Satoshi KanazawaHuh. Just when I was wondering why I hadn’t added a notch to my bedpost for knocking off a little Japanese evolutionary psychologist, Satoshi Kanazawa sensed my wonderment and answered my question. Seems he thinks black women are unappealing. Meaning, we’s ugly. And he’s got graphs, charts, and flimsy research to prove his whole little demented point.

Guess that takes me out of the running for a date with that fine little thang. Shucks.

His contention, originally posted on Psychology Today’s website, was entitled "Why Are Black Women Less Physically Attractive Than Other Women?” Translated into Ebonics, my second language, that reads “Why Are Black Chicks So Damn Homely?” Evidently he’s tired of being accosted by our outward beastliness and got to the bottom of it. My question is: Did the deep-thinking editors over at Psychology Today not stop to contemplate that the post might be a smidge offensive? 

Of course they did. Because they surely would’ve axed that thing from the giddy-up had it been about Jewish women or Latino women or Russian women. Fact of the matter is, they didn’t care, which makes this whole fiasco doubly insulting. They ran it because they assumed that the general populace of black broads don’t read their publication. Well, good folks, we do. I’m sorry: we did. And some of us even write.

Up until now, I had been impressed with the cool perspective the print magazine and its online component had on issues like parenting and dating. In fact, I’ve even linked to the site during my rants and ramblings here on The Stir. That was before I found out that they didn’t respect me and my kind enough to not publish what is clearly some quack’s thinly veiled racism backed by some piddly scientific evidence.

Folks are still calling for that elusive “I’m sorry” from the Psychology Today camp, but as far as I’m concerned, they can save it. Any apology more than a week in the making is an apology I don’t care to get.

Truth is, the research wasn’t even all that compelling — and this is coming from a layperson’s perspective, so I’m pretty sure a team comprised of and catering to licensed practitioners should’ve been none too bedazzled by it. I bet Dr. Kanazawa thought he was doing something real groundbreaking when he drummed up his concept. And when he shared it with his colleagues, I’m sure he got all kinds of affirmations, maybe even a geeky group high-five.

What would’ve been an assertion actually worthy of research and interest is why everybody wants to dog out black women but so many people want to be like black women.

Just parts and pieces of us, anyway. Plastic surgeons are booked up with appointments made by chicks wanting to plump up their lips and beef up their backsides. Inasmuch as folks like to attribute the invention of pouty mouths and bubble butts to Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Lopez, those attributes are one hunert percent homegrown straight from Mother Africa.

Tanning salons make a killing, and when it’s warm and sunny outside, you can’t find a patch of sand or a piece of park grass that doesn’t have a pale-skinned chick laying out on it, all in our white sistren’s effort to brown their skin up. I’ve had ladies diligent in their mission to get golden hold their arms up next to mine like my complexion is the standard they’re trying to achieve.

Next time I’ll warn them that this look right here ain’t the way to go.

Truth be told, I can only be but so put out over what Dr. Kanazawa said. It’s unfortunate that, as a black woman, I’ve developed a sort of expectant defensiveness to this kind of stuff. I mean, we stay the subject of somebody’s study, research, or report. We’ve been nappy-headed hoes a la Don Imus and big booty hoes a la Snoop Dogg. Disrespect is an unfortunate consequence of being born black and female. That doesn’t make anything about this situation right. It just makes it unsurprising.

When I look at Jill Scott, Gabrielle Union, and Michelle Obama — heck, my own daughter and my circle of family and friends who aren’t household names but every bit as gorgeous as anybody’s red carpet-walking celebrity — it makes this dude’s claims even less worthy of getting all worked up about. We’ve given him too much attention and time as it is.

Is there some validity to Dr. Kanazawa’s study? Can one group of women be less attractive than others?


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