White Men: Still Predictable As Ever

An interesting read lifted from my favorite source for rediscovering long-forgotten SAT vocabulary words, The Daily Intel.  As a white chick, I am sad to report that I am only a 5 out of 9 on a scale of zero to stereotype, and I have no idea who Jodi Picoult is. 

Chris Rovzar writes:

"You're probably familiar with the blog turned book Stuff White People Like — by now you may have even given it as a gift to a family member when you couldn't come up with anything good for a last-minute birthday present. Well, the blog for the dating website OKCupid.com has come up with an actual list of stuff white people (with profiles on the site) like. Also, the stuff that black people and Asians and Latinos like, too. By combing through the profiles on OKCupid they were able to determine the most popular items and terms. So what were they?

White dudes like: Tom Clancy, Van Halen, Golfing, Harley Davidson, Ghostbusters, Phish, The Big Lebowski, Soundgarden, brew, and boating. (Also Burn Notice, Tenacious D, and 'software.') Sounds like a bad joke, right? Like, when you get to the word 'Phish,' you think, 'Nothing could be whiter than that, right?' And then you get to brew.

White chicks like: the Red Sox, Jodi Picoult, boating, NASCAR, mascara, Ireland, Nicholas Sparks, horseback riding, and bonfires. We'll admit, seeing the Red Sox on top threw us a little.

Black dudes like (or are): soul food, 'I am cool,' ESPN, playing basketball, Menace to Society, 'tall, dark, and handsome,' 'god-fearing,' Mos Def, rapping, Lupe Fiasco. Interesting they didn't go for the 'II' construction.

Black chicks like (or are): soul food, The Color Purple, 'god-fearing,' gospel, Alicia Keys, neo soul, lip gloss, and 'the coldest winter ever.'

OKCupid refrains from making many generalizations, except to observe that black people are more than twice as likely than average to mention their faith in their profiles. And also, if you are trying to decide whether white dudes like something, 'put 'f*cking' in the middle, and say it out loud. If it sounds totally badass, white dudes probably love it.' 'Van F*cking Halen'? Check. 'Jodi F*cking Picoult'? Not so much.

It's actually pretty fascinating, though you have to keep in mind that OKCupid skews toward a younger, more pop-culturally oriented crowd than many of the other dating sites. Also, for what it's worth, dudes of many races seem to like the book World War Z, so ladies, maybe it's time to read up on your post-apocalyptic zombie fiction."

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