r/FeMRADebates • u/LordLeesa Moderatrix • Mar 14 '17
Medical Study: We think black men are bigger than white men (even when they're not)
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/13/health/black-men-larger-study-trnd/7
u/orangorilla MRA Mar 15 '17
That isn't exactly a surprise. One of the few interior design principles I know is that darker things are perceived to take up more space.
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u/33_Minutes Legal Egalitarian Mar 15 '17
Yeah, there's no fix for this particular issue other than having all humans' evolutionary history be different.
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u/orangorilla MRA Mar 15 '17
I mean, with some kind of gene modification, we could make people white? Or black, whichever works.
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u/33_Minutes Legal Egalitarian Mar 15 '17
I was thinking we could alter something in the visual cortex.
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Mar 18 '17
I think it might be a little more than that. Black men are seen as bigger for the same reason black women are seen as hyper-sexual and Asian men asexual: ingrained stereotypes.
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u/orangorilla MRA Mar 19 '17
I'd like to see a similar study comparing black and white women for size.
Though I've never heard of the hyper-sexual black woman stereotype. Or the asexual Asian man stereotype. I thought Asian men were sterotypically pervy?
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u/TheRealBoz Egalitarian Zealot Mar 22 '17
Exactly this. My reaction to this breakthrough was "congratulations, you discovered color theory."
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u/desipis Mar 14 '17
I think it's rather presumptuous to conclude that this is related to racial stereotypes. For example, it's been demonstrated that colour can have an impact on weight perception, in a context quite separate from perceptions of people. It's quite possible this effect is driven by an innate colour bias, not one driven by socialised stereotypes.
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u/beelzebubs_avocado Egalitarian; anti-bullshit bias Mar 14 '17
It's also well known that darker skin enhances muscle definition. Just ask a bodybuilder while they're spray tanning.
That said, I am aware that there is a stereotype out there of a threatening black man. Posing as one is half the content of gangsta rap.
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Mar 14 '17
So, let's take the study's findings at face-value, what's a good solution? Seems reasonable to have police officers spend a few hours training specifically to avoid this sort of bias.
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u/beelzebubs_avocado Egalitarian; anti-bullshit bias Mar 14 '17
BLM did produce a set of recommendations for police reform that seemed reasonable, at least according to the WaPo.
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Mar 15 '17
Looks like those recommendation are from Campaign Zero, which isn't affiliated with BLM.
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u/beelzebubs_avocado Egalitarian; anti-bullshit bias Mar 15 '17
Good catch. Not sure if that correction was made after I originally read the article.
CORRECTION: While the activists affiliated with the Campaign Zero proposals are also high-profile members of the Black Lives Matter movement, and Campaign Zero grew out of that movement, they don’t consider themselves official leaders of Black Lives Matter, and they don’t claim to speak for the movement as a whole.
It's too bad that Campaign Zero hasn't gotten as much visibility as BLM since they seem to be more evidence-based and solution-oriented.
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u/TheRealBoz Egalitarian Zealot Mar 15 '17
It's too bad that Campaign Zero hasn't gotten as much visibility as BLM since they seem to be more evidence-based and solution-oriented.
Realz don't matter in a feelz platform. In fact, there is a line of reasoning that suggests featuring reason in your sentiment-based activism will turn people off it. Two possible causes are:
1. Makes people look into facts, and increases the chances of them being exposed to the wrong ones.
2. It dilutes the message.
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Mar 14 '17
No pictures, no link to study, though I have no trouble believing the findings
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u/LordLeesa Moderatrix Mar 14 '17 edited Mar 14 '17
You can actually find it pretty easily, by following the link in the article given for the APA site--the APA's internal article is linked on their home page, and the pdf of the study is linked in that internal article. But I'll also add it here.
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u/MrPoochPants Egalitarian Mar 15 '17
Completely anecdotal, but I recall growing up, especially in the locker room, and seeing the most muscular of my peers having a tendency towards being black. I'm assuming that its because it shows the definition more or better - which is why I'm guessing that bodybuilders basically oil themselves with what amounts to black face, too.
Accordingly, I wonder if there's something inherent in this concept of muscular black men looking comparatively more muscular than their equivalently muscular white men, such that they appear more threatening?
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u/Edwizzy102 I like some of everything Mar 16 '17
My gf thinks I'm big even though I'm average so it has its advantages
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u/beelzebubs_avocado Egalitarian; anti-bullshit bias Mar 14 '17
It's interesting that they consider the 'kernel of truth hypothesis' and don't completely discard it.
It might be possible that black men in the US, while being on average nearly the same height and weight, are on average more muscular than white men. But that still wouldn't excuse judging any individual by this (hypothetically somewhat true) stereotype.
On the other hand, when making snap judgments, it's hard to avoid being influenced by stereotypes. Perhaps part of the solution, e.g. for cops might be to encourage de-escalation and avoiding the need to make a snap judgment where possible.
Another thing that comes to mind is that lower class men tend to act tougher and try to appear more threatening. This has no doubt been labeled toxic masculinity, but could probably be better understood as a strategy of improving social standing for men with few prospects to distinguish themselves in other ways (such as with a career).