In the past several decades, occurrences interracial dating and marriage have been increasing in the United States. In 2000, the number of interracial heterosexual marriages was ten times that of the 1960s when the Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia outlawed the prohibition of interracial marriages (Killian, Interracial Couples, Intimacy, & Therapy, 40). This statistic can be seen as progressive move towards a more accepting, integrated society. However, many of the residues of colonialism remain embedded in the partner preferences which are dictated by racialized definitions of attractiveness and the existence of a racial hierarchy which deems some races, especially Whiteness, to be more desirable than others. The prevalence of miscegenation
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They alone were allowed, and in some cases, encouraged to engage with other races in order to seed themselves into the land (Stoler, Carnal Knowledge and Imperial Power, 48). They were also cast as the conqueror and settler, roles that emphasized their masculinity and vitality, both of which are stereotypically attractive traits. Patriarchal rhetoric made them men, while other races were demasculinized and described as either animal or childlike (Stoler, 46). Conversely, white women were, and often still are, depicted as “the pinnacle of womanhood” (Miles, “Black Women, Interracial Dating, and Marriage…”). When discussing Hortense Spiller’s work, the category of “woman” is not defined universally across race, it depended on what was considered ‘body’ and what was considered ‘flesh’. White women were always considered ‘bodies’, while Black women were ‘flesh.’ Black women were often fetishized, but in more of a violent rather than sexual manner; as flesh rather than body (Gender, 10/4/16). Along with being considered less than woman, Black women often did a large amount of manual labor during and after slavery, which served to depict them as less fragile and masculinize them which feeds into modern stereotypes (Miles). Even today, the definition of feminine beauty is often characterized by what are typically white traits such as “lighter skin, longer hair, and thinner body types” (Miles). The colonial projects served to cast White men and women as the ideal in terms of masculinity and femininity that drive what is considered attractive in a modern
They alone were allowed, and in some cases, encouraged to engage with other races in order to seed themselves into the land (Stoler, Carnal Knowledge and Imperial Power, 48). They were also cast as the conqueror and settler, roles that emphasized their masculinity and vitality, both of which are stereotypically attractive traits. Patriarchal rhetoric made them men, while other races were demasculinized and described as either animal or childlike (Stoler, 46). Conversely, white women were, and often still are, depicted as “the pinnacle of womanhood” (Miles, “Black Women, Interracial Dating, and Marriage…”). When discussing Hortense Spiller’s work, the category of “woman” is not defined universally across race, it depended on what was considered ‘body’ and what was considered ‘flesh’. White women were always considered ‘bodies’, while Black women were ‘flesh.’ Black women were often fetishized, but in more of a violent rather than sexual manner; as flesh rather than body (Gender, 10/4/16). Along with being considered less than woman, Black women often did a large amount of manual labor during and after slavery, which served to depict them as less fragile and masculinize them which feeds into modern stereotypes (Miles). Even today, the definition of feminine beauty is often characterized by what are typically white traits such as “lighter skin, longer hair, and thinner body types” (Miles). The colonial projects served to cast White men and women as the ideal in terms of masculinity and femininity that drive what is considered attractive in a modern