More Freakonomics: Black/white Mixed Race Children More Attractive

[brododaktula]

A recent Freakonomics blog post discusses a study the writer conducted to analyze how black/white biracial children differ from black or white children. I haven't read the paper yet, but for what's supposed to be an economics-based analysis it seems awfully odd to break things down by race alone rather than discuss class and other factors in great detail.

The findings were, basically, that biracial teens take on the "bad qualities" of white ("drinking and smoking") and black ("watching TV, fighting, getting sexually transmitted diseases") kids, have test scores between the black and white means, but can offset some of these deficits by being more attractive than either white or black children.

I think measuring attractiveness in a supposedly scientific study is super weird to begin with and shows a lot of the biases the investigators went in with. There's definitely a stereotypical mindset that multiracial children are cuter than single-race ones (which is already kind of nonsensical given how few blacks in the US have purely African roots) that I think speaks to people's colorism and fear of "black" looks more than anything else, but I don't see how it figures into this kind of analysis.

I think the Freakonomics guys are generally more than a little questionable when it comes to race like in discussions of adoption and names (as discussed at length in this forum) and this one also rubbed me the wrong way. Does anyone else find this creepy too or am I just showing my own biases?

[britni]

Now maybe I'm biased because I was born to skraight black, therefore ugly :rolleyes: parents, but no, I too find this report creepy. And worthless. And ridiculous. And what exactly is supposed to be the take-home from this report?

A commentor summed up my feelings best:

36.August 12th,
2008
4:23 pm Thanks Alison for your point of clarification.

See what I mean by confused and polarized.

Why are human beings yet, in the 21st Century after one million years of existence, measuring “attractiveness” between mixed-raced children and black children, between white women and women from all parts of the world, between younger folks and older folks, between children even? Why?

“Attractiveness” research and analysis has exactly what humane, even scientific, value to humanity?

— Posted by Linda Crockett [/b]

There are a lot of people, specifically black people, who believe that mixed babies and children are "better looking" than just plain ol' black kids or white kids. I've seen a girl say that very thing on this board. Sure, they're cute, but not any more so than any other baby or child. I'm sure the "attractiveness" of the child was measured by pure Eurocentric standards. If so, this shows that the "report" was inherently biased from the get-go.

I didn't read it and won't. "Reports", tv shows, movies, the news, "studies", "research", commercials, etc. constantly craft and devise ways to tell us hideous, stupid, disease-ridden negroes that we are inferior to white people in almost every single way almost every single day. I'm so used to it that it doesn't even surprise me anymore. :lol:

[LBellatrix]

A quote from the study (cited in the comments) supports my view:

Mixed race adolescents are rated as .41 standard deviations more attractive than white children, and .47 standard deviations more attractive than blacks.

It's not that mixed-race kids are seen as cuter than white kids...it's that they're seen as cuter than black kids. But few people are honest enough to admit that.

However, also noted in the study:

At the end of the in-home interview in Wave I the interviewer was asked to rate the physical
attractiveness of the respondent on a scale from 1 to 5, where 0 indicates “very unattractive”, and
5 indicates “very attractive.”

4. (Excerpt from Table 1)
Attractiveness (Home Interview Wave I)
Full sample .000 (1.000)
White .007 (0.99
Black -.041 (1.00
Mixed .414 (0.904)

Here I think that the Bradley effect is happening: It's not PC to say that black people are uglier.

Yes, I took my cynic pill today. <_<

[vnatural]

Now maybe I&#39;m biased because I was born to skraight black, therefore ugly :rolleyes: parents, but no, I too find this report creepy. And worthless. And ridiculous. And what exactly is supposed to be the take-home from this report?

A commentor summed up my feelings best:


There are a lot of people, specifically black people, who believe that mixed babies and children are "better looking" than just plain ol&#39; black kids or white kids. I&#39;ve seen a girl say that very thing on this board. Sure, they&#39;re cute, but not any more so than any other baby or child. I&#39;m sure the "attractiveness" of the child was measured by pure Eurocentric standards. If so, this shows that the "report" was inherently biased from the get-go.

I didn&#39;t read it and won&#39;t. "Reports", tv shows, movies, the news, "studies", "research", commercials, etc. constantly craft and devise ways to tell us hideous, stupid, disease-ridden negroes that we are inferior to white people in almost every single way almost every single day. I&#39;m so used to it that it doesn&#39;t even surprise me anymore. :lol:[/b]

Exactly. I just don&#39;t see the point in me constantly tuning into the "inferior negro" message on a daily basis. Isn&#39;t there more important issues than the looks of biracial kids compared to black kids? Seriously......

@Lbellatrix, yeah it&#39;s that biracial kids are more attractive than black kids, not white kids, since white kids are the standard of beauty, right? uke2:

My aunt would have agreed with this study. She admits that dark skinned, nappy haired kids are in her words, ugly. And she treats her 2 daughters differently since one has SLIGHTLY lighter skin and longer hair than her sister. uke2:

[extremelynappy]

I didn&#39;t read it and won&#39;t. "Reports", tv shows, movies, the news, "studies", "research", commercials, etc. constantly craft and devise ways to tell us hideous, stupid, disease-ridden negroes that we are inferior to white people in almost every single way almost every single day. I&#39;m so used to it that it doesn&#39;t even surprise me anymore. :lol:
[/b]

:rolleyes:

Blogs are not news they are only someone&#39;s personal opinion. And opinions are like ... well you know, everybody has one. This foolishness ain&#39;t even worth debating. Go Obama!.

[cristalena]

I belong to a very popular gossip/pop culture community on the internet and every single time a mixed celebrity (whether they be black/white, white/asian, hispanic/arab, and so on) or the mixed children of a celebrity are featured, at least one person makes the comment that mixed people are the most beautiful in the world. :dunno:

I think people believe that when you&#39;re mixed, you get the best of both worlds features-wise, so to speak. So the end result is more "beautiful" than the sum of each part.

Clearly Rain Pryor and Rob Schneider didn&#39;t get the memo. :unsure: :lol:

[britni]

Clearly Rain Pryor and Rob Schneider didn&#39;t get the memo. :unsure: :lol:
[/b]

you wrong! :lol:

[Alastri]

wait wait. "we" contribute to the bad quality of watching tv?

no. done with this.

It&#39;s not that mixed-race kids are seen as cuter than white kids...it&#39;s that they&#39;re seen as cuter than black kids. But few people are honest enough to admit that.[/b]

Right.

I belong to a very popular gossip/pop culture community on the internet and every single time a mixed celebrity (whether they be black/white, white/asian, hispanic/arab, and so on) or the mixed children of a celebrity are featured, at least one person makes the comment that mixed people are the most beautiful in the world[/b]

Yup. I hear that line frequently from both White and Black folks although I often feel like White folks say it out of some type of PC-ness. :dunno: I had a photographer - who possibly thought I was White, too &#39;cause at that point we&#39;d only spoken on the phone and she did look kinda shocked when we met in person - say that to me about one of the models. She kept it moving pretty fast after her comment, probably noting the deafening silence coming at her from the other end of the phone. :mellow:

wait wait. "we" contribute to the bad quality of watching tv?

no. done with this.
[/b]

Right?

Pure foolishness. Proof positive that "researchers" can find funding for any stupid a$$ "study"....

[Nappilocs]

I didn&#39;t read it and won&#39;t. "Reports", tv shows, movies, the news, "studies", "research", commercials, etc. constantly craft and devise ways to tell us hideous, stupid, disease-ridden negroes that we are inferior to white people in almost every single way almost every single day. I&#39;m so used to it that it doesn&#39;t even surprise me anymore. :lol:
[/b]

Basically :rolleyes: