Talk:Human skin color/Archives/2010/April

Dark Skinned Women Less Desirable?
This is purely anecdotal but this most definitely is not the case AT LEAST in the United States (in the present). I'm fairly certain that most men prefer a woman with dark skin and some believe "the darker the better". This is why the practice of tanning is so popular in modern times. Women know that men prefer dark women so they tan. This should be mentioned. JohnnyTopQuark (talk) 17:59, 31 December 2009 (UTC)


 * I think most men (including myself) prefer women with tan skin, not black skin. Olive color to light brown is the best, but too pale and black skin is not perferred. Nippler998 (talk) 01:54, 19 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Uh, just because you "personally" like something does not mean that it is the result of scientific tudy. Light-skinned black women have a really ugly skin color, yet Tyra Banks thinks it is "desirable" within black coloring.  Science is obviously not a great determinator of what people like, but Wikipedia will use that as it's determination.                     ~Rayvn  22:26, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

Color stereotypes
The cultural effects section is very inaccurate and is mostly speculation. Since when is there a preference for lighter skinned women. If you look at African American men the vast majority of them do not marry people with light skin. The usually marry other black people. One other thing I wanted to point out was the part that says "In Western societies, persons with dark coloring, particularly those of African origin, were viewed negatively for centuries." it uses were which is very wrong. Were is past tense. Stereotypes of people with dark skin has been going on for a long time and still continues today. Many studies have shown that most white people in America have at least a small amount of negative stereotypes about african americans and people with dark skin. The use of were is incorrect because it is not done with and will not be gone for a long time. please just change that part to "In Western societies, persons with dark coloring, particularly those of African origin, were viewed negatively for centuries and still are by many people." or something along those lines because racism hasn't gone away. It is most definitely still here and I observe it almost every day so please fix that. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.181.212.145 (talk) 07:43, 17 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Actually there is/has been a cultural trend considering pale skin as attractive (in Europe, but also in East Asia) but there is also a cultural trend considering dark skin as attractive. As for racism, it should be noted that there is also racism against people with pale skin (i.e. the treatment of albino people in African society). I agree that the section should be rewritten, though, perhaps with some good sources and precise cultural/historical examples. Jean-Jacques Georges (talk) 15:47, 23 April 2010 (UTC)