Hello Dolly! Annabelle gets more laughs than scares. >> Pg. 5
thegazette
TODAY high 11 low 7
Spooning with Bradley since 1906
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014
WESTERN UNIVERSITY • CANADA’S ONLY DAILY STUDENT NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED 1906
Kelly Samuel • GAZETTE
Swipe left for racism: Race, attraction and online dating @JennaAtGazette
In a fast-paced society that relies on the Internet for so many things, it is not surprising that online dating has become so popular. Dating websites and apps like Plenty of Fish, OkCupid and Tinder require only a photo and short biography so that users can quickly and efficiently decide if they have found a potential partner. In the past few years, researchers have become interested in the relationship between race and attraction, hoping to understand why people find certain races to be the more attractive. In a controversial study published on September 10 by OkTrends, research was collected from OkCupid users to determine how race and attraction function in online dating. OkTrends found that black people and Asian men received generally lower ratings than people from other racial backgrounds. While many controversies exist surrounding the question of race and attraction, it is true that people often race into consideration when deciding if someone is attractive. “Even though we like to pretend we’re ‘colour blind’ it’s impossible to recognize someone, to see
VOLUME 108, ISSUE 22
Alleged “Western creeper” charged
>> FEATURE
Jennafer Freeman ARTS AND LIFE EDITOR
TOMORROW high 13 low 5
someone as another social being and not simultaneously see their gender, their race, their hair colour and potentially signifiers of class,” says Women’s Studies professor Jessica Cameron. Psychology professor Samantha Doralp agrees despite the fact that it’s not something people like to admit. “I would say that race does play a factor,” says Doralp. “But if you were to ask people explicitly they would say no.” It is even evident in the classrooms at Western that race is clearly something students think about when thinking about a future partner. Professor Wendy Pearson of the Women’s Studies department relates that in her class, “Intimate Relations: Sex, Gender and Love,” a guest lecturer asked students if they would consider marrying someone from a different race. “About half the class put their hands up and said they wouldn’t consider it,” Pearson notes. Although race does play a role in attraction, OkTrends is quick to point out that this statistic does not mean that users are racist. According to Pearson it is a lot more complicated. Pearson emphasizes that there are many different factors playing into attraction and explains there may be cases when someone simply falls in love and the question of race
could be completely irrelevant to them. Pearson also notes, however, that for some people race does become a factor, as there is an exoticization towards people of another race. “That becomes particularly problematic say in examples of our culture, by-in-large white people have more social power than people of colour do and white people are exoticizing people of colour and treating them as sex objects on that basis,” Pearson notes. Professor Nigel Joseph, who teaches “Reading Popular Culture” at Western, agrees with Pearson to some extent. Joseph notes that he has taught some classes where race is a significant factor but it works in two different ways. “On the one hand other races may appear as exotic and attractive because they are different but at the same time there’s distancing and revulsion — in the very same person you can find both of those attitudes,” Joseph explains. Joseph explains that a classic example would be a white male who would claim to be very turned on by an attractive black woman but would continue to be racist in general terms. Cameron agrees, saying that fetishes allow for a mixing of racist attitudes and attraction. >> see DATING pg.3
London Police Service have charged 49-year old Walter Figueiredo with 14 counts of voyeurism in connection with a series of incidents of a man recording students through their windows. Figueiredo was arrested on Monday in relation to an investigation into trespassing around Richmond St. and Cheapside St. He was initially charged with six counts of trespass by night. The charges of voyeurism were laid after complaints of an individual using a hand-held camera to film inside the bedroom and bathroom windows of female occupants were linked to him. The LPS conducted a search warrant for his vehicle and southeast London residence, as well as the camera he had when he was arrested, said constable Ken Steeves, media relations officer for the LPS. The man in the reported incidents became commonly known as the ‘Western Creeper’ due to the complaints taking place in student off-campus housing from outside the Richmond gates up to King’s University College. The incidents stretch back all the way to October 2013 and continue until the day of his arrest on September 29. “Through the gathering of the evidence we were able to identify five victims,” Steeves said. He added that some of the victims had no idea they were even being recorded. John Carson, director of Campus Police, reminded students to remain vigilant at night, especially when travelling alone. Reports of suspicious activity would encourage the police to increase patrols in a certain area. “It’s always important to not only be vigilant but if you see anything that is disturbing or appears to be inappropriate in any way that it gets reported,” he added. • Katie Lear
Inside
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October Mayor Madness: Arnon Kaplansky
• P3
Ward 6 Candidate Profile: Mike Bloxam
• P3
Students offer affordable meals to homeless
• P3
Worst things about Thanksgiving dinner
• P5
More to dating than just race • P6