I didn’t date interracially back home, but I do here
I don’t date interracially here, but I did at home
I don’t date interracially
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It’s no secret that interracial dating, typically between Taiwanese women and foreign men, is fairly common, although I have seen black and white couples as well. It’s interesting that back home, or at least in the US, it’s still not usual to see many of these types of couples or families. I know many of my friends would never even think of dating outside of their own race, or at least they never seemed to do so. So here is my question:
How many of you dated interracially before coming to Taiwan? Would you or do you date outside your race here? And why do you think it’s more prevalent here and not so much back home?
Please keep all irrelevant generalizations out of this discussion.
I very rarely date white guys. Just not attracted to them.
Last one was Japanese
before was 1/2 morocon and 1/2 israeli
before him was native american
before him was my mexican first love. (yay for mexican boys!!)
(yes I did weed out less significant relationships. Except for my last which was the most insignificant and I left it in)
I’m white. I dated white, Hispanic, East Asian, and South Asian women before I went to Taiwan. I suppose I always had the infamous “thing” for East Asian girls, though, and after being in Taiwan a few years it got to the point where it would probably feel stranger to date a white girl.
For Western men and Taiwanese girls, I’d say it’s something like a “Sayonara” complex (i.e., the James Michner novel/Marlon Brando movie of the same name–if you’ve read/seen it, you know what I’m talking about).
And for interracial dating among foreigners, it’s probably like a “Casablanca” complex where you see people from all of the world pitched together into a strange environment and ordinary inhibitions or prohibitions don’t apply so much any more.
the chief’s First Great Love was Japanese.
Her older brother (their father was dead, so he was the family honcho) made her break up with me because I was gaijin, providing the impetus for my introduction to the wonderful world of Binge Drinking at the tender age of 16.
We didn’t have hardly any black folks where I grew up, but there was a small enclave of West Indian immigrants not far from where I lived in the city.
I used to hang out with a couple of the guys, I think they’d have kicked my ass if I’d made a move on any of their sisters/cousins.
My Junior High principal was a very famous (Black) retired CFL player, his daughter was my older sister’s best friend for years, if I’d ever raised the corn to ask her out, I think she’d have laughed in my face.
There were loads of incredibly gorgeous India-Indian girls when I was growing up, way out of my league.
Obviously Mrs. the chief is Taiwanese, and the chieflette is half and half (duh).
I don’t ever recall any of my friends or family making any kind of deal about it, honestly.
there is only one race when it comes to human beings. as long as you date human beings you simply CANNOT date out of your race. your dates may be of a different ethnicity than you or may have a different skin color than you but there is only one human race.
the whole division of human “races” is outmoded (and bad) science. that educated folks retain such bias is regrettable.
[quote=“skeptic yank”]there is only one race when it comes to human beings. as long as you date human beings you simply CANNOT date out of your race. your dates may be of a different ethnicity than you or may have a different skin color than you but there is only one human race.
the whole division of human “races” is outmoded (and bad) science. that educated folks retain such bias is regrettable.[/quote]
Well unless you have a better word to contribute…then might as well stick with the one we actually know.
I’ve dated them all. Back home I felt a bit odd dating outside my “race” at first…but I quickly got used to it.
I find people who have only select to date Asians or specific ethnicities a bit creepy.
(I can see for places like Taiwan or other nations where it’s more ahem homogeneous to want to only date Taiwanese people, but for those who grew up in a multicultural society to still be specific about color or race and close off all your options, they’re missing out. In Taiwan, there aren’t that many other ethnic options for people to choose from.)
I embrace all colors, ethnicities, and nationalities. There are good qualities in every color. One thing I find with the whole big deal on interracial dating is it’s not a big deal in cities where there’s a diverse ethnic population, where the “majority” is not the “majority” in many pockets of the city. And that, is the best places to be an interracial couple. Every Saturday night at a restaurant is like a UN meeting with all your friends.
Honger (check), Banana (check), Caucasian (check), Japanese (check), East Indian (check), Iranian (check), Happa (check).
Because 90% of forumosans are caucasians living in Taiwan surrounded by asians. And, part of the reason many of those people ended up here is because they have an interest in asian culture. . . including its women.
I can’t speak for other parts of the world, but the majority race in the US is caucasian and in most places in the US, I believe, white-asian relationships are more accepted by society than white-black relationships, particularly white man asian women. There must be many subconcious reasons for that. Many whites see Asian women as exotic, whereas they see blacks as threatening. Or they see Asians as smart and hard working, whereas they see blacks as criminals and gangstas. Not saying there’s any truth in such stereotypes, but I believe many people feel that way (conciously or subconciously). There may be fewer extreme connotations related to hispanics and native americans, due to even less familiarity by the dominant culture.
Why do prejudices, perceptions and practices of the dominant culture matter? Because it’s the dominant culture and therefore has a large impact on people of such culture. Perhaps it’s different within minority cultures. I don’t know how blacks feel generally about blacks dating asians or hispanics (there seems to be a lot of that in California), but it’s my understanding that among blacks the idea of dating whites is also often a touchy subject. It’s my understanding that when a black dates whites, some blacks may accuse the person of betraying his/her race and thinking blacks aren’t good enough for him/her.
Black-white relations just seem to be the most delicate cross-race relation; white man-asian woman seems to be more common and more accepted by society, although there are still the prejudices (he couldn’t find a woman back home, etc).
[quote=“914”]I find people who have only select to date Asians or specific ethnicities a bit creepy.
(I can see for places like Taiwan or other nations where it’s more ahem homogeneous to want to only date Taiwanese people, but for those who grew up in a multicultural society to still be specific about color or race and close off all your options, they’re missing out. In Taiwan, there aren’t that many other ethnic options for people to choose from.)
I embrace all colors, ethnicities, and nationalities. There are good qualities in every color. One thing I find with the whole big deal on interracial dating is it’s not a big deal in cities where there’s a diverse ethnic population, where the “majority” is not the “majority” in many pockets of the city. And that, is the best places to be an interracial couple. Every Saturday night at a restaurant is like a UN meeting with all your friends.
Honger (check), Banana (check), Caucasian (check), Japanese (check), East Indian (check), Iranian (check), Happa (check).[/quote]
Easy for you to say, a 6’6" half-Samoan dude.
Oh, and SAF, I guess you weren’t with your Moroccan honey long enough for spelling lessons…
Tru dat. I’m 6" 4’, half black, half Samoan. My hunny is a puny 5" 1’ (but she looks 5" 3’, it makes a difference to her) and Canasian. We gonna have sweet babies.
It depends a lot on where you grew up. And also on your own view of things, if you’re open minded or not. Really, with the lights out, all look same. Haha. But seriously, everyone speaks English, so some like to eat different foods or celebrate different holidays…we’re all just pigs that like to party. Is it so different? Color, ethnicity, nationality, race…we’re really not too different. That’s right, you’re NOT that special!
Interracial dating and marriages are hardly scarce in the US anymore according to studies:
From the Wash Post:
Interestingly, though, as suggested above, blacks are less likely to intermarry, and I suppose date, which may be why Imani believes what is happening in Taiwan is somehow special.
Perhaps this has something to do with attitudes, as MT suggested:
That has always been true. Many Asian and Pacific Islanders came to the U.S. as war brides, from the days when the Army was stationed over in Japan and the PI. Of course the vast majority of Native Americans marry whites - most of them are white by majority percentage of blood; intermarriage has been common since colonial times, that’s why it’s impossible to find any Native Americans in the U.S. that aren’t part white or black. Latinos/Hispanics are not a race, they are Spanish speakers of various ethnicities, and many of them are white. Some polls indicate that most Hispanics in the U.S. would prefer to view themselves as “white” (one of my friends, a black guy, said about that, “Of course they do! Everybody in America wants to be white!”)
Blacks, as always, are the Great Exception. Almost every other minority in America eventually manages to blend into the mainstream over time - all the white European groups did, even Jews - and even Asians are the “model minority”, but for whatever reason blacks suffer a glass ceiling that’s categorically and quantitively different from other ethnic groups. I hail from the small town middle America, deep in red state territory, and down there no one will bat an eye at a white boy or girl marrying an Asian or Hispanic - in fact those kinds of marriages are becoming more and more common, with all the influx of immigrants from Mexico and Vietnam. But dating a black? That’s still a pretty big taboo. And to be honest, a taboo on both sides of the black/white fence.
Sometimes I think that blacks are the only real minority group in America.
I don’t believe it was that common and certainly not accepted by the mainstream. Miscegenation laws were only repealled in 1967. While there have always been some intermarriages between whites, Asians, and Latinos, there has been a groundswell in the last decade or two.
Declared illegal on the national level by the Supreme Court, you mean; only 16 states still had those laws in 1967. But you are right, it wasn’t all that socially acceptable even by the '60s. What’s interesting is the evolution of the meaning of “white”. Poles, Italians, Irish, and Jews weren’t considered “white” a century ago; miscegenation once meant WASPs marrying one of them. There haven’t been enough Asians in the U.S. until a few decades ago for them to be much a factor in anything.
Here’s something interesting I just dug up researching miscegenation laws:
[quote]Today there are more people of mixed heritage being born in the U.S. than at any other time in the nation
In the 60s in Canada it was still common to write housing contracts that stated the buyer of a hosue could not sell later to anyone of color or ethnicity. This to keep wealthy neighborhoods WASPy white.
Maybe it is age group, maybe i am naive. But I have never noticed anyone having much of a problem with a white girl dating a black man.
I dated (very shortly) a (very handsome) black man and no one said anything (except “nice ass”… which he most certainly did have) but when I dated an Israeli man (my own freaking ethnicity) I found out how racist many of my “friends” were.
I even had one person tell me that being abusive was “in their blood” to which I had to tell him that my grandfather never once hit my grandmother. And he had the gall to tell me how rare that was. :fume:
I’ve always been by far most strongly (although not exclusively) attracted to dusky, petite thangs. Couldn’t care less whether they’re petite Latinas, Middle Easterners, Asian, African-Swedish or what have you. So I don’t think it’s a “race” thing. It’s just a petite and preferrably dusky thing. Not a choice, any more than it is a choice to like chocolate and dislike cherry.
[quote=“Muzha Man”]Interracial dating and marriages are hardly scarce in the US anymore according to studies:
From the Wash Post:
A slight correction here: since most Hispanics are part of the “white” category in that artificial white/black/asian/etc. “race” classification, most of the above-mentioned 1/3 of US-born Hispanics are not involved inter"racially". Rather, their relations are considered inter-ethnic.
Now that discrepancy I utterly fail to understand. I honestly can’t fathom why anyone would be uncomfortable with a black-white relationship. Never could. Perhaps that’s because I grew up in a multi-ethnic family in a relatively well educated, liberal spot, dunno.
