being fat is probably caused by poor habits which are due to several factors which tend to go together: lack of discipline, ignorance, poverty. I do not believe purchasing power is a _direct_ cause of a poor diet. I believe you can eat the healthiest diet for very little. It is more a matter of ignorance and lack of values and discipline. Here in DC you can see low income people eating greasy food at fast food places when for less money they could buy some fruits or vegetables. I once saw they asked a poor man why he was smoking and eating a bad diet when it would shorten his life and he shrugged and said: “My life is miserable; why would I want to make it last longer?” ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-stereotypes-vs-truth/28057/14 "2000-08-04T16:07:19Z")
I can’t say this for certain, but it is widely thought that among black people, overweight women are not considered unattractive, at least to the same degree as they are among white people. This, if true, probably acounts for much of the difference. ---
**Author:** ![SixStringSamurai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@SixStringSamurai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SixStringSamurai)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-stereotypes-vs-truth/28057/15 "2000-08-04T18:54:01Z")
I saw an interesting story the other day about how the overweight and the slim have switched places socially. For thousands of years one had to be affluent to be fat. It was even considered attractive to an extent as evidenced by art through the ages. However, fatty foods are in abundance, frequently they are among the cheapest foods, and more and more people are doing jobs, even amoung the low income, that do not require much physical labor. The story went on to say how actually the rich are the ones who can afford the extra activity that it frequently requires to stay slimmer…whether that be simply that they pay to eat better or they have the time and money for active recreation such as health clubs. As one other rather non-scientific observation about black folks and swimming. I worked at a camp for a summer and I seemed to observe that the black kids seemed to have more trouble learning to float on their back. But then again they may have simply had less exposure to swimming than the white kids. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-stereotypes-vs-truth/28057/16 "2000-08-04T18:59:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > Being fat is probably caused by poor habits which are due to several factors which tend to go together: lack of discipline, ignorance, poverty. Granted, it’s only one data point, but when I was doing volunteer work, only a few folks that I worked with seemed to be slackers. Most were either swept off solid financial ground by ill fortune, or had made some bad choices in the past. Those people were working two, three jobs trying to support themselves and their family. The number of slackers I saw there were in similar percentages as slackers in the rest of society. > [@](#): > > I do not believe purchasing power is a _direct_ cause of a poor diet. I believe you can eat the healthiest diet for very little. It is more a matter of ignorance and lack of values and discipline. Here in DC you can see low income people eating greasy food at fast food places when for less money they could buy some fruits or vegetables. In my experience, living at various times in Florida, North Carolina, and California, I have not seen anywhere where this was the case. Economies of scale seem to be at work here — Americans, in general eat poor diets, making those foods they do eat less expensive than foods they rarely eat. Compare the cost of two liters of apple juice to the cost of a two-liter bottle of Coke. What can you find as the cheapest kind of bread in your local grocery store, white or whole wheat? When you’re really tring to stretch that dollar, the popular (i.e., unhealthy) foods simply cost less. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-stereotypes-vs-truth/28057/17 "2000-08-04T19:48:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Compare the cost of two liters of apple juice to the cost of a two-liter bottle of Coke. For that matter, check the calories. You’d be surprised. Apple juice (or damn near any juice that’s store-bought, for that matter) is usually made with inferior fruit, and then sweetened up with sugar. It’s not as bad as Coke, but it’s not nearly as healthy as you’d think it is. ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-stereotypes-vs-truth/28057/18 "2000-08-04T20:24:00Z")
IzzyR is absolutely right. Obesity is not a particularly undesirable trait among Africans, and probably African-Americans as well. (Baby’s got back, right?) Two stories… I was chatting with a former colleague who was born in Africa. We were talking about women, and I asked him about females here in the states. He said they were too skinny. This surprised me because this guy was built like a McDonald’s coffee stirrer and maybe half as heavy. He said in Africa they like women “with more meat on their bones.” Another tale comes second-hand: The scene is inside a NYC taxi cab; male African driver in his 30s or 40s; curious rider in the back seat. RIDER: So, you’re not from New York. DRIVER: No, I was born in [I forget where] Africa. RIDER: Really. Do you like it here in the US? (Beautiful model-types cross street while they wait at stop light.) Aren’t the women in New York unbelievably gorgeous? DRIVER: No! They are too, too skinny! I like fat women. RIDER: Really!? Are you married? DRIVER: Yes. RIDER: Is she fat? DRIVER: (Said with the biggest, happiest, shit-eating self-contented grin you can imagine – like a big toothy green smilie) Yes, she’s FAT! SHE IS VERRRRRRRRY FAT! (Continues to grin.) ---
**Author:** ![mellonhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19adc/32.png) [@mellonhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mellonhead)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-stereotypes-vs-truth/28057/19 "2000-08-04T23:26:19Z")
Don’t know if this is medical fact- however this is what I was told by my eye doctor a few years back… I’m Asian and have really bad eyes. They’re so bad that when I wore my new glasses to work (with the new wire frames), by co-workers asked why the lenses were so thick and why I didn’t get the “slimmer” style. I had to tell them that I was in fact wearing the “slimmer” style, and to go screw themselves (needless to say I now wear gas-perm contact lenses). Anyway…my eye doctor said that I was developing a mucous of sorts behind my cornea and it seemed to be common in the yellow folk and the black folk because our eye color tends to be darker (brown, black, dark brown, etc). He’s the only person that I’ve ever heard state the mucous thing as a fact. Is there a name for this “condition”? I’ve tried looking it up and came up empty. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2000, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-stereotypes-vs-truth/28057/20 "2000-08-05T01:08:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by labdude \* > \*\*In rich countries like the USA poverty and obesity often go together. About 50% of black people and 10% of white people live below the poverty level. \*\* Just to pick nits, it was 29% of blacks and 11% of whites in 1995. I suspect with the robust economy, both numbers are down since then, but I can’t find more recent figures.