It seems like it’s been a bumper year for calling out OKCupid creepers via Tumblr – Nice GuysofOKC, OKCupidGoldMine… even FedorasOfOKCupid1 which helped turn another fashion choice into a way that nature tells us “Do Not Touch“.

Online dating tends to mean that people often let their filters down – the anonymity combined with the impersonalization of online communication often leads to people saying and acting in ways that they likely wouldn’t in person; this is also known as the Penny Arcade Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory.

As a result: you get a lot of creepers on OKCupid… and a lot more people willing to call them out on being creepy.
A couple of days ago, the newest version of these – Creepy White Guys – was brought to my attention by readers. Creepy White Guys covers the various profoundly uncomfortable and occasionally downright racist messages that Asian women get sent by white guys who have “yellow fever” or a fetish for Asian women. This naturally started an interesting conversation over on the NerdLove Facebook Page about the nature of attraction vs. racial fetishism – who does it more and what’s so bad about it anyway?
Aside from, y’know, the racism and trading on sexual stereotypes.
(Obligatory ass covering: I’m a cisgendered, heterosexual white guy talking about racial issues. Odds are good I’m going to inadvertently shove my foot in my mouth at high speed. I apologize in advance if I say something stupid out of ignorance and I’ll make appropriate edits as needed.)
- Which annoys me personally. I mean, I own a lot of hats, including a few fedoras. Suddenly they’ve turned into the headwear version of Ed Hardy. [↩]