Can there ever again be an 'all-American' beauty?
Editor's note: This is the final part of a six-week series on the perceptions of beauty. Last week, we looked at self-acceptance and self-confidence. This week, we explore how beauty standards across cultures affect perceptions of beauty in the United States.
Check out what CNN iReporters say beauty means to them.
By Sarah Springer, CNN
(CNN) - As 18-year-old Giovana Frediani and her friends stood in front of the mirror to prep for a night out, one girl turned around and complained that her backside was getting big.
It was that moment when Giovana – popular, fashionable Giovana – felt the knock of self-doubt.
As usual, she dressed to accentuate her curves, a typical style among her Latina family and friends. But these friends were from a predominantly white area in Oakland. In her eyes, there was nothing oversized about them.
“If she was saying that about her own body, then she must have been thinking the same way about mine,” said Giovana, an American high school senior who grew up in Oakland.
“I almost feel out of place because they define beauty in different ways than I do.”
The U.S. population is growing, changing, mixing in new ways - more people are in interracial relationships and more identify as multiracial than ever. Those realities change the way women, especially, look at others, ourselves and the idea of the “all-American beauty,” if there is such a thing.
Some trend-watchers and researchers say the increased diversity and mixing among races is shifting the population away from a standard of beauty for women that’s dominated by white faces. Others agree that it’s happening, but say it’s driven by mass media’s desire to reach a more diverse audience – or sell products to it.
Out of 2,000 people who responded to an Allure magazine poll in 2011, 73% of women said they find curvier bodies more attractive now than they did over the last 10 years. People polled said they wanted larger lips, butts and hips, an Allure editor said, and 70% of those who want to change their skin color said they want it to be darker. The same survey said 64% believe women of mixed race represented the "epitome of beauty."
And 71% of women and 67% of men said there's no such thing as an “all-American” look.
The results were wildly different from a similar poll the magazine conducted when it launched in 1991, Allure Executive Editor Kristin Perrotta said.
“There was a dramatic shift in what people considered the beauty ideal in America now,” she said. “We went from the blond hair, blue-eye, typical all-American girl like Christie Brinkley in 1991, to this dark, sultry Angelina Jolie ideal in 2011.
“It just was not what you would have imagined the Hollywood ideal being, which is also this tall, thin, blond ideal that we are sort of used to.”
But even before girls and women tackle universal beauty ideals, they’re often struggling to understand standards closer to home.
‘Looking in the same mirror as everyone else’
Marium Soomro parents’ are from Pakistan, and even before she hit the teen years, her mom brought home the skin lightening cream Fair and Lovely. Women in her family used it in Pakistan, and carried on the practice in the United States, she said - even her fairer-skinned mothers and sisters.
“‘Hey, put this on, you’ll get whiter,’” she remembers her mom saying. “Or, ‘Put yogurt on your face at night and your skin will get lighter.’”
Soomro is 23 now, and a student at Rutgers University. She still uses the cream sometimes, she said.
Then there’s Leslie Rosales, 27, a Filipino who was born and raised in a predominantly black neighborhood in South Los Angeles. She’s Asian, but connected more with her black friends’ sense of beauty and style.
“Going to the Philippines, everyone there was petite,” she said of trips to her family’s home country. “They’re small and for some reason I’m not. I’m 5'4" and I weigh 155, I’m considered an overweight giant in the Philippines.
“I felt the pressure from family and tried to change, so that was difficult, dealing with what my family thought I should look like opposed to what I thought I should look like.”
Giovana, the Oakland high school student, said she feels pretty among her classmates and community, and it makes her feel in control. But in a different part of town, among a different set of friends, feeling not-so-pretty made her want to act differently, too.
“Honestly, I wonder if I’m looking in the same mirror as everyone else,” Giovana said. “I’ve noticed just how important a perfect body is to every girl. It’s like we are blindly trying to find a way to be who we want to be and the most immediate way we can think of to manipulate who we are is physically.”
When a person is confronted with a dominating culture that differs from their own, the culture outside the home tends to win, said Maya Poran, an associate professor of psychology at the Ramapo College of New Jersey.
“If what you’re sharing in the home is contrasting from that immediately around you and the power of that communication is so much more constant and intensive, we do find that dominant cultural norms win,” she said. “If every single day we’re getting feedback that is telling us negative, it is likely that we are going to feel that thing is negative.”
Although perceptions of beauty can differ depending on culture, race, ethnicity and experience, no one is exempt from the pressures of universal beauty ideals within America.
“The issues about body and beauty are shifting - they’re not disappearing,” Poran said. “Everyone is affected by it, influenced by it, and related to it in some way.”
Even as body and beauty standards shift and include more people of color, Poran said there will still be a dominant body type – thin and white - which can be a struggle for women outside that body type.
“There is a white norm and there’s a black norm and a Latina norm and there is an Asian norm, and they are all equally different, but there is a dominant standard of beauty, which is white or white-like,” Poran said. “The more people who are included in very a narrow version of beauty, the more likely they will compare themselves against it and feel negative about themselves.”
“No one is untouched by it. No one.”
‘A a narrow version of beauty’
Poran, who is writing a book about race and beauty, said she began to research body ideals after she noticed most studies used white women as a standard of beauty, even as they studied women of different racial and ethnic backgrounds.
“For the majority of this research vein, whiteness was the unquestioned image of beauty,” she said. “Meaning when we’re talking about beauty or body, they were covertly talking about whiteness, but not realizing it.”
Poran organized different focus groups geared toward allowing white, black and Latina women to define their own feelings about beauty.
Young black and Latina women Poran interviewed said they felt judged by multiple standards of beauty – one within their own racial or ethnic community, and another set by a larger white, Anglo community.
“There was no way to get it right,” Poran said. “If you can walk through many different worlds at once, you can be judged by many different standards at once.”
And the pressure to be thin and light-skinned can weigh even on those who seem to match it most closely.
As a child and teen, Rachel Blais always felt ugly. She was pale and tall with curly hair.
“I was very skinny, I had no boobs, I guess that body type when you’re about 13, 14,” said Blais, who was recently featured in the documentary, “Girl Model.”
At age 14, she was recruited to work as a model. By 17, she was traveling internationally for her career. Now 27, she still works in the industry, but she’s among the older models, she said. Many of her colleagues now are prepubescent girls or teens, all of them posed to look like older women.
“Using 15-year-old girls to represent the ideal woman makes me think that a woman of 25, 30, 40 years old looks at those billboards and at a magazine and is looking at girls … disguised as women promoting clothing for women,” she said. “You can’t ever go back to being 15.”
Rachel Blais is featured in the documentary “Girl Model.”
Joan Jacobs Brumberg, a historian who wrote “The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls,” said it’s easy to blame images in the media, but women’s body obsessions were long in the making – and modern conveniences have made it easy to keep those obsessions going.
“I always say you can’t blame it on Twiggy or Calvin Klein. I think they’re implicated,” but it really started in the 1920s, she said. “When you have calories, when you have mirrors, when you have bathroom scales, when you begin to have standard sizing, you don’t have a dressmaker, or a mother who makes your clothes and you have to get into a particular size - those things are critical in how women think about their bodies.”
Taylor Cook, an agent at Fusion Models in New York, said lithe bodies and symmetrical faces are still in demand, but the modeling industry is starting to seek more diverse skin tones and features prominent only among certain ethnic groups. Asian models like Tian Yi and Lina Zhang are representing products in national and international media.
“(They are) two of our top-selling girls, getting all of the major beauty campaigns and high-fashion editorials, and looking at other agencies, their Asian girls are doing really well,” Cook said. “If you would have gone back a few seasons, you didn’t see a lot of Asian girls.”
Perrotta, the Allure editor, expects America’s celebrated beauties will keep changing, too.
“In terms of the models and celebrities who are idolized, they’ll be ethnically vague. You can’t tell if they’re black or white or Hispanic, it’s going to be this mixture,” Perrotta said. “Everyone can see a little bit of themselves in these people rather than the classically Anglican features, or classically black features.”
Linda Blum, associate professor of sociology and interim director of women’s, gender and sexuality studies at Northeastern University, said changing standards of beauty are driven more by business than by cultural curiosity, diversity or acceptance.
“If we have more multiracial children, or more biracial children will (this) lead to more uniform and diverse standards of beauty? I don’t really think so,” Blum said. “I don’t mean to be completely conspiratorial, but (people will) have to find some other way to sustain growing markets.”
Maybe, with the next generation of consumers.
Giovana, the student in Oakland, will graduate high school this year. She thinks life outside the classroom walls will make it easier to understand who she is and what she thinks is beautiful – or how much it even matters.
“I do have a mind, I do have a direction that I want to go in, and aspirations,” she said.
Her goal? Show business.
“I want to do something in that industry,” she said.
Then she added, laughing - “which is all based on looks.”
About In America
What defines you? Maybe it’s the shade of your skin, the place you grew up, the accent in your words, the make up of your family, the gender you were born with, the intimate relationships you chose to have or your generation? As the American identity changes we will be there to report it. In America is a venue for creative and timely sharing of news that explores who we are. Reach us at inamerica@cnn.com.
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iReport
Who cares? Beauty is what we each are attracted to, obviously we are all wired to like something different or people would have a much harder time finding a mate. Fat or skinny is more important to most people than race. Notice the media can't go one day without race baiting? It's as if they want a complete race war with all the chipping away they do day in and day out. Some of it is subtle, some of it is in our faces, but's it's all negative and damaging to our society
Beauty only serves the purposes of satisfying biological instincts. Functionality is beautiful also.
“They’re small and for some reason I’m not. I’m 5'4" and I weigh 155, I’m considered an overweight giant in the Philippines.
And I would say you are considered overweight outside the Phillipines also.
Halle Berry in Die Another Day
So what is ALL AMERICAN BEAUTY? White women?
Inner beauty is behavior that makes everyone happy and which promotes the survival of our species.
It is kind of unfair how this article only addresses the definition of beauty with respect to women, especially since non-white males are likely equally self-conscious about how they look relative to society's perception of what is beautiful.
Unfortunately, I feel the perception of beauty is far more static when it comes to men, and still very much favors white males. Moreover, the idea of the "All American look" is far more tangible and has not changed (e.g., the Tom Brady type).
While this perception may be changing, it's doing so at a far slower pace than in the case of women. It's probably no coincidence that, aside from relationships involving black males and white females, most interracial relationships involve a white male as opposed to a white female.
So what does your last point prove? That white women only want white men and black men? Can you clarify this?
Gay men like women who have that Ethiopia look going for them. They run all the magazines and modelling industry so that is why you see these sickly looking women proped up as beautiful. In fact it is that body type that it is said to be the perfect hanger for clothes, ladies need to know that these girls are for modelling clothes, they are by no means what straight men find attractive.
We like you with curves, we don't like it when your body resembles that of a 13 year old boy. We would rather you have a little belly than to be a twig. Go on impressing the gay guys if you want, but you wont find an ideal mate that way.
I agree with alot of your post but you can't speak for all of us. I like thinner women (not the model-thin type) just because I like legs and I like the look of legs on a thinner girls. Boob guys tend to like the curvier girls.
Wow Doug, nice way to sterotype Ethopians, they come in all shapes, heights and colors. The modeling industry is interested in anyone who has the physique you mentioned. What is true of Ethopians, is they are typically a multi-racial/ethnic blend which some consider to be exotic, that is why they are chosen as models.
agree with everything you said, save the Ethiopian part. women need to have a fuller body to be considered lovely in my book. (all women can be beautiful) but there are some women who are just born thin (I used to be one of them) then I was lucky enough to get some curves.Unfortunately most of us naturally very thin girls dont get to have nice boobs (even once we get curves 🙁
I consider the girls I look at to be beautiful. I don't see, nor to I care, about what others find beautiful. I do think beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I often find women beautiful that others find unattractive soooooooo I think there is no way to really gauge it. Some girls I think are ugly my friends think are beautiful. It's just what it is I guess and there is no point trying to standardize beauty.
exactly, well said
my Husband tells me the same thing. we watch tv and I say wow she is pretty and he says nope she's scary looking, or ugly or forehead over powers her face. but other times he says a girl is beautiful and I just dont agree lol
I can tell you what it isn't....a fat pig eating at the chines buffet that when asked how she feels about herself says " i am proud to be what I am and am comfortable in my own skin" thats what.
What's interesting about this article is how much political correctness has changed the official dialogue of beauty (beauty is now multiracial) while the inner dialogue–the things people are really thinking–(eg adhering to a white beauty standard) seem to be alive and well. That poll from Allure answers nothing but certainly raises questions . I'm assuming that its readership is mostly white females. As a white female, I can tell you that white girls who want to be darker do not want to be nonwhite. They want to be darker white girls. White women have an obsession with tanning that has nothing whatsoever to do with appreciating diversity and everything to do with imitating the now-established precept that tan=rich and healthy. In European cultures, pale skin was historically valued as a sign of wealth because it meant you were not a laborer. Tanning became popular for the same reason: rich people could vacation in exotic locales but the poor were stuck inside a factory or office. 'The more things change . . . '
Also, this article asks rhetorically "Can there ever again be an 'all-American' beauty? Of course the opinion you are supposed to reach–the socially enlightened one–is a resounding NO! On this I'll just note that in the eyes of most of the rest of the world, we are stereotyped as a nation of blue-eyed blondes. In other words, if a global poll was taken and people were asked 'what does a typical American look like?' it wouldn't be multiracial. A flawed approach? Perhaps, yet no more so than a poll from Allure!
I am a white man and I can tell you that "beauty" starts from my perspective with taking care of yourself. Doing this by default will mke 99% of women beautiful to me anyway.
Finally a voice of reason. I have been told by numerous guys of various races/ethnicities that they find most women attractive in some way. The questions is do they share the same values and will the women be attracted to them. Some men don't prefer a woman who is confident, kind and happy without being addicted to makeup and all the rest of the junk the media tells us to do to make ourselves attractive.
You should try his wife then you'd know... trust me.
The world looks at a person's exterior rather than what is inside. In the Bible, Samuel the prophet was told by Jehovah God to go to the house of Jesse to anoint one of his sons as king to replace disobedient king Saul.(1 Sam 16:1) When Samuel arrives and sees the firstborn Eliab, he said to himself that this ' is surely Jehovah's anointed one'.(1 Sam 16:6) And why ? Because he saw his outward appearance and stature as manly, attractive.
However God told him: "Do not look at his appearance and at the height of his stature, for I have rejected him. For not the way man sees [is the way God sees], because mere man sees what appears to the eyes; but as for Jehovah, he sees what the heart is.”(1 Sam 16:7)
In this system of things, physical beauty flees rapidly, and the effects of aging sets in. On the other hand, inner beauty of the heart, a person who loves deeply others and especially our Creator, Jehovah God, is priceless. Proverbs 31:30 says: "Charm may be false, and prettiness may be vain; [but] the woman that fears Jehovah is the one that procures praise for herself."
Some women are physically beautiful, but Proverbs 11:22 says: "As a gold nose ring in the snout of a pig, so is a woman that is pretty but that is turning away from sensibleness."
what we see on the outside is more often than not a direct window into what is inside. Tattos all over...someone who is afraid to be who they are, fat...someone who is lazy and succombs to what they desire rather than what is right and so on.
oh ya and the bible has nothing to do with this...think for yourself.
No matter how beauty is defined, it will necessarily mean that someone is seen as more attractive than another. If 400 pounds is considered beautiful, then women who are naturally thin with high metabolims will feel depressed and angry and that it is unfair. The notion of beauty itself is, by its definition, "relative and selective value."
Very well put!
TRUE! but lets be real, a 400lb woman is not attractive to most.
400 lbs is not a measure of beauty, it is a measure of laziness and unhealthiness. Period.
The most beautiful girls in the world are the Polish.... enough said
Said by polish person.I don't agree with you at all and I've been to Poland.
Go South young man and you find the Czech Republic. Visit Praha! I have stood on the Charles Bridge in Prague and drooled for hours. Went to Poland and drooled for a moment. Visited South America and I am dehydrated. South America has the most beautiful women in the world and it is proven by the winners of Miss Universe and Miss World.
And the winner of Miss Universe is....not from North America!
And the winner of Miss World is....not from North America!
Since 1952 there have only been 7 winners from the USA. Compared to 16 or 17 from Latin America and the local islands.
Venezuela had 6 winners since 1952.
Miss World is similar to Miss Universe. Venezuela has had 6 winners since 1951.
In both pageants it has been hard for a North American Woman to place in the finals.
Google it.
I agree! I live in Cali, Colombia! The girls her don't need much make-up. They are beautiful and taste like chocolate easter bunnies.
I agree! I live in Cali, Colombia! The girls here don't need much make-up. They are beautiful and taste like chocolate easter bunnies.
I don't know about chocolate (lol), but I have to agree that Colombian women seem to be the most beautiful in the world. It's interesting how many like-minded people I've encountered.
You should also google who's actually watching it.
It's all about pleasing the demographic you want to reach.
Just googled the viewer statistics. You are wrong.
The USA is not the only country on the planet! Google it!
Fair point, I was talking out my A. I have no idea what the viewership is. I was going by personal experience.
I don't know any straight American men who watch beauty pageants. Most of my friends have access to the internet.
I don't look at the dresses or shoes!
Fashion shows at the malls are a great place to pick up the chicas Latina.
I counted 21 Latina Chicas that have won Miss Universe. And 7 from the states.
South American girls have no brains. To compensate for that they go through breast implants at age 4!!!!!!!!
CNN's favorite topic; race. You just can't leave this thing alone. Now that Trayvon Martin is off the front page, finally, you have to dig up other racially defined topics....it's beyond tiresome.
If they can whip a non-story into a riot, they get a bonus.
Republicans will forever judge people by the content of their character so it is frustrating to deal with a liberal media that is all about race baiting, their divide and conquer great society crap that is all about holding back people of color and creating and preserving the racism that we have in America today.
the Democrats started the klan but their great society trap has been far worse for people of color. Just observe all of the cities under complete Democrat rule for the last 40 years. It is sad to watch the Democrats smirk when they seen that honor student beat to death in Chicago. They know what they are supporting, they just have no morals or decency, a total disregard for human life that is easily observed by visiting any ultra blue area and what they do on the roads there.
Beauty comes from inside, those who bring the world good, make a positive contribution to society, who don't wish harm and even death on others just because they disagree with them. This is why all Republicans are beautiful while all Democrats are ugly, its all about what is in your heart.
"I hate to say this couple of years ago I thought almost all Americans are color blind. The Tea Party changed my perception."
Unless you were 12 years old a couple of years ago, you're naive. And if it took a few race-baiters in the Tea Party to change your perception, you are easily swayed. Why don't you base your perception on reading some books instead of a few stories and media sound-bites about a group we don't hardly hear about anymore?
Never ending articles trying to justify being fat. Blaming media or society is much easier than actually exercising and getting rid of your big butt. Being fat is not ok for any race. 155 lbs and only 5ft 4! Your family is right you need to change! Your obese.
Yep, if you are fat because you want to be, that aint beauty. It because you are gross.
What an ignorant, half informed comment.
Any thinking man knows you can't make that judgement without knowing her cup size.
@seattle, I agree with you. The only comment I would add is some people are carrying extra weight due to illness. That can be daunting and depressing when you are ill but appear overweight.
You could not be more wrong! 5'4" and 155 pounds is NOT Obese. Someone with that weight & height has a BMI of 26. BMI's of 25-29 are considered Overweight. BMI's of 30 or above are considered Obese. A person with a height of 5'4" would be considered normal weight up to 145 pounds, so that person is only about 10 pounds overweight.
I notice that the beauty emphasis is on women only and not men. I'm not finding too many men attractive these days. They shave their heads. They get tattooed up to their chins. Earrings...yuk. They have beer bellies at 30. Wear baggy pants that have the crotch down at the middle of their thighs. Facial hair in weird configurations. Who are they doing this for? Other guys? I saw one really put together man at the grocery store one day and he stuck out like a sore thumb and he knew it. All the women were looking at him and he was of only average looks but very well put together. He was very self conscious. Guys are showing up at nice restaurants in shoddy clothing, baseball caps and flip-flops. Maybe men should think about their own physical appearance instead of having these supermodel fantasies.
You nailed it!
Your hateful rant has made me self conscious and insecure about my body image. Now I have to get off of the computer and do some push ups.
Thanks. Can you do the same thing every morning?
I live in LA there are tons of gorgeous men ,probably wanna be actors, but still gorgeous nonetheless.
Men are ugly on the outside, all of us, we were never meant to be pretty or attractive.
It is all about what is on the inside, and the best people are in the south, the most fair, compassionate, friendly people you will ever meet. They care about human life, the total opposite of the behavior you witness on the roads and streets of the bluest parts of our country.
As long as you have goodness in your heart ladies, a conservative male will find you and treasure you the way you deserve. No matter how great you look on the outside, the liberal male will abuse you and blame you for all his faults, that's just how democrats are, it is all they know.
Doug, what does political affiliation have anything to do with this article? This comment just makes you look like an internet troll.
Well you covered that topic pretty thoroughly and you are spot on.
That is because she is so fat she blocks the view!
Why do you enjoy being hateful? You make people feel bad about themselves. Shame on you.
People take marketing way too personally.
Blacks are the only race hated around the world by all others. Most all other races gets along. Asians hate blacks, Jews hate them, whites, on and on. They are the problem.
Your ancestors originate from mother Africa so you hate yourself... lol
Your ancestors originate from mother Africa so you hate yourself.. lol
As much harsh as that may sound it is true. Blacks are not hated because of the color of their skin. They are hated because of the way they behave.
To add more even some blacks hate blacks. i know this for sure.
No I don't find it harsh but rather silly that one would dwell on his skin color as if he is still privileged. The beauty of America is what you know between your ears, the education and knowledge you posses, and not who you know. It is time to seriously think about properly educating the inner city kids by providing them the proper education. It is time to stop the blame game, it is time for the bankers encourage entrepreneurship in the inner cities, time for bosses to encourage their subordinates from the inner city to make training funds and time-off available, and above all time for consumers to spend in inner city businesses when the take off. That's how to move a nation forward unlike the "untypical white male" in this blog who still clings on a backward way that will make this country second to China in a few years!.
You do not know anything for sure because you're assuming. A lot of blacks love each other but a lot of men take the macho thing too seriously!
I have been around the world and well received. Being multi-racial I get to hear what everyone thinks and let me tell you Al Sharpie, Asians are not fans of white people, nor are South Americans, nor are East Indians. When you are in positions of power, they will smile in your face but know they do not respect or like you.
Black people and white people have the same behaviors. The difference is, black people are too loud about what they do and they don't have the money and connections to cover it up. White people are more quiet about what they do and they have the money and connections to make things go away.
Straight to the point & true for the most part!
It is very sad to see how race is such a big thing in America. I must say, I am from a poor black country and I am very proud to be black. Beauty to me has never been defined by the color of one's skin, the shape or one's nose, or one's hair texture. I would not say 400lbs is not beautiful, rather I would say it is not healthy. I do think Star Jones looked much more beautiful when she was heavier than she is now. I think our focus should not be on outer beauty, but on health and emotional satisfaction. Is the 200lbs women happy with herself, free of health issues? If yes, than that is beautiful. I do not see what is beautiful about blonde hair, skinny bone blue eyes girls. But if that's what Americans consider beautiful than beautiful Americans are dumb, for most blonds are.
@ Sam Robles, So very true on, Ugly being to the "bone" Thank you. That helps remind us all to work on our spirit and not focus on the superficial.
It's only those who stop looking at the "surface" of a person, but those who want to see beneath ... down to the "bone" that are wise.
I concur
God bless female vanity.
It does look like it could be a pain sometimes, but please know the results are appreciated.
My God! CNN just loves talking about race! This is an extremely racist article especially against Caucasians! I'm extremely offended! The utter hypocrisy is staggering! If race doesn't exist and it's only a social construct, then why are we talking about it? Are we not all the same? Are we not supposed to be color-blind? How can they even mention interracial relationships, when there is no such thing as race? If we are all the same race (the human race) then how can a relationship be "interracial"? This is the 21st century people GOSH!!!!!!!!
FYI, I should posted something like this 20 minutes ago but CNN's prejudiced little Adolf's took it down? They're racist and intolerant of what other people have to say unless it conforms to what they believe and want.... Fascists!
had posted*
So since being gay is not a choice, its genetic, obviously the fact that everyone thinks skinny white women are attractive is genetic as well. So it must be fact that they are the most attractive, not opinion, as our genetics and evolution is telling us so.
We will all be one race whenever black people get up to speed, drastically cut down their crime rates, contribute in a positive way as a group to society, drop the hypens, drop the race war games and the constant bullying of whites to feel special, and integrate instead of always seperating themselves as a special group. Will never happen, of course, because there absolutely are inherent difference between races. That is why all majority white nations are civilized, prosperous and modern, whereas EVERY black country is ghetto, high crime, poor as dirt, uneducated, has high illiteracy and if it weren't for white people would literally still be living in the stone ages without electricity or medical care.
Blacks benefit hugely off living in white countries. But what do whites truly benefit from blacks? Really nothing. Truth hurts.
haha lol, what do whites benefit from African countries? You must out of you mind. Where have you been living,, planet white moon? European wealth can be attributed to African rich natural resources... read,,,, history and educate yourself!
So you admit African people are useless, only the land they infest is of value.
There is not one invention or modern convenience that has been developed by any other race but Caucasians. From computers to airplanes, cars, roads, bridges ...the list is infinite.....
And the first Mathematician who made it all possible originated from Egypt... and where is Egypt ,, YES Africa.
Read early history of the African civilization and you will be amazed. One skin color contribution is not something to brag about, humanity advanced and that's what matters.
You're obviously very racist. But I'll attempt to discard that fact and focus on the argument you are making.
IIf what you are saying is true then how do you explain the over 180,000 black doctors over 250,000 black lawyers, millions of police officers and military personnel with authority etc etc.
I agree that a portion of black people are a drain on society. But so is a large portion of white americans, ever heard of "white trash" same exact thing.
Affirmative action explains most of it. Ghetto garbage will get jobs that way when they are totally unqualified.
I hope people don't confuse your gross misinformed comments with mine. I would never write that garbage.
Heart of Darkness!
Wow! Your comment actually makes white people look worse because all the ills you listed still exist in your own society. Ancestral Australians were thieves, murderers, etc. All the impoverished white trash that live remote from blacks must be too stupid (but somehow not much more than blacks) to make better for themselves. Hundreds of years of knowing how your own society operates and your same white people still fail miserably in your own creation. Now THAT is sad if one were to follow your pseudo-logic.
@typicalwhitemale, while your white ancestors were still hanging off the trees , African ancestors had discovered how to make fire and rear animals!
And now while white people have developd and engineerred the most modern of worlds, the African nations are still developing fire...
@scarbus – A lot of white people stole the ideas & inventions of blacks & passed it off as their own. You should do a little more research because in Africa there are some prosperous countries but since you only pay attention to the media that typically shows the poor parts of Africa that's all you know. It's amazing how blinded some people are considering that human-kind started in Africa & so there you have it! The oldest living bones are Africans 1st, Asians 2nd & Whites last.
What riches are being pulled out of Africa? If you want to live on what you are terming 'white' resourced, then get out of Africa and leave the diamond mines and all the rest of the resources you've been stealing to the natives of that region.
TypicalWhiteGuy (you are not BTW, you just think you are) we can thank people like you for this article in the first place. White men can take full credit for creating breat implants and all the rest of the junk you want people to pollute their bodies with in an attempt to be attractive.
TypicalIdiot, you can also take credit for all the polution and havoc you wreck upon the earth's eco-system. You didn't want to listen to Native American's so you put in all your stupid dams, now you are trying to fix the mess you made there. You didn't listen to African's and you destroyed Lake Victoria by moving non-native species in.
Finally, lets make sure we are all on the same page with your constant push to change others with your inquistions and conquests. Civilized, I don't think so. Get off your high horse. The mess the world is in is shared and you are at the forefront based on history. Go worship your god Hilter and dance in your white pointy hat in your long white dress.
Because it truly DOES exist. It's not and has never been invisible. Let's try to not act ignorant regarding it because if we never recognize that people are treated differently, we will never change! Let me give you an example... like code words. Hidden amongst you are racist code words in everything! Like "aggressive Africanized killer bees"... or "killer African ants" or one I heard today on a yahoo headline "invasive fish from Africa." Really? Why do we hear articles like this? Because they want to instill fear in people who are uneducated and ignorant. They're used to hearing soothing things like "friendly European bees." If you don't believe me, go to google and type "killer european" you'll find like three popular terms in autocorrect. Type "killer African" you'll see several "dangerous" animals ready to eat you. Racism is very much alive, just in different forms.
Funny blacks use the word ignorant for anything they have no valid argument for, even chimps can learn hundreds of words.
@Al Sharpie, I feel sorry for you. Education is free here in America, try to take advantage and get one so you can learn about science. You keep making references to monkeys and apes, science has already answered all the questions that required comment. Please do not procreate and teach your hate and ignorance to another generation.
Whites remain the global standard of beauty which is unfortunate. Asian and hispanic females, specifically, have turned into such self-loathers they go after white males on dating sites like drug addicts after a crack pipe. Likewise, black males do the same with white females. The lack of racial and cultural self-respect these people display is astounding.
Women follow the money. Men follow the beauty.
I've been fortunate to be with both kinds of women, Latino and Asian, and you know what attracted these women to me, I was kinder, gentler, and more understanding than their own macho male smucks they have to deal with in their own cultures. I don't have lot's of money, or Hollywood looks, but I listen and empathize with issues that bother them. Trust me gentlemen honey goes a lot farther than vinegar.
They're probably just sick of whiners and want someone who isn't going to complain and make excuses all the time.
So any person who dates/marries outside their own race is "self-hating"? What an ignorant statement.
This is a really interesting article. It seems like trends in America are shifting to a more mutli-ethnic ideal of beauty, rather than just a anglocentric one. I'm glow in the dark white, with red hair, and find my type is highly out of favor. heh It seems like lightly tanned, brunette, brown eyes are the style today.
Red hair was always out of favor.
I find plenty of red heads attractive.
Demographic shifts (uncontrolled border) and left-wing social engineers in academia propagandizing through media telling people how they can or cannot identify themselves. In order to deconstruct racial and ethnic groups, they whipped up the "multiracial" crock pot.
Don't be fooled. Marketing is about demographics not beauty. All it means is there are more people who look like the girls in the commercials than people who look like you.
Redheads are more of a treasure now than ever.
I love red hair women. They just wouldn't give me the time of day (or maybe I was too into my studies at the time. I digress.). Their too busy chasing the epitomized male beauty: tall, white and handsome.
Redheads are one of the most beautiful creations of nature. White skin and freckels. The social engineers have been busy trying to make redheads feel uncomfortable in their beauty while promoting a multi-ethnic ideal of beauty that works only for them. You know, the ethnicity of most of these "social engineers" it's not exactly one that produces a lot of good looking people...what to do? They own the media and Hollywood, just propagandise ugly as the new beautiful and brainwash sensible whites into thinking they are "out of fashion".
Don't make them successful in their attempt. Be proud of your looks and your heritage. Thousand of years of evolution have put you at the top of human standards.
Rachell, you sound beautiful. Who cares what the media is saying. You will meet someone who loves you for you and that is all that matters. There are women are busy using skin bleach and bottled color to get your look. The point of this article is just to point out a variety of looks are being accepted as mainstream. That is all.
I'm Anglo Saxon. I see beauty in all races but I also see ugly folks too. And none of that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" BS either. They're ugly to the bone. It's just a fact of life.
It has been said that they don't prefer the smaller versions of that model anyhow...
Considering 50% of black females have herpes, this man's penis has more intelligence than you.
LOL. Indeed, they do not like needles.
I love black women, especially from Brazil or the caribbean; have never seen such bodies in other races.
Ever notice how white men tend to deny that racism exists, but love to play the race card and declare benign articles like these as "racist"? How hypocritical can you get.
The new tactic of oppression is to claim that there is no oppression.
that is their new technique of racism.
but i think people are starting to catch up now.
This article isn't benign any more than CNN and it's content is benign. There is an ongoing campaign of activist journalism on CNN's part to promote racial egalitarianism and racial deconstructionism. If you want to see race card, look no further than CNN's endless obsession with its "Black in America" crap.
Do you see now how annoying the racial whining is?
Imagine hearing it for 30 years.
There's a difference between "whining" when you're in a position of privilege, because you're afraid of losing that privilege you've always held, and legitimate racism. Clearly you don't understand the difference between the two.
No, I promise you. It's still annoying.
Speaking of differences and misunderstandings. 90% of what you think is racism is personal. People don't like you because you're annoying. They'd probably hate you even more if you were white.
I just like to watch you people.. while people fight what is the best skin tone to portrait beauty..i'd rather appreciate them all....while you guys kill each other ill go to Brazil and enjoy...over there ppl dont have these issues...
LMAO
what a lie, over there it is even worse than here.
Read the article in TIME magazine about race relations in Brazil.
Dear Captain Clueless: Nobody said race doesn't exist. Also, racism won't go away just because we stop talking about it. In fact, talking about it HELPS. Thirdly–I have no idea how this article is racist against we euro-looking types. It says that euro-white is no longer the only form of beauty, but that other races still often strive to look that way. How is that racist?
How do eauropean people look like? like mediterranean? nordic? samy? iberian?
Let's be clear about this.
There are many pretty women among the daughters of men... but only MY bride is beautiful.
Women of color come in THOUSANDS of beautiul shades. There is nothing like a NATURALLY BRONZED beauty. The skin just shimmers. From light mocha to the deepest ebony, you just can't compare. This is why the tanning industriy takes in over 10 BILLION per year. This is in the USA alone. I haven't even factored in Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Thank God for DIVERSITY and all the wondrous shades of the colored rainbow.
I agree. Skin is art, imo. I love pictures that contrast skin colors with surroundings. It would suck if everyone looked the same.
Actually it's gross, especially if you're white. Study IQ statistics, crime data, and social disease stats for all non-white groups and you'll see what I'm talking about. Any white person that dates that is doing two things:
1) Spitting in the face of the race and culture that produced them which they should respect and not ignore, and
2) Dating lower races. There's no two ways around it.
Asians and Indians have higher IQs than whites.
According to whatever racist literature the KKK provided for you, sure! That's totally true!
*eyeroll*
@lagergeld, speak for yourself. I have news for you. This article is just the tip of the iceberg. There are soo many multi-racial people and so many 'black' and 'Asian' people who are part white. Do you really think we care what you or other seperatist type people think? Multi-racial people are everywhere. We have always been around and will continue to be around. Given the hate you speak, we would prefer you to stay with your own kind, that is other haters. You don't speak for the white race except those who goosestep and wear white sheets.
bottom line.... women bring this on themselves....."they" need to look in the mirror and check their own perceptions. Men are not the ones buying the fashion magazines, the makeup products, the clothing and keeping an eye 24/7 of what is perceived as the style of the day.
Women are caught up in a game of their own creation, once they can figure that out then maybe they can get back to a reality based appearance.
beauty is a term the comes into play based on judgement of the local culture and tradition..... We should value a person by their deeds, values, and ethics / morale character rather than their trivial outward appearance.
When all the makeup comes off, and all the hair treatments come off, and the various skin,nail, and other things come off what is there left and does the person even resemble who they naturally are? Then add to that the ever growing idea that plastic surgery is ok.
Women should not chase an artificial existence, but rather they should be happy in their own skin, there is nothing wrong with trying to be in good shape and taking care of yourself, but the artificial enhancers need to go...are you looking good for yourself or trying to impress your girlfriend etc?
You appearently are not a woman and you do not understand women. When guys at a bar call a woman who is normal weight fat or pick the tall blonde over the short red head with glasses over and over again- do you have any idea what that does? It becomes what happens in elementary school when you get picked last for kickball. Men are one of the reasons for the beauty standard. Just accept it and move on.
Women are certainly complicit, but the fact is, it's a societal issue. Men AND women both perpetrate this. It's never going away. We're just hardwired through generations of evolution to seek the most physically attractive mate. Many of us can recognize that and find good qualities in other things besides super good looks, but studies show that, again and again, people value physical beauty. Even in job interviews, where it should not matter, it always plays a part. Pretty people get paid more, get more job offers, sell more cars...the list goes on. Something in our psychological makeup just drives us, as humans, to think this way.
It's actually a failure to think. We all know that beauty is skin deep, and doesn't make for better employees or more honest witnesses in court or whatever, but when people allow themselves to be mindlessly steered by beauty, that's not "thinking" – it's failing to use the brain at all.
You ignore the fact that women are judged on their looks far more than men, that even when WE don't care about our looks as much as our brains and personalities, so many OTHERS force us to care, by ignoring our brains and personalities unless our looks measure up to some artificial standard they have. And it's not just in dating. Studies have shown that employers are influenced by their perceptions of beauty. Even parents are influenced by how beautiful they think their children are. Women don't choose this existence – it's forced on us, and you're not helping.
BRC, greap points. Wicky, it is not back and white; take responsibility.
You seem like a guy that blames minorities for racism too... Is it also gays fault that they are gay? Your view is as narrow as a 50 year old man's obstructed urethra
If you care to read the definition of racism from the dictionary of the English language as opposed to a bunch of hostile Critial Race Theorists, you'll find that anyone can be racist. Literacy. Such a simple and yet elusive thing.
They are all beautiful.
No, they aren't, and endogamy is perfectly natural.
Seriously... If you think people living in bamboo huts after tens of thousands of years and not advancing are kewl, you have issues.
let me guess. This is a Soledad O'Brien instigation.
Women of color come in THOUSANDS of beautiul shades. There is nothing like a NATURALLY BRONZED beauty. The skin just shimmers. From light mocha to the deepest ebony, you just can't compare. This is why the tanning industriy takes in over 10 BILLION per year. This is in the USA alone. I haven't even factored in Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Thank God for DIVERSITY and all the exquisite shades of the colored rainbow.
Study IQ, crime, and social disease statistics before saying such bullcrap.
In the longer range average Americans will probably look like Brazilians do today.
NIce. I could live with that.
That's good news! Brazilians are pretty good looking, on average. : )
never happen. unlike what you public school tards have been taught, the "races" have been in contact for thousands of years and there will always be white, black, etc.
If people respect the varied races and cultures like they claim, they'd make a point of preserving them, especially their own.
Unfortunately with modern liberal whites especially, they have far more concern for the preservation of everyone's race and culture EXCEPT THEIR OWN.
How exciting. Deconstructed races and cultures. Now that's what I call diversity!
Add color u get more beaty, plain and simple!
Everyone has color...
Add color you get lower IQs and higher crime and social disease rates. Plain and simple. Do some reading, simpletons.
Add asian color and you get higher IQ. Are you for the challenge?
LOL Michelle Obama is the farthest from beautiful you can get.
Agreed. I don't think she is ugly, but I would never ever call her pretty or beautiful. I don't get why so many think she is. I guess it truly is in the eye of the beholder.
THAT Comment is exactly why this article was written – Thanks for the confirmation
Articles like this are written for the purpose of furthering social animal herding toward racial and cultural deconstructionism, actually. How many people pretend Michelle Obama is remotely attractive when we all know she looks like a gibbon during mating season?
Including that pic made me laugh too.
Beauty is in the eye of the BEER HOLDER 🙂
Beauty is in the eye of BEER HOLDER 🙂
:p I thought u said beauty is in the eye of BEAR HOLDER...lol
Michelle Obama ..really? She looks like a shaved gorilla. And i mean that in the least racist way possible.
I think she's cute.
Considering that white people are the most harry people alive, perhaps the racial ape connotation would best be applied to you.
Says the Yeti sitting behind a keyboard.
Harry? Learn to spell.
You are an idiot and racist.
I'm just wild about harry.
Jacky was the only hot one; all the rest were ugly, with exception of Michelle. Recent research has shown that males favour body of females rather than face.
Now, now. Remember it's only okay to compare George Bush to a primate, regardless of how much a primate Michelle O. resembles.
Arnold, resembles a primate.
What a pile of racist crap. You either are beautiful or you're not. What difference is it what race you are or what color your skin is?
You sir are clueless and its very easy to see that you are not a woman nor do you understand them at all.
Ever notice how white men tend to deny that racism exists, but love to play the race card and declare benign articles like these as "racist"?
Endogamy is the human norm. Leftists don't like this so they put crap like this out in journalism to brainwash people into racial and cultural deconstructionism.
Even if you are so self-loathing you don't care if your own race and culture exists, then at least research some statistics on IQ, social disease, crime rates, and so forth. Race is more than skin deep.
If you did you homework and read, you will see that race does not exist. Do you read?
I strongly agree with c, beauty is absolute, subconscious and universal. It has nothing to do with politics, skin color or finding your wife. The most beautiful or handsome model is actually a guy who does both female and male lines.
Bullcrap. Endogamy is the norm and whites never remotely began to consider Zulu hags attractive until after decades of social brainwashing. Coincidence? Of course not. Even then, most of the time when whites say Zulu hags are attractive, they're just saying it to be nice.
This article is not racist but you sir are racist!
You eugenicists that run CNN will not quit till you've bred your sheep just the way you want them. You're striving to make the white race disappear, and create a global type of sheep, to match your global currency.
Go back to grazing.
Humans don't conspire, especially the wealthy, elite types that run the world. Haha! Watch more CNN.
In your comment you said, "double-wide" and "Nascar." Are you stereotyping, sheep? You must be a racist. No, no, you're a Nazi! Yeah, that must be it.
You listen to Alex Jones too much. If you think that an article on CNN is going to brainwash someone into going out and choosing to marry someone of another race JUST to achieve the end of "the white race" as you so tellingly put it, you're beyond help. Logic and reality play no part in your worldview. Go watch Infowars, and keep having your insane beliefs confirmed for you there by the slew of half-truths and outright lies they spew.
Of course not, the media don't influence the way people think. Neither do commercials. Go back to grazing.
The Genetic Eve, is a scientific term that describes the furthest point back which mankind can trace it's common ancestor. Genetic Eve was some black woman in Africa, and every human alive has her genetic code.... the implications need not be spelled out.
You can trace the evolutionary path further back then that, if you'd like. We all derived from apes. Some are closer to that source than others.
Only a slight bit of genetic variation goes a long way. You should know that.
I'm confused about your point. If it's that we are all the same, that's very silly. The co-discoverer of DNA, James Watson was chastised for telling the truth about race.
That's exactly what they're doing. Their programming regularly browbeats whites out of self-identification and any sort of allegiance or reverece of our heritage and culture. Everyone is allowed to love their race and culture but whites. This is no accident and it's partly why cows such as those at CNN are endlessly airing bad white boy programming.
Some of the ugliest acting people I ever met where stunningly beautiful; our shallow society places way too much emphasis on physical beauty, rather than inner beauty.
Not always true, however, there have been some pretty interesting studies that show that we "uggos" try harder to make up for our looks with personality. Pretty people are treated better with fewer manners. Interesting stuff.
Why do these articles only feature women? There is a whole world of male models and actors. What's considered the ideal has also changed over the decades.
I'm a multi-generational white boy of complete nothern european stock and my kids tan much better than me thanks to their super hot Cuban mother. 🙂
Gosh, you are so liberal and sophisticated. I want to be just like you when I get old.
I think he's just bragging about his hot wife. Don't get all serious sauce, bro.
Enjoy the Cubano 🙂
In my opinion CNN simply taps into what sells best, that's a no-brainer...Racial conflicts sell a lot...What's more interesting is this case, though, is the spin on the "beauty contest among the races". I find it REVOLTING, just like any other form of stereotype. NOBODY here has even considered applying true science (anthropology – one for all) to explain how the perception of beauty works, what its purpose truly is. One word for all "symmetry" and projecting all the correct signals for reproduction and ability to raise an protect offspring. This is for both genders...Has anyone noticed that this article is centered on female appearances only? I bet the majority of posters are guys. Cnetering on female appearance only is worse than the racial aspect. Not a good article at all. Quite irritating, both article and various of these ignorant comments.
Please research what images have been present in this country over the last 80 years. What I mean by images is centered on what the media, advertising, business use to sell especially for females. After researching one would ave to come to a conclusion that there has been an overwhelming focus on a the characteristics of white women. Not quite sure how when this narrow point of view is challenged it is racist. It is quite logical that this should be challenged as more points of view come into play
*have
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But, why is the first lady in this article. I respect her and all for being the first lady, but I don't consider her to be beautiful. She is not ugly, but not beautiful either. Weird that the author would put her in this article.
You're wrong! She's as ugly as a mud fence after a rainstorm!
Jackie Kennedy, now there was a beautiful woman. Classy too.
yeah...if you like blow fish
I never really saw it in Jackie.
Now Sophia Loren, that was a beauty.
The true all American beauty would be a Cree Indian or something anyway. The rest of us are imports.
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, if you focus on looks alone.
lol you and me wrote at the same time the same words.. hehe
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Dont limit beauty in typical standards. Some people look beautiful through their characters and morals.
I had a hamdsome uncle and his wife according to the man made standars is so called ugly. But my uncle says if I had more live ,I always had married this women. According to him she is the most beautiful, since her inner personality is very charming for him.
standards*
I have the opposite problem – men are drawn to my physical attributes (although I don't see it) but after they get to know me, they don't find me attractive anymore 🙁 I am not mean or self centered and perhaps I am just not that assertive for theiir taste.
People tend to have black or white thinking. sometimes there just isn't a "best" or "ideal". That's like saying what is the best type of music, or the best cuisine. Its all a matter of taste and there is no right or wrong answer. I feel very lucky to have grown up in a very multicultural community, to have friends of many ethnicity and to see equal beauty in each and every one of them. From the most fair features to asian to dark brown to latina – there is beauty is all hues. And I disagree that mixed race is ideal, not that mixed race isn't gorgeous but I also admire extreme features (extremely African, Extremely Asian, Extremely Nordic, etc.) We don't have to fit into any box to be the beautiful miracles that we all are and that is what I'll teach my kids. On another note, sometimes when I look at how we market products, such as dolls and clothes, I can't help but think about Nazis the way blond haired, blue eyed people are often front and center, while the asian, black or brunettes are in the background and to the side. Its so obvious and sad.
Hah! That blonde-in-the-middle thing always drives me nuts too, Izabella! I've been noticing that since I was a girl looking at Barbies, and nothing has changed much. My fav doll? Never the one named "Barbie." Her "ethnic" sidekicks were the ones I wanted, I always thought The Blonde herself was very boring looking. Which is strange, since most of my family look more like Barbie than any of her prettier friends! I'm a white girl who thinks we white girls got nothin' on most other races in terms of beauty. I have no idea where that idea developed, but I have the feeling I was so inundated with generic-looking blondes as a kid that they became...I dunno...boring, I guess.
I've always thought the ideal American beauty was best represented by the actresses of yesteryear: Donna Douglas (The Beverly Hillbillies), Whitney Blake (Hazel), and Debra Paget (50s movie star). They are just a few examples of women who best personified the all American beauty. The actresses today just don't have it.
Your lame pretense at sophistication in decidedly ineffective.
It appears CNN is unaware that it is not the 70's anymore... and people off all backgrounds have been going to school, working, and even worshiping together for decades; and we have been procreating with one another. The only people stuck on who's-what based on their skin color is CNN, the old politicians in Washington, and those who make money off selling racism. Guess what CNN there are racism people in America from all backgrounds. There are racism people in China. Their are racism people in India. There are racism people in Africa. Sorry to break the news to you. Dr. King said we should judge one another based on character, not the color of skin.... but color is all CNN looks at.
Who considers Michelle Obama beautiful? She looks like Rue Paul on a a bad day. She's a freaking cow.
Now, what can we say about you?? Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. What is attractive to you might not be to another person.
But yet you are in your basement masturbating to the picture. Go figure...
And you are a stupid teenager.
Agreed! There are beautiful women from all ethnic backgrounds, but she is not one of them.
You are probably just an ugly person that couldn't score, all alone and sad.
(“If we have more multiracial children, or more biracial children will (this) lead to more uniform and diverse standards of beauty? I don’t really think so,” Blum said) – I think you are incorrect. I am a multiracial South American woman who is married to an all american white man and we just had twin daughters. Our daughters are mixed with Indian from Nepal, African from Nigeria, Chinese from Hong Kong, and Europe. As i look around me i see more and more multiracial couples like my husband and i and i'm thinking our children will be the future of America. It is TV that dictates what beauty is in America and it is the responsibility of the companies who commercialize beauty products like Revlon to use more multiracial models in their commercials. I mean come on our president is biracial, that should say something.
You are truly sick and depraved. By diluting the racial stock of white people you are destroying thousands of years of evolutionary progress. The only reason you're doing it is because the jew-run TV networks have pushed it in your face for so long. You muds are so easily duped by those hook-nosed goblins.....may you get your just deserts one day, you miscegenating trash.
“If we have more multiracial children, or more biracial children will (this) lead to more uniform and diverse standards of beauty? I don’t really think so,” Blum said – I think you are incorrect. I am a multiracial South American woman who is married to an all american white man and we just had twin daughters. Our daughters are mixed with Indian from Nepal, African from Nigeria, Chinese from Hong Kong, and Europe. As i look around me i see more and more multiracial couples like my husband and i and i'm thinking our children will be the future of America. It is TV that dictates what beauty is in America and it is the responsibility of the companies who commercialize beauty products like Revlon to use more multiracial models in their commercials. I mean come on our president is biracial, that should say something.
I agree with you Marcia... I love a world with NO color lines. We are all the same race- the HUMAN race. There are multiple standards of beauty and no one should be held to that which does not represent them. All children should be taught about different cultures, customs, etc. It makes them well-rounded individuals and not crazy extremist morons who live in a box. If I could, I would adopt a child of every race and raise them as my own. Love is the most important thing!!! Not the color of one's skin.
But that is not what Marcia is saying. She is saying that multi-racial individuals are the future, not people who are accepting of multiple races. A world where one race of people (mixed race or any other) is considered the "norm" and others are by default abnormal is no better than the world today.
I believe that you are incorrect, because although you do see more interracials in advertising, they all tend to have the same features as the white/black/asian models. And it's impossible to have a uniform standard of beauty, no matter how mixed people are in the future because it isn't as if all interracial people look alike. I have a friend who is filipino/black. He just looks black, while his full brother looks full Asian. The fact that they are interracial is evident more in their culture and home life than in their looks.
Having more interracial people won't solve the issue that unattainable standards of beauty creates.
CNN, so are you saying there are other races in America besides Caucasian? Geez, thanks for letting me know. Unless I was living in cave the past 30 years, I wouldn't have known that. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Come up with something different. I'd rather read about some tornado than blah race, blah why race does that, blah blah blah.
Yes, It appears CNN is unaware that it is not the 70's anymore... and people off all backgrounds have been going to school, working, and even worshiping together for decades; and we have been procreating with one another. The only people stuck on who's-what based on their skin color is CNN, the old politicians in Washington, and those who make money off selling racism. Guess what CNN there are racism people in America from all backgrounds. There are racism people in China. Their are racism people in India. There are racism people in Africa. Sorry to break the news to you. Dr. King said we should judge one another based on character, not the color of skin.... but color is all CNN looks at.
Ha ha!! Well you have to admit that, having been a little athletic (although not the star her PR people would have us believe), she DOES have nice legs. And I like her hair color. As a lifelong blonde, I've always preferred the look of a brunette. But that's where her 'likability' ends in my book. I have to agree with some other comments here, though – what on earth does Sarah Palin have to do with any of this???
It has always been my observation (and I have heard so many people concur) that the most beautiful features ALWAYS belong to multi-racial people. They're simply prettier. They seem to be born with the best features of each of their contributing bloodlines. Mixed-race is always better-looking, more exotically beautiful. And, like mixed-breed animals, usually they're healthier and longer-lived because they have a more diverse gene pool. Given that our assessment of beauty is usually based on the natural tendency to be attracted to more healthy individuals (from a preservation of the species perspective) none of this comes as any surprise. I've always lamented that I am a boring, bland, blonde white girl. Nothing special....
The new master race, you sound like Hitler.
Ten dollars says you're really black. It's black people who always revel in diluting the white race with intermixing.
What the heck does that have to do with anything? Twit!
well I am definitely not into skinny at all. The jennifer lopez body is fine by me & race doesnt matter.Black women are overall the best of all races for me.
These racist stories are made to get people upset. They remind me of trolls who post. People are getting tired of these lame stories.
Agreed.
How is this story in anyway racist?
The story is racist because it focuses on race. The left loves to focus on race. Race isn't an issue to most people other than Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and the rest of the race baiting poverty pimps.
Exactly HOW does it focus on race? Most likely because you said it does.
It does seem this is their topic choice of late, it has become too often tbh.
how is talking about how we do look different and that the media is acknowledging that racist?
It is not. Some people just become upset when the conversation/article/discussion talks about when old / accepted ideas get challenged. Since most of these old accepted ideas come from a distinct point of view that masquerades as fact or how we have always done things - certain people become very sensitive when OTHER points of view on those subjects question how things have always been done. Those who share the OTHER point of view know full well how for generations those ideas were not challenged or where not allowed to be challenged -giving the false impression to those who subscribe to the old way of doing things that every one was on board. As we now live in the information /social media age other points of view will continually challenge these old "accepted" ideas. The term certain people use to describe this challenging is called racist – and clearly it is not...
Unless you're talking about white people then the story focuses on race...how dare CNN mention other people's views!
Physical beauty has been sought after and coveted since the beginning of time. It's natural. It's a blessing. It's a commodity. It's a form of power. This won't change. It’s part of human nature. Even in the animal kingdom those with the most colorful plumage, etc. get to choose their mates. It's also mathematical. It's about balance, proportion, perspective, much like you would consider if you were a painter or a sculptor. Specifics like skin color, weight and height are less important than how all the elements work together in harmony.
blacks are so "proud" to be black but want to date white women,and the black women do as much to look whiter.....so figure it out...someone is full of something.....and it is easy to see who.
I'm a white guy who's done plenty of interracial dating. Your posts inspire me to do more.
@Mutts, you're clearly a die-hard bigot who is under the mistaken impression that we whites are somehow superior. Get over it. We are not superior in ANY WAY. We're just blander and more boring. You'd probably be the biggest snooze around from a dating perspective. Thank God that will never happen.
Nope, we just date White women to make "Mutts" like you so very upset. It's working isnt it? lol
Kudos to the mass media for stirring up racial divides!! Bravo, CNN!! This one was pretty clever, actually!!
Honestly, I should stop going to CNN as a news source. They are too busy with social engineering. I think that beauty is in the eye of the beholder: it knows no color. I'm a white male but prefer brunettes with dark eyes. Personally, I think that Susan Malveaux from CNN is gorgeous. With this being said I do think that CNN is obsessed with race though. They do not need to engineer me as a person to accept others because I judge people by the character of their souls not their skin color like CNN does.
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" is used to make ugly people feel better about themselves. The same way "Big Boned" makes fat people feel slightly better. The truth is we're apes and our taste for the prettier things is innately built into us. There may be slight variations in taste like hair color, height, breast size, etc, but there is a pattern to the madness. Please stop with all this politically correct garbage we keep spewing to try and make every happy. Some people are ugly, some people are fat, and some people are idiots. That's just the way it is. Accept it!
We will never accept anything from insulting people like you. So take it somewhere else.
Geoff,
I'm with you. CNN appears more interested in social engineering, race baiting, and polarizing issues rather than fufilling its duty of reporting to the public. I check in still, but I'm spending more time catching up on American issues through the foreign press. Ce la vie.
I'm wondering if CNN will ever become anything other than a news network obsessed with race.They're absolutely addicted.It's getting downright comical.I think the time to switch home pages is near.
This article does nothing but incorporate the notion of race into everyones life. So when we read this in the morning, then go out for work or whatever we do, the idea that everyone is a different race, and sometimes even uncomfortable as that race in our society is fresh in our heads, only excacerbating the problem. Maybe stories like this is why when I walk in the city, everyone has a stank face on. They are all looking at everyone else wondering if they are suffering severe social anxiety because of the color of their skin. Anyway, there should be only one beholder of your beauty. And thats you. CNN, get out more.
Tell a white woman she has a big butt and she will smack you. Tell a black girl that and she will thank you.
Twiggy was BRITISH not American. She was a phenomenon of the elite of EUROPE. She was NEVER an "All American" beauty. Michelle Obama is not either. The whole article is bogus but then again it IS CNN...
Beauty is in the eye of the BEERholder! *rim shot*
Thank you! I'll be hear all night.
Sorry, its here.
Michelle Obama is slim? Where?
Ever seen old pics of Ma-shel? Ugh.
No but will look some up now ...
She's the ugliest woman they've ever tried to make pretty.
no more with all these mix breeds
That must be why you stick to family members. Don't want to take chances right?
well, if you live in this country you pretty much are a mixed breed, especially if your family has been here a while. plenty of people have native ancestors, and gasp even black ones.... supposedly 30% of americans have a black ancestor somewhere, and that number increases to 90% in the south. my background is english, german and cherokee. i personally like that. it makes things a little more interesting. you racists need to lighten up.
To answer the question "Can there ever be an 'all-American' beauty?", of course. Either you're American or your not American. As to whether there is an "All American Look", of course not.
BTW, what is CNN's obsession with race?
CNN is headquarterd in Atlanta, which is in the south, which is where every detail about life: politics, jobs, housing, relationships, foods, religion, education, etc is discussed in terms of race. So they subject the rest of the world to this topic whether we want to hear about it or not. I moved to the south from the west coast and it's EXHAUSTING!
It's not OK to generalize by race, but region? That's fair game......
how is talking about race racist? we are different, nothing wrong with that. acknowledging it is a good thing. i like that young girls and boys who aren't blonde and blue eyed are seeing models and actors that look like them.
As a group, white women can't be topped for beauty. Particularly the East Euros.
For all their whining, other groups acknowledge this by pursuing them.
Exactly. Black men, hispanics, etc. consider the blond-haired, blue eyed females as the epitome. Polls and studies have shown over and over that black women are considered the least attractive. It has to do with evolution. Everybody knows it's true, but nobody wants to admit it cause gosh darn it hurts peoples' feelings.
im on your side
I am on your side but keep in mind that those studies are flawed. What's amazing about those studies is that the majority of people questioned are us (White People).
That's the thing abot polls and opinions – they are subjectivee. If you polled mostly black peoplwoe they would tell you they consider a black woman to be the epitome of beauty. Most black guys I know do. On the other hand, most white guys will think white women are the epitome of beauty. When I walk by the blonde hair blue eyed woman, I don't even look twice because that's not what I consider beauty – although there may be some beautiful blonde hair bleue eye women it's not as evident as dark skinned course or curly hair women.
You couldn't be more wrong, you obviously don't travel. For starters, the majority in the world believe dark glossy hair equals youth and beauty. Blonde looks too much like gray hair.
Tell that to Caesar and Marc Antony – both of whom left their boring Roman wives to pursue a much more beautiful, intelligent and attractive Egyptian queen.
Beauty has a lot to do with race – but also with objective features, such as intelligence, willfulness, cunning, craftiness, ability to be sensual, to appear graceful, to 'fit' into the social norms of a society, to 'not' fit into the social norms of the society in an alternative way – the list goes on.
Your statements are offensive and idiotic and is the reason that CNN keeps posting these moronic articles. So first you stop judging like a fool and then perhaps CNN can stop posting like fools.
You sound like you have some kind of inferiority issue and you always have to put white on top to feel good about yourself. If that's how people feel then that's how people feel, what that has to do with evolution I have no idea. To make those kinds of claims without looking at other evidence it's baffling. Personally, I find more black women attractive than other races but then again I'm black lol. Maybe in America where those polls are done show that kind of thing but I doubt it has anything to do with evolution lol
You said it right.
What other groups? Most Asians assume their own are the epitome of beauty. Most Blacks assume thier own are the epitome as beauty. Most Hispanics do the same. You can't tell a guy from Brazil that women from Brazil are not as attractive as an East European women. You say most other groups aknowledge white women are the most beautifl species by pursuing them? Well, why is it that white men pursue Asian women more than any other group of men pursuing women? This article has more truth in it than anyone here can offer, and that is most people
Some one on this board does have a brain. 🙂
yup. it's always embarrassing to read the comments from Americans who don't travel. All countries and cultures have their ideal.
Where do you get your information that White men pursue Asian women more than White women? Or is that something you just randomly typed in order to support your arguement? That staement is unfounded.
This is how I feel, I think black women are the most attractive women hands down...but I'm black lol. I think it's okay for white people to think they are the most beautiful because to them they are the most beautiful and that's probably healthy. I don't really find white women all that attractive. Some I do but usually those women have features more like black women lol. So yeah, cool it on racial superiority, there is no such thing.
The "ideal" beauty has to do with power, not absolute standards and not evolution. Look at Renaissance paintings. They thought being chubby was the ideal of beauty – the reason being that aristocrats were the ones who could afford to get fat. When the Manchus took over China, Chinese women began binding their feet and wearing the qipao to look like Manchu women. Like most things, the "ideal" beauty is generated from who is most powerful at the time.
and once again the real racists are those that make everything about race. CNN panders to this group constantly.
You just got off the turnip truck, John? The USA is a nation who made ethnicity an issue AMONG whites. Whites in this country present white woman as the All-American beauty. That All-American beauty is dead and America's will have to broaden their idea of beauty. The All-American beauty has never been All-American, just white!.
Another racist. No one will hire you with a silly name like Tremayne so stay in the projects. Your mom didn't love you.
correct....white...and that is 101% BETTER THAN.....mixed...if given a choice the choice will be white...shonuff said...
cannot add a lot more to what has already been said about an article that does exactly what it CLAIMS to be against.
Certainly skinny is not particularly healthy; but fat is worse. Both are extremes. Skinny leads to anorexia and the like; fat leads to obesity and other health complications.
Big butts are not attractive; frankly neither are huge busts. Some of this BS about all being for plus sized women is pushing them towards the fat end which is just as bad as Hollywood and Fashion pushing them towards the skinny end.
Sizes of dresses need to be changed. And Hollywood and the Fashion industry need to be held to account for what they do as well.
"Big butts are not attractive"
That's the thing about OPINIONS. They are subjective.
Absolutely Josh!!! I am a grown woman now, quickly entering my middle age, but as a young woman I would have been considered lean, not skinny, as I am a very curvy woman, yet I had very little excess body fat...A nice round butt, extremely dark silky fine hair that I kept very long and well groomed...Possibly my best feature to someone else looking at me are unusually striking blue eyes that draw even more attention to me because of my hair color...And the most awful pasty white complexion...Neither tall or short at 5'6" in tall...Nothing to compare to the vision of the "American Beauty" as described by some, I never lacked for my share of attention from men and women alike, yet the media had me convinced that I was on the lower end of attractive...I was always full aware that there was someone around every corner from me that I saw as more beautiful, taller, thinner blonder, smaller butt, etc, because that is what the I had drilled into me as the standard of beauty...As I have matured though I have come to realize beauty comes in all shapes and all sizes and all colors in this country...And no matter how beautiful the outside once someone opens their mouth and vile comes flowing out that can turn instantly ugly!!!
Well josh some things are so overwhelmingly though that the so called "opinion" becomes fact. Is a fat person unattractive? Almost everyone would say yes, so it then becomes FACT.
Sorry but you are wrong, absolutely and horribly wrong.
Shapely rears are one thing, but steatopygian Hottentot bottoms are a definite turn-off.
Big butts? That is subjective to the person and what is 'Too big" for them. Just as beauty is subjective!
"Big butts? That is subjective to the person and what is 'Too big" for them."___________________________________________________ You're so into them I bet you eat "ah" all the time.
Is it just me or is CNN obsessessed with posting stories about race? This article is mundane but its seemingly race based story #9876354 nevertheless. The CNN suits focus on this stuff way more than the average person (of any color).
It's just you.
True, I've been saying it for months and months and months. To CNN, everything is about race. They never shut up about it.
I am not sure what is meant by an 'all American beauty'. If we define the US as what we have always said we are, 'a melting pot', then the All American beauty is truly all of us.......and much to our credit. So allowing race or ethnicity to enter into this whole thing makes the tag meaningless. We are, for better or worse, a nation of great diversity and it is that which we should celebrate.
As long as she isn't a he.
Tremayne will still date "her".
All-American Beauty as a term, as a concept, is racist to the core. Thank God we're getting rid of it little by little. It's still there, tearing up women's bodies. Ask any plastic surgeon. People don't go there to look more unique. We may never get closer to accept any healthy body as beautiful, and even those who aren't but make the bast of what they have, but we can try. And what about age, not just body type and race? Can we see an unaltered elder as beautiful?
Beauty is perciely what Burke defined it to be. It is the fearful symmetry which cannot endure, It is golden ratios between bodily measurements that cannot be maintained. Its rarity and fleeting nature are its value. It is cross cultural and hardwired in our heads
True. I often said that physical beauty has an expiration date. It cannot be maintained over an entire lifetime. Enjoy it while you can..
I have news for all women, everywhere. Beauty, like art, is in the eye of the beholder. Admiring oneself 24 hours a day is nothing but abject narcissism and tiring for men. Sensible people are just about tired of hearing how 'beautiful women are' 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Take a year off, we deserve it.
Why is this article focusing on the objectification of women? Why are we focusing on defining beauty in terms of body type, face, hair and so on? Rather we should begin to focus on teaching young girls to define beauty in terms of strength, character, creativity and intelligence perhaps.
Because "hot " woman are so much fun to look at for both men and woman.
Don't be ridiculous. How ELSE will CNN get advertising revenue from Maybelline and Victoria's Secret if we women aren't constantly wasting money on trying to reach some unattainable, shifting "ideal"?
But you still won't be able to golf at Augusta!
I believe they can golf as guests. They just can't be members of the club.
Physical beauty is perceived when we see someone that matches the criteria we all use to identify beauty. These criteria have nothing to do with race or color, and everything to do with symmetry, youth, health and strength. Behind cultural preferences we all share these criteria that help us pick mates that will be most likely to produce healthy offspring. Symmetry and strength identify people with genes that are less damaged. Youth and health are traits that promise offspring that are better able to survive. People of every race and every color have these traits and are universally seen as attractive.
Nice copy and paste.
This is really a silly and pointless article! Ever heard the phrase beauty is in the eyes of the beholder? What makes my definition of beauty better than another man's definition of beauty? I believe beauty comes in all colors, shapes and sizes! And if beauty is such a big deal in our society, then why is the seperation and divorce rate in our society so rampant today? Recently I saw an article on Christie Brinkley divorcing for the fourth time I believe! I remember when I was in college, most of the guys I hung out with had a poster of Christie Brinkley in their dormitory room and were head over heels for her beauty! Yet, Christie just can't seem to keep a marriage intact! So where does beauty factor in in her relationships if her beauty is the reasons for these men wanting to marry her?
I personally believe that beauty is often exagerrated and simply overated because in the long, run beauty is meaningless in our society or in any society for that matter. Let's face it, I'd rather date an average looking woman who would share my interests, love me unconditionally, have a sensible conversation about world events and once in a while, watch a ballgame with me as opposed to dating a beautiful woman who don't share my interests at all! Furthermore, I'd rather date an average looking woman who knows how to make love to her man rather than a beautiful woman who don't know how to please her man!
they are called indians people. not native Americans. this is such a stupid article btw
Indians are people from India you idiot. If you want to call Native Americans indians, call them native american indians.
People think globally now. You have to be more specific and say dot or feather before it.
Skin beauty is skin deep, but ugly is to the bone. Skin beauty is only skin deep, but it'll satisfy any reasonable man.
All-American beauty – white, blond or brunette, hourglass figure, beautiful face, nice bosom, great legs
Anything else....."n*gga please!*
Great cans.
Nothing more All-American than that.
37 22 34 and about 5'8" tall.