More Pink Liberal Wank
My response to this wank:
It's doubtful there was anything racist about Kanazawa's methodology or conclusions. I've read his blog before, and it's usually pretty legit. Unfortunately, we can't see for ourselves because Psychology Today was cowed by the wank mob and pulled the article.
I've often thought that there's some element of facial recognition that's analogous to a phoneme. Just as people who are unfamiliar with a language may not be able to perceive or imitate that language's phonemes, people who are unfamiliar with a race may not be able to perceive or accurately describe the characteristic facial features of members of that race. It recalls the old trope that all Asians look alike. They do, if you're not adequately familiar with Asians... and there's nothing racist about that.
I think that's what Kanazawa was trying to investigate. In the process, he encountered the related phenomenon of people who are unfamiliar with the features of certain races perceiving them as being a different gender than they are. I myself have always thought that black women look masculine, so I'm not surprised that Kanazawa found that perception to be pretty common. It would explain why black women, unlike black men, rarely partner with people of other races. (Likewise, I perceive Asian men as feminine; this could be a factor in the success and popularity of Asian drag shows.)
Given that what's "pretty" is subjective and socially conditioned, that what's socially conditioned reflects cultural influence, and that blacks have the least influence in our culture, it should come as no surprise to anyone that black women are widely perceived as unattractive. And there is absolutely nothing racist about making that observation.
But Ms. Shepherd can't be troubled to consider, much less admit, any of this. Neither could she be bothered to substantiate her claim that Kanazawa's methodology was flawed. Her eagerness to brand Kanazawa a racist has contributed precisely nothing to the conversation. She's succeeded only in demonstrating that she is, to use her own words, "a bad scientist... and probably stupid."
It's doubtful there was anything racist about Kanazawa's methodology or conclusions. I've read his blog before, and it's usually pretty legit. Unfortunately, we can't see for ourselves because Psychology Today was cowed by the wank mob and pulled the article.
I've often thought that there's some element of facial recognition that's analogous to a phoneme. Just as people who are unfamiliar with a language may not be able to perceive or imitate that language's phonemes, people who are unfamiliar with a race may not be able to perceive or accurately describe the characteristic facial features of members of that race. It recalls the old trope that all Asians look alike. They do, if you're not adequately familiar with Asians... and there's nothing racist about that.
I think that's what Kanazawa was trying to investigate. In the process, he encountered the related phenomenon of people who are unfamiliar with the features of certain races perceiving them as being a different gender than they are. I myself have always thought that black women look masculine, so I'm not surprised that Kanazawa found that perception to be pretty common. It would explain why black women, unlike black men, rarely partner with people of other races. (Likewise, I perceive Asian men as feminine; this could be a factor in the success and popularity of Asian drag shows.)
Given that what's "pretty" is subjective and socially conditioned, that what's socially conditioned reflects cultural influence, and that blacks have the least influence in our culture, it should come as no surprise to anyone that black women are widely perceived as unattractive. And there is absolutely nothing racist about making that observation.
But Ms. Shepherd can't be troubled to consider, much less admit, any of this. Neither could she be bothered to substantiate her claim that Kanazawa's methodology was flawed. Her eagerness to brand Kanazawa a racist has contributed precisely nothing to the conversation. She's succeeded only in demonstrating that she is, to use her own words, "a bad scientist... and probably stupid."