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Concepts of race and sexuality have interacted in various ways in different historical contexts. While partially based on physical similarities within groups, race is understood by scientists to be a social construct rather than a biology reality. Human sexuality involves biological, eroticism, physical, emotional, social, or Spirituality feelings and behaviors.
United States law has a complex history regarding race and sexuality. In the 1800s, resistance to mixing between blacks and whites led to the passage of laws banning their intermarriage. At the same time, a fear of Asian women's sexual appeal led to the complete ban of Chinese women from migrating to the United States, as it was believed that they would seduce married White Americans men.
Studies of online dating and physical attractiveness have indicated that race may be "gendered", as it was repeatedly found that East and Southeast Asian women were considered more attractive than other groups of women. Gendered racial stereotypes exist within the LGBT community, which have been described as both alienating and empowering.
Race has historically been a factor in sexual fetishism, with the Asian fetish, a preference for women of Asian descent, and the fetishization of Black men being prominent examples. (2025). 9780822333128, Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822333128 (2025). 9780385510028 ISBN 9780385510028
After the opening of Japan by Matthew Perry, word began to spread in the United States about the seductive femininity of Asian women. A fear that Asian women would seduce White men and destroy White families led to the passage Page Act of 1875, which prevented Chinese women from entering the United States.
There are a few potential reasons as to why such strong ideas on interracial sex developed. The Reconstruction Era which followed the Civil War started to disassemble traditional aspects of Southern society. Now, the Southerners who were used to being dominant were no longer legally allowed to run their farms by practicing slavery.Foner, E.; Mahoney, O. (2003). America's Reconstruction: People and Politics After the Civil War. The Southern Democrats were not pleased with the outcome of this reformation. This radical reconstruction of the South was deeply unpopular and it slowly unraveled, leading to the introduction of Jim Crow laws, which legally discriminated against African Americans,Kousser, J. M. (2003). "Jim Crow Laws". Dictionary of American History, vol. 4, pp. 479-480. There was an increase in the sense of white dominance and sexual racism among the Southern people, Tensions heightened after the end of the civil war in 1865, and as a result, the sexual anxiety which existed in the white population intensified. The Ku Klux Klan was formed in 1867, an event which triggered violence and terrorism which targeted the black population.Wade, W. C. (1998). The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America. Oxford University Press, USA. When Jim Crow laws were eventually overturned, it took years for the court to resolve the numerous acts of discrimination.
Allegations of sexual harassment were often used as justification for the lynching of African Americans. Emmett Till was an African American teenager who was lynched by two white men. Till was lynched because his assailants believed that he had whistled at a white woman, but in actuality, he had whistled for his own reasons.Whitfield, S. J. (1991). A Death in the Delta: The Story of Emmett Till. JHU Press.
The prevalence of interracial couples may demonstrate how attitudes have changed in the last 50 years. A case that received heightened publicity is that of Mildred and Richard Loving. The couple lived in Virginia yet had to marry outside the state due to the anti-miscegenation laws present in nearly half of the US states in 1958. Once married, the pair returned to Virginia, and were both arrested in their home for the infringement of the Racial Integrity Act, and each sentenced to a year in prison, a sentence which was ultimately overturned by the United States Supreme Court.Moran, R. F. (2007). " Loving and the Legacy of Unintended Consequences". Wisconsin Law Review, 239, 240-281.
In 2021, the University of California published a comprehensive analysis of online dating trends in the United States. The authors posit that the rise of online dating has exacerbated underlying racial biases in dating.
The data from this research show that heterosexual White Americans are more likely to be messaged by Black, Asian, and Hispanic women than men who match their race; yet when men respond to women, White women do not have the same advantage. The authors attribute this difference to socioeconomic status being important to women, and physical attractiveness more important to men. Same-race preference is more common among White people than non-White people, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.
The authors show that Black daters and especially Black women are especially disadvantaged in online dating. They also show that straight White women and gay White men are less likely to message Asian men compared to their own race, but Black and Latina women are equally likely.
In most countries, certain racial groups are often perceived as more physically attractive than others, and this often varies by gender. Black women and Asian men are among the least desired demographics in heterosexual online dating, with their opposite gender counterparts being more likely to date interracially. In the United States, several studies have found that East Asian women are the most desired group of women, while East Asian men are less desired. Some view this to be the result of the hypersexualization of Asian women in popular media, while other studies attribute the higher rate of interracial marriages to a simple preference for the physical features of Asian women.
A 2009 study analyzed online dating trends among white men and white women. The authors found that black and Asian men faced high rates of exclusion from white women, while white men were more likely than white women to exclude blacks, but were otherwise more willing to date interracially.
Yancey, et al. (2009) report African American preferences: the most preferred partner belonged to the Hispanic group (61%), followed by white individuals (59.6%) and then Asian Americans (43.5%). Both Hispanic and Asian Americans prefer to date a white individual (80.3% and 87.3%, respectively), and both are least willing to date African Americans (56.5% and 69.5%). In all significant cases, Hispanic Americans are preferred to Asian Americans, and Asian Americans are significantly preferred over African Americans. Hispanic Americans are less likely to be excluded in online dating partner preferences by whites seeking a partner, as Latinos are often viewed as an ethnic group that is increasingly assimilating more into white American culture.Yancey, G. (2003). Who Is White? Latinos, Asians, and the New Black/Nonblack Divide. Lynne Rienner Pub.
Asian men and black women face more obstacles to acceptance online than their opposite sex counterparts. According to Kao, et al., the dating disadvantage of Asian men persisted even when they had advanced educational backgrounds and significantly higher incomes. Increased education does however influence choices in the other direction, such that a higher level of schooling is associated with more optimistic feelings towards interracial relationships.Bobo, L. D. & Massagli, M. P. (2001). "Stereotyping and Urban Inequality." Urban Inequality; pp. 89–162. Lawrence, M. P. M.; Bobo, D. (eds.). New York: Russell Sage. White men are most likely to exclude black women, as opposed to women of another race. A 2009 study found that a subset of white male online daters were open to dating women of all races except black women.
High levels of previous exposure to a variety of racial groups is correlated with decreased racial preferences. Racial preferences in dating are also influenced by the area of residence. Those residing in the south-eastern regions in American states are less likely to have been in an interracial relationship and are less likely to interracially date in the future. People who engaged in regular religious customs at age 12 are also less likely to interracially date. Moreover, those from a Judaism background are significantly more likely to enter an interracial relationship than those from a Protestantism background.
A 2015 study of interracial online dating within multiple countries, analyzing the dating preferences of Europeans, Africans, Asians (including South Asians) and Hispanics, found that most races ranked Europeans as most preferred, followed by Hispanics and Asians as intermediately preferable, and finally Africans as the least preferred. Country-specific results were more variable, with more diverse countries showing more openness to engage in interracial dating. The researchers noted that Arabs tended to have higher same-race preferences in regions with higher Arabic populations, possibly due to more traditional cultural norms on marriage.
Currently, there are websites that target specific demographic preferences, such that singles can sign up online and focus on one particular partner quality, such as race, religious beliefs or ethnicity. In addition to this, there are online dating services that target race-specific partner choices, and a selection of pages dedicated to interracial dating that allow users to select partners based on age, gender and particularly race. Online dating services experience controversy in this context, as debate is cast over whether statements such as "no Asians" or "not attracted to Asians" in user profiles are racist or merely signify individual preferences.
Non-White people ethnic minorities, mostly Indian people and East Asians, who feel they lack dating prospects as a result of their race, sometimes refer to themselves as ricecels, currycels, or more broadly ethnicels, a term related to incel. Racial preferences are sometimes considered as a subset of lookism.Davis, Andrew. "'Lookism', Common Schools, Respect and Democracy". Journal of Philosophy of Education 41.4 (2007): 811-827.
Within the transgender community and those attracted to trans women, women of East Asian descent are highly sought after, because of the racial stereotype that Asian women's features are 'prettier' than white women's. According to Chong-suk Han, this explains why East Asian drag queens typically win trans beauty pageants, because they are thought to pass more easily as female. Charlie Anders notes that the best-selling transsexual pornographic films depict Asian trans women, and they are highly esteemed and sought after by men identifying as heterosexual.
Asian American women have reported a sense of invisibility in lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) communities. According to a 2015 study, Asian American participants who identified as lesbian or bisexual often reported stereotyping, and fetishism in LGB circles and the larger U.S. culture, as well as low representation within the community, as minorities.
In Germany gay male subculture, discriminatory attitudes have been reported, particularly towards obese or overweight men, feminine men, and Asian men.
Racial preferences are also prevalent in gay online dating in the United States. Phua and Kaufman (2003) noted that men seeking men online were more likely than men seeking women to look at racial traits. According to one study, LGBT people are significantly more likely to be in interracial relationships than heterosexual people.
In a qualitative study conducted by Paul, Ayala, and Choi (2010) with Asian and Pacific Islanders (API), Latino, and African American men seeking men, participants interviewed said that racial preference was a common criterion in online dating partner selection. According to a study using a large sample size of gay men in Australia, there is widespread tolerance of sexual racism in that country.
In her 2018 essay "Does anyone have the right to sex?" philosopher Amia Srinivasan argued that Western beauty standards have racialized origins, and she stated that racial bias can shape sexual desire.
The effects of racial fetishism as a form of sexual racism among gay men of color are discussed in research conducted by Mary Plummer. Plummer found that gay clubs and bars, Casual sex as well as romantic relationships frequently presented psychologically distressing situations for non-white gay men. These include lowered self-esteem, internalized sexual racism, and increased psychological distress in gay men of color, such as being expected to embody Asian racial stereotypes or to have stereotypically Asian racial characteristics, such as "smooth skin".
Fetishism can take multiple forms and has branched off to incorporate different races. The theories of naturalist Charles Darwin can offer some observations in regards to why some people might find other races more attractive than their own. Attraction can be viewed as a mechanism for choosing a healthy mate. People's minds have evolved to recognize aspects of other peoples' biology that makes them an appropriate or good mate. This area of theory is called optimal outbreeding hypothesis.
Perry Johansson in 1999 argued that following the globalization of China, the perception of Westerners changed drastically. With the Opening of China to the outside world, representations of Westerners shifted from enemies of China to individuals of great power, money, and sophistication. Chinese advertisements depict Western women as symbols of strength. The body language of Chinese models in ads expresses shyness and docility, while the body language of Western women demonstrates power and unashamedness. The study suggested White women are even presented with qualities otherwise considered to be "masculine" in Chinese culture.
According to a 2014 study of Swedish people women in Singapore, white women are not fetishized in East Asia, but placed beneath Asian women in the beauty hierarchy. European racial characteristics such as blond hair desexualized Swedish women in Singapore, and made them feel less feminine. Furthermore, their Swedish husbands found local Taiwanese women highly attractive, contributing to the low self esteem of the Swedish women.
According to Erica Lorraine Williams, White women in Brazil are considered less attractive than women of color. White Brazilian women have complained that foreign male sex tourists are not interested in them, and that these men prefer nonwhite women over White Brazilian women. For this reason, White Brazilian women struggle to compete for the money of male sex tourists.
An Asian fetish focusing on East Asian, Southeast Asian and to an extent South Asian women has been documented in Australasia, North America, and Scandinavia.
According to a 2008 article from the Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice by Sunny Woan, the modern "Asian fetish" originates from Western imperialism. Western men deployed overseas found Asian women physically attractive, innocent, and sexually superior to white women. These stereotypes became widespread when Western men returned to their home countries, and may be linked to the over-representation of Asian women in pornography, as well as the mail-order bride phenomenon.
Charmaine Nelson suggests that every nude painting feeds into the voyeuristic male gaze, but the way black women are painted has even more undertones. "The black female body defies the white male subject's desire for a single subject of 'pure' origin in two ways: firstly, through a sexual 'otherness' as woman, and secondly through a racial and color 'otherness' as black. It is the combined power of these two markers of social location which has enabled western artists to represent black women at the margins of societal boundaries of propriety." Nelson asserts that any black woman is considered a fetish in these paintings and that she is only viewed in a sexual lens.
One of the more recent popular discourses around the fetishization of black women surrounds the release of Nicki Minaj's popular song, "Anaconda" in 2014. The entire song and music video revolves around the largeness of black women's bottoms. While some praise Minaj's work for its embrace of female sexuality, some criticized that this song continues to reduce black women to be the focus of the male gaze. The 2020 song "WAP" ("Wet-Ass Pussy") by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion received a similar mixed reception, with some outlets praising its embrace of black female sexuality and others claiming it was degrading or objectifying women of color.
In a 2009 study, a small subset of white female online daters were found to exclusively prefer only black men. White women were found to be 7 times more likely than white men to have an exclusive preference for blacks, while they were 11 times more likely than white men to reject Asians as partners. White women who described their body type as "thick, voluptuous, a few extra pounds, or large" were more likely to prefer only black men, and white women with slimmer body types were 7 times more likely to exclude them.
White women with a height preference were more likely to exclude Asian men and over 8 times as likely to prefer only black men, possibly suggesting that black men are desired because they are perceived as possessing more physically masculine traits such as a tall stature. The authors suggested that White men may be more likely to prefer Asian women due to stereotypes that they embody "perfect womanhood and exotic femininity". Followup studies by Feliciano, et al. have largely replicated these results.Robnett, B., & Feliciano, C. (2011). "Patterns of racial-ethnic exclusion by internet daters". Social Forces, 89, 807-828.
However, race play can also be used within BDSM as a curative practice for black individuals to take back their autonomy from a history of subjugation. One BDSM Dominatrix explains that raceplay provides her with an "emotional sense of reparations". Ariane Cruz writes that "Violence for black female performers in BDSM becomes not just a vehicle of intense pleasure but also a mode of accessing and critiquing power."
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