Gizmodo posted an interesting analysis on the most common words used in OkCupid profile essays, broken down by race and gender. Yeah, I know, statistics are SO sexy… but this is fascinating stuff. What you have is essentially a racial profiler’s guide to dating.

A black man, a white man and a sikh walk into a bar..

It’s not so much an indication of what “tastes, interests and concepts define an ethnicity” as the post kind of claims. These OkCupid users are listing interests that they think makes them attractive. (Do all these white girls really like the Red Sox? Or do they like the Red Sox cuz they think guys find it sexy when a girl is into baseball?) I guess that much is obvious– in the dating market, everyone is out to project the best versions of themselves, right? And nothing makes you more accessible than the same ol’ stereotypical qualities.  The general breakdown:

White dudes- into music, movies and fiction by and about white guys.

White girls – blank canvas, will be what you want ‘em to be. Eg. “Mascara”/”i’m blond”/”my red hair”/”my toes”– you got a fetish for any of these body parts? Well I got ‘em!

Black dudes – could play bad, but will defy expectation and play nice with you.  (Is “i am cool” some kind of a code..?)
Black girls – got Jesus on their side, so you BETTER play nice.
Latinos – ‘Who knows where I’ll be deployed next, so let’s keep it light.’

Latinas – ‘I’m looking down the road here. You’re an investment.’

Asian dudes – into big ideas (eg. lit that plots out the human condition statistically..), but will probably provide more stability than adventure.

Asian girls – ‘Just feed me, dammit!’

I’d personally love to know:
a. Whether these were all m4w/w4m profiles.
b. Why is “coz” the most commonly occurring word in Asian women’s profiles?!

And one detail that stood out to me: White, black and Hispanic women all list or hint at body parts– eg. hair, lip gloss, toes– that I think could be admired in the context of each individual woman’s appearance. That is, the potential attraction here doesn’t seem race-specific.  But the only physical attribute mentioned by Asian women is “petite.” Is it because they don’t think any other physical qualities matter? Are these “petite” Asian woman consciously playing into the own-a-little-China-doll fantasy? Why does this still surprise me?? I wish I could convince these self-proclaimed petite Asian ladies that they’re doing themselves a disservice, but that would take a different post.