Race and Dating

I realise this may seem an odd question to pose at the start of a column, but it’ll get us straight to the point: do you think I’m sexy?

I ask not because I’m needy, or have a penchant for Rod Stewart lyrics, but because I’m Indian, and the chances are that you’re white, and a two-year US study of speed dating, due to be published in the Review of Economic Studies, has concluded that when it comes to attraction, “women exhibit stronger racial preferences than men”.

Though, for me, the most striking thing about the research is the many comments that the preliminary findings have elicited online, which include hundreds of remarks along the lines of “white men prefer Asian women” and “I’m not attracted to black people” and “Latinos are hot!!!”. A glance at singles ads reveals a similar lack of self-consciousness about race within British dating � “SWM seeks SBF”; “Woman, 42, curvy, looking for athletic white male” � and raises the question of how people can get away with making such bold racial comments in the context of relationships when they can’t elsewhere.

If anyone suggested that they wanted to fill a job vacancy or hotel room with someone of a specific ethnicity, they’d be facing a discrimination charge before they could say “Morrissey”. But anything seems to go when it comes to dating. And having considered the peculiar phenomenon, I think there are five main factors behind it….

Read atTimes Online