Why Do Men Prefer Light-Skinned Women? Do Women Think Light-Skinned Men Are More Handsome?

Says who? I must really be out of the loop. I never heard this statistic before, If women think light-skinned men are more handsome, whoa, I'm home free, but obviously women are looking for more than my snowwhite skin!!

What attracts us to another person is quite interesting and neurobiologically quite interesting. It's far beyond the color of skin. Well, what do I know? I guess there's a sizable portion of folks who think differently. Wow! Isn't that intereresting? Of course, it is. Ultimately, what makes a person attractive is something deep inside the person who is considered attactive. The attractive person gives off an energy that screams, "Hey, take a look at me. I am very attractive." Hey, try it out for yourself. Give voice to that message from inside your soul and then be amazed at how many people are suddenly attracted to you! Serious!!

Not me! I don't like or dislike people on the basis of their skin coloring. I rather look for their inner qualities. I do not think light skinned men are more handsome. I find the tall, dark and handsome men attractive than the fair skinned ones.

Musician and Actor Cab Calloway, one of my favorites, contributed to a documentary about the Cotton Club in Harlem, NYC many decades ago. He explained at one point that Black Folks often went in the club to... keep reading →

I have to agree AsiaFace. My wife is Black and is not light skinned. I see quite a few Black men dating and marrying darker skinned women. However, I would contend that there is a bias against darker skinned people and women in general, but that's not limited to just men.

I do not prefer any skin colour. I look for the person within. I have dated women that were very dark skinned, & they are lovely people. I have also dated light & white. I was always more interested in the person, not the colour.

I think that it is sad that skin colour is apparently so important. The best example of this is the now late MJ. A man of incredible talent, who had nothing to prove to anybody, & should have been very secure within himself. Yet he spent a fortune trying to change his image because he was not happy with how he looked. How he looked did not change the fact that his music is great.

The same principle should be applied to people all over the world. It does not matter the skin colour, it is the person within.

Wow, amazed that skin color is even an element of attractiveness. Personally, I find all people attractive and beautiful. I am white and married a white guy that I thought was gorgeous. Then, when we divorced, I married a black man who was incredibly talented and attentive. I'd love someone who wore a green mask if he were as awsome a personality as in the movie "Mask" :-)

Anyhow, while I was engaged to a black man, I saw that black women seemed to resent me and so did white men. It's too bad that racism is really the issue ~ not what is truly lovely and about love between two people.

I've also observed that many black men seem to prefer white blondes! What's the deal? I'm a white brunette! lol :-)

Unfortunately, there is still an underlying idea that light-skinned women are more attractive. I could easily cite this issue as a result of slavery. But the media continues to perpetuate the idea that real "blackness" is somehow unattractive or less desirable. Times certainly have changed. But this undercurrent is still very prevalent in our society.

I disagree.

Men prefer darker skinned women, but lighter skinned are great too.

It really doesn't matter unless it ties into their religion, but there is no overall group of like and dislike.

Women honestly maybe judge character a little better, they are looking for a man that treats them right and not what skin they like...

Again, it's all based on who you are.

I like ilovehandmade's answer/

You know, the funny thing is that while human skin is only 1/8th of an inch think, yet people have as hard a time getting past it as they would a 2-foot think wall of steel! I can't believe that this is even an issue. We like to claim to be looking for a (potential) SOULmate, but we still focus on PHYSICAL attributes!

This is a stereotype that has been fueled particularly in the Black American community, thankfully the global standard of beauty is becoming ethnically broader. It is shameful that we still determine beauty based on superficial attributes and not actions, morals or intentions. I hope my answer is helpful

Have a beautiful day (pun intended)

In order to answer whether or not men prefer light skinned women I think we need to define light skinned. Are we talking about white women, mixed-race women, or women who are 2 shades darker than Hallie... keep reading →

It's all a misconception! People are people. If men prefer light skinned women, then I'm with the wrong guy. It doesn't mean you get treated better by a man because you are light skinned. Confidence and self respect are important. I'm wise enough to know it's not about skin color, it's about how a person treats you and how you treat others in life! By the way......both of my parents are light skinned blacks, I'm not biracial

It really boils down to what you think is attractive. My beautiful fiancée is a light caramel colored woman. The personality has a lot to do with it too. You can have a beautiful complexion, and be a rotten person inside.

As for me, a woman has to be beautiful on the inside and the outside.

First of all: Where did you get the impression that men prefered light skinned women and by light skin are we talking about different ethnic groups or within people of African descent? I have a theory that it is simply a matter of being brained washed and following the set rules of a few who are in charge of telling the majority what beauty is. And it might just be personal choice or self esteem issues that makes us human so vulnerable to appearances and so dedicated on transforming ourselves according to what the media tells us is acceptable.

I agree with IndieFlickjunkie. the media helps perpetuate the myth that light skin is more attractive. The fashion magazines, music videos and the entertainment industry in general promote lighter skin women all the time. Boys grow up with this and that is how many of their preferences develop.

Lighter skinned men are promoted too, but not nearly as much. So many talented darker complexioned women are overlooked because of this and it is a shame. Unfortunately, I don't see this going away until the media starts recognizing talent and stops focusing on complexion.

I used to date a woman who was an off white greenish color. she was alive, but looked like a dead person in the right light, yet I like her despite her ghoulish looks, oh, she didn't wear makeup either,... real green tho. neat person too. I'm alright with any color. They have to be alive tho.

Well it really depends on personal preference and upbringing. For instance, if a kid grows up watching disney flicks with all those (primarily white) beautiful princesses, then he may be more inclined to prefer lighter skinned women. There may also be, for light-skinned men, an immediate sense of aesthetic similarity with light-skinned women. Then of course there is the racism issue and various societal or family pressures which affect the actual attraction less than simply who the person chooses to have a relationship with.

Of course, there are plenty of men who prefer darker skinned women and in my personal experience I haven't encountered the stereotype this question addresses very often. Skin color shouldn't be the first thing you notice about a woman, or anyone for that matter, and it shouldn't be a sole determination of who you have relationships with.

I would have to say that in some areas I am considered lightskinned and i usually do stand out in those places. I am considered darkskinned in other areas and hey I still look pretty good there too. However if you are asking me what I prefer, lets see... My husband is a very light skinned Italian man so I would say I prefer lighter skin and his wife (that would be me)is a medium brown African American so I guess you would say he prefers darker skin. So I think that means that you simply like what makes you happy and who cares what other people think. When you fall in love, his skin color will mean nothing to you, it will only be what is in his heart.

Well as color is only on the outside, it should not matter what skin color any Lady is. It really is down to the individual person. To me it does not matter what color someone is, it is personality and what is in there heart that really matters.

There are many things that effect person to person attraction or what they prefer.

People usually end up becoming attracted to others who similar however, similarity is only important in the beginning of relationships.

So the reason why men could prefer lighter woman over darker woman is because darker woman are a minority compared to darker woman.

Television probably effects a lot what is "similar" or what they are attracted too also.

I personally don't care about how dark/light my boyfriend/husband was because your outer appearance can be gone tomorrow, so that shouldn't matter. All that matters is the personality!!!

its psychology, women in any animal are the one's who has more to invest in a suitable mate, meaning one who could provide for them better and have off springs who would grow up to be successful, thus to women i dont really think skin color plays a big role as much as financial status does because if you are financially secure and successful then you are more likely to have a secure future which is what women want more than anything. men on the other hand, are the creatures that compete to get chosen for the spot of suitable mate and since they compete to get the girl then they expect physical beauty more than internal beauty. in general it has been like that since the dawn of time. as for why light-skinned than dark-skinned, something that is light in color is always associated with good, beautiful or attractive whereas something that is dark is associated with unattractiveness, or feared, and so on, although that is not the case in every situation.

I think everyone has there own preferences, You would think people prefer dark skin that's why they are out in the sun and at the tanning beds Always striving to look better, but not striving to be better people.

As the child of a very light skinned father and medium brown skin mother, I think the answer is very simple. It's a matter of personal taste. I mean, I am very fair skinned, and I get hit on by all kinds of men. Some are very dark, some are very light. Heck, I've have been hit on and even dated white men. I think it's a matter of taste. Are light skin men more attractive? Again it's a matter of taste. But instead of getting caught up on the looks aspect of a person, shouldn't we be looking at the INSIDE of a person. I mean you could be the most handsome light skin man God created, but if you don't have a good heart and soul, isn't it all just wasted?

Where do these statistics come from, was there a poll taken of millions of men, I think it is just of a matter of personal preference, where you live plays a part as to what mens choices are including the fact that some men don't date out side their own race, and then there are men who like all skin types, some men don't know until they have had a variety to figure this out. It is all mixed up in metropolitan area's I see a lot of white men with Asian women and a good amount with black and latino women, is there really a right answer ?

Why Do Men Prefer Light-Skinned Women?

Some do and some don't and some you just can't tell, some will and some won't and some it's just as well!

Some women may think that light skin men are more handsome & some don't.

There will be an answer, Let it be!!!

Most people are attracted to the opposite of what they are. I am a brown woman, I like a man my color but I always end up with a lighter skinned man. I have heard that some men think if you are with a lighter skinned women you have the better of the pick. Not always the case. It goes back to the days when whites treated certain blacks "better" because they had skin tone that was closer to their own, it also goes back to how comfortable that made the white people feel. In this day in time my thoughts are people are people. You never know who or what you are going to get until you get to know that person. Never judge a book by its cover!

If you are an Asian, they find lighter skinned people more attractive than darker-skinned ones. In most of South East Asian countries, you will be surprised with the whitening products in almost every corner of the store. However, when you go to Europe or North America where most white people are, you will be amazed with the tanning products flooding in the store and lines of tanning salon, as much as the flooding of whitening products in some Asian countries (in reverse), and whitening services/salon.

Very funny, editmasters! :)

Let’s be honest, we have preferences! All of us do. It doesn’t mean we will marry or date someone based on the way they look or what kind of skin color they have! I don’t know what is scientific data on this topic, but personally, I always had a preference for men with darker hair and skin. In my silly mind, it represents strength and masculinity. I guess for some men it would be the opposite in terms of femininity…unless they like masculine looking women if it matters at all. I also think it has a lot to do with our parents and what they looked like while we were growing up. Men will probably prefer women looking like their mom when they were boys and vice versa for women.

They are easier to see in the dark. This is important to the sexual progress of a marriage.

PAK