Yellow fever

In and around New York city, we see a lot of white men dating asian women. This phenomenon has been popularly attributed to the “yellow fever” syndrome. For a couple of years, Ray Fisman and fellow Columbia University economists ran a speed dating study in the hope of unlocking the mystery of attraction (see previous post Quirkology). Among the findings, he reports in Salon.com, his group has uncovered the reasons for these interracial couplings.

Women of all the races we studied revealed a strong preference for men of their own race: White women were more likely to choose white men; black women preferred black men; East Asian women preferred East Asian men; Hispanic women preferred Hispanic men. But men don’t seem to discriminate based on race when it comes to dating. A woman’s race had no effect on the men’s choices. . . .We found no evidence of the stereotype of a white male preference for East Asian women. However, we also found that East Asian women did not discriminate against white men (only against black and Hispanic men). As a result, the white man-Asian woman pairing was the most common form of interracial dating—but because of the women’s neutrality, not the men’s pronounced preference.

So now we know.

Leave them fatties alone

Newspapers across the country reported on a Journal of the American Medical Association article published today studying the relation between obesity, death rates, and the causes of death. The New York Times writes that the study found “there were more than 100,000 fewer deaths among the overweight in 2004, the most recent year for which data were available, than would have expected if those people had been of normal weight.” The Washington Post sums up the study’s findings as this:

The most surprising finding was that being overweight but not obese was associated only with excess mortality from diabetes and kidney disease — not from cancer or heart disease. Moreover, the researchers found an apparent protective effect against all other causes of death, such as tuberculosis, emphysema, pneumonia, Alzheimer’s disease and injuries. An association between excess weight and nearly 16,000 deaths from diabetes and kidney disease was overshadowed by a reduction of as many as 133,000 deaths from all other deaths unrelated to cancer or heart disease. Even moderately obese people appeared less likely to die of those causes.

Predictably, many vocal critics have come forward to denounce the study and its findings.

Celebrating women in South Korea

There is a news item in Salon.com today about the South Korean government’s decision to feature a woman on its bank notes.  This is the first time a woman has been chosen to be on South Korea’s currency and the government’s expressed reason is to “promote gender equality and women’s participation in society.”  So, why are there feminist groups protesting this move?

The person chosen by the government is Shin Saimdong.  Although an accomplished artist, she is remembered today primarily as the mother who helped nurture the talents of her son, Yi I, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest Confucian scholars in Korean history.  Thus, in announcing the choice, the government described her as “the best example of motherhood in Korean history.” Predictably, this did not go over well with some who protest that “they’re promoting women’s participation in society … through their children,” and “question whether Saimdang — as opposed to a Korean woman who managed to gain power and influence outside of the home — is the best choice for promoting gender equality.”

The writer of the article points out the paradox of the situation:

This is a lose-lose argument, really. It’s hard to argue that featuring a famed figure of motherhood on a banknote is sexist and insulting without seeming to sneer at mothers’ role in society. It’s also hard to celebrate this historic tribute to motherly influence without diminishing other women’s climbs to public power in male-dominated South Korea.