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Blast from the Past!
Brought back for our current audience to read & comment on.
Originally published on May 27, 2010. _________________________________________
Rainbow men, that is, non-black guys of varying hues, tend to prefer a svelte physique. Now before you get all huffy about having to give up your daily donuts, deep-fried Twinkies and 500-calorie mochachocalattechai (and then try to be all, “no whip cream!” about it), just hear me out.
Both sexes do all sorts of things to attract the opposite sex. Do you skip a shower before a date? Fart during a movie with your guy? If you do, you need more help than what this blog can give you!
For the sake of this argument, let’s break down what black men tend to find attractive: small waist with a big ‘ol stripper booty:
Many Black Men's Ideal Figure*
BUTT! Most of the time, a little “junk in the trunk,” often means junk in the thighs, rubbish on the arms, and a land fill on the belly. Black men find this attractive, so many black women who want to attract those men work (or not) to increase their desirability. A few years ago a study came out that suggested black women were much more comfortable with their body image than their white female counterparts. Despite 78 percent of us being overweight according to the American Obesity Association, apparently it’s all good. You know why? C’mon guess. BECAUSE BLACK MEN FIND BOOTY MEAT ATTRACTIVE!
Conversely, white women (as well as other nationalities besides, perhaps, Hispanics) are VERY weight conscious. That same study showed that a large percentage of white women were unhappy with their weight. Just a guess, but I’ll bet the farm it’s because white men tend to prefer a body type like this:
I don't care what color you are, that body is healthy and hawt!
So, it looks like both black women and white women tie their feelings about body image according to what the men of that race prefer.
I remember talking to someone at a mall I worked that was predominately frequented by African Americans. My co-worker, who was young, small-waisted and a butt that looked like two basketballs fighting for space in her spandex, often told me that she was willing to do some exercises, but her boyfriend warned her not to do anything that would reduce her ass size. She was happy to accomodate him.
So then, why are so many black women bent out of shape when rainbow men express their preference for thin women, in word and deed? Why the resistance to accomodate them if we want to attract them?
On a post yesterday regarding the best/worst places in the world to have an interracial relationship, Ali went a little off topic to discuss how a friend of hers thought NYC was not conductive to her interracial dating prospects:
“This prob. belongs under another post, but I have a cousin who says NYC is bad for bw/wm interracial dating! NYC! The reason is, she’s never been asked out by a white guy. When I tell her I have, lots of times, she says – oh, you’ve just been lucky . . . . .What I’ve failed to mention is this – she’s nearly 250 POUNDS! And yet that doesn’t occur to her that that’s the problem. She blames her lack of interracial dates on her race – she says it’s because white guys are racist!”
For me, exercise and I go through stages. I get really gung-ho and then after a while I give the whole thing a heave-ho. But as I grow older I realize the necessity of being consistent with working out, because I have an almost irrational fear of arms that flap like wings while waving in a tank top. But money is tight and the gym is just a little too far, and frankly, I don’t see the point in having shower, brush my teeth and comb my hair to only become disheveled in some frenetic Tai Bo-hip hop-kick boxing-thingamajig workout class. So that’s why I do Barry’s Boot Camp and drink my fruits and vegetables with the help of my Vita Mix. And you know what? I’ll be working on keeping my body fit and healthy, first, because I don’t want to get diabetes like my mother, take high blood pressure pills like my dad did, and frankly, shopping at Lane Bryant will never turn me on no matter how cute they make those fat dummies look in their clothes! And finally, I’ll do it because I know my husband likes me that way, and I love him and want to be desirable to him as he wishes to stay desirable to me, which is why Hair Club For Men will get a new client if his hairline recedes one more centimeter! 
Now, I realize that I may have ruffled some feathers with this post, but ladies, we MUST face the truth, stop making excuses, and get ourselves fit, happy, sexy and healthy. And if a rainbow man thinks you’re hot after all that effort, then all the better.
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