Otherization
To be specific, we mean racial ingroup and outgroup. Because on the broad social level, ingroup or outgroup membership is determined along the lines of race. Race is the most salient social category. It frequently takes precedence over physical attractiveness and in most contexts surmounts all other social categories, especially when other factors — such as age — are fairly consistent across the population.
In social-psychological terms, general attraction between persons — not sexual attraction, just one’s basic inclination to befriend another — is determined by three main factors: similarity, proximity, and physical attractiveness. Not in that order necessarily. Not in any specific order consistently.
Among the under-30 set though, physical attractiveness usually tends to be paramount. But as I’ve tried to show here, race easily supersedes that. Members of other races don’t even make it past filter 1 to be evaluated as attractive or not. Why should we care, after all? It’s inconsequential. She’s black!
Perhaps the only thing more insulting and debasing than being objectified on grounds of attractiveness is not even being taken into consideration for such appraisal. We perpetual “others” understand this better than anyone, don’t we?
