in the Anglosphere, on average and relatively speaking, that is. Certain IRL contexts (e.g., speed dating) may be slightly less hostile
Feliciano, C., Robnett, B., & Komaie, G. (2009). Gendered racial exclusion among white internet daters. Social Science Research, 38(1), 39-54.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19569291
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Abstract
Acceptance by the dominant group reveals the current standing of racial groups in the U.S. hierarchy, as well as the possibility for assimilation. However, few researchers have addressed the gendered nature of racial preferences by whites. We examine whites’ exclusion of blacks, Latinos, Asians, Middle Easterners, East Indians and Native Americans as possible dates, using a sample of profiles collected from an internet dating website. We find that white men are more willing than white women to date non-whites in general, yet, with the exception of their top two preferences for dates, whites and Latinos, the racial hierarchies of males and females differ. Among daters with stated racial preferences, white men are more likely to exclude blacks as possible dates, while white women are more likely to exclude Asians. We argue that exclusion relates to racialized images of masculinity and femininity, and shapes dating and marriage outcomes, and thus minority groups’ possibilities for full social incorporation.
Selected excerpts
In sum, these findings show how racial preferences for dates among whites are gendered. White men appear more open than white women to dating non-whites in general, but they are only more open to dating non-black minority groups; among daters who state racial preferences, white men are much more exclusionary towards blacks than are white women. This gendered exclusion of blacks is unique. On the one hand, both white men and white women exclude blacks at high rates. However, among a small subset of white women (1.46%), there is a preference for only black men (see Appendix Table 2). In contrast, white men not only consistently exclude black women at higher rates than other minority women, a subset prefer all other groups except black women (see Appendix Table 2). White women tend to be more exclusionary towards other minorities than white men. This is particularly striking in the case of Asian exclusion. Among daters with stated racial preferences, white men are as likely as women to exclude East Indians and Middle Easterners, but they are much more likely to include Asian women as preferred dates. If they are open to dating non-whites, both white men and women who state racial preferences are most likely to include Latinos as dates, although men are more likely to do so.
One of the most striking findings is that white women who describe themselves as slim, slender, athletic, fit or average are nearly seven times as likely to exclude black men as dates as women who describe themselves as thick, voluptuous, a few extra pounds, or large. This finding is consistent with racial–beauty exchange theories in that white women who do not meet conventional standards of beauty (in terms of having a thinner body type) are more open to dating black men, who may be considered a lower status group. However, body type has no effect on white women’s exclusion of Asian men.
In terms of religion, whites who identified as Jewish were dropped from the analysis of black exclusion because it was a perfect predictor: all white men and women who identified as Jewish and stated racial preferences excluded blacks as possible dates; all Jewish white women with racial preferences also excluded Asian men as possible dates. White men who do not state a religion or who state their religion as ‘‘other” are far more inclusive of black women as dates than those who describe themselves as not religious.
Methodology
Sample description
- Yahoo Personals
- date: Sept 2004 to May 2005
- Random selection of profiles of individuals living within 50 miles of 4 cities: NYC, LA, Chicago and ATL
- limited age range to 18 - 50
- total N = 6070
- white subsample used for paper: n = 1558; mean age 33yo
- 72% of white women and 59% of white men express a preference for race
- among those with an expressed preference, approximately 64% of white women prefer whites only compared to only about 29% of white men (consistent with other studies indicating women declare a same-race preference >2x more than men, except Asian women). Also note: Hitsch 2006 and 2010 found women who do not declare a same-race preference still behave as if they do have one
