Listed below are the 30 East Asian men that at least two commenters on this blog think are gorgeous and which are famous enough to have an article in the Wikipedia. Pick the one you think is the most gorgeous.
The poll will close Tuesday morning at 8:00 am New York time (Tuesday May 11th 2010 at 12:00 GMT) – unless there is a tie that affects tenth place.
The next day I will do a post listing the top ten.
First come the pictures and then comes the poll itself. Everything is in alphabetical order – except for John Cho who was added at the last minute at the end. Click on the picture to enlarge, click on the link below it to read more about that man in the Wikipedia.
You have only one vote, so use it wisely!!!
Abagond 
Everyone, vote for Takeshi Kaneshiro or I’m taking your lunch money!
…Or vote for him because he is the most gorgeous. 🙂
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This so hard they are all supper fine… Daniel Henney is hott as all get out…
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OK Danny won me over… I goggled him to make sure his picture wasn’t exceptionally beautiful…its not He’s hott at all angles…
Although he is half Anglo he still looks like a prototypical Korean…Has all the best Asian features… I like that..
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*slaps Y, takes lunch money*
Actually, Daniel Henney would be my second choice.
—————–
Aba, where is John Cho? I seconded him when someone mentioned him, and he has a wiki.
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HAHA…You got to admit He is REALLY HOTT…he does “it” for me!!!
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Natasha W:
Oops! You are right about John Cho. I added him at the end.
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Ken Watanabe and Rain are handsome as hell.
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Argh!!! This list is evil!! How am i supposed to choose?
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Ok, ok, I really, really need to think about it. I don’t like the fact we have only one vote.
Also, I don’t think you got the right Wikipedia article for Philip Moon. As much as I’d love nuclear physicist to look like that, I think we’re talking about the actor, right?
I think this is the right Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Moon_%28actor%29
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Close-ups of Takeshi for anyone who needs help deciding:
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Mira said:
“Also, I don’t think you got the right Wikipedia article for Philip Moon. As much as I’d love nuclear physicist to look like that, I think we’re talking about the actor, right?
I think this is the right Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Moon_%28actor%29 “
Thanks for the correction.
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VOTE WILL YUN LEE!!!!!!!!!
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0498449/
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Ummm yum. Eye candy. Wow theres too many gd ones to choose!
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One vote is mean Aba… seriously. Like not even three votes?… **sulks**
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Abagond! You missed out Nakata
http://www.ecoflag.com/entry/photo/nakata_l.jpg
That makes this poll null and void! lol. You should add him.
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Nakata was nominated by Y but no one seconded him.
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I was between Daniel Henney and Piolo Pascual, and I picked Piolo, even though Daniel and I have the same birthday. Woot woot! 🙂
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I definitely agree we should’ve gotten more than one vote…and why am I the only one to vote for Piolo?!? He has a gorgeous face…there’s something about his lips I really like.
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This was really hard but my favourites are Takeshi Kaneshiro after seeing him in house of flying daggers. I swooned.
And John Cho he makes flash forward like a million times better.
And Abagond why haven’t you done a post on flash forward yet its a very blind casted show and dare i say progressive
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You already know – Piolo all the way! He is gooorrggeous! Jasmin, great minds think a like.
I dropped by to see if the poll was open yet, and it is to my pleasant surprise. I hope Piolo wins!
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Daniel Henney FTW all the way!!!!!
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I agree that Piolo is fine… most of these guys are off the charts sexy but damn Danny. He has those sexy eyes, chiseled features, and nice lips… mmmm
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High five Islandgirl! 🙂
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Hiya, long time lurker and megafan
Dear God!! Sooooo many hot men to choose from. I heard about Takeishi in the min nineties! my friend has been in love with him for yonks! I’m torn between ken Watanabe and Damn Danny!!! Swoon!!!
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Oh, dear. I’m so torn. I love Oh Ji Ho because of that sweet smile of his and those dimples make my heart melt. *sigh*
However, I’ve always had a thing for Piolo Pascual for years because, face it, he’s too damn fine!
What to do…what to do….
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I have a thing for John Cho, but I voted for Daniel Henny based solely on looks.
Shallow, I know.
By the way, why didn’t Daniel Dae Kim (Jin on ‘Lost’) make the cut?
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I agree, only one vote is too tough among all this hotness! My short list:
Kenichi Matsuyama
Leehom Wang
Takeshi Kaneshiro
Nicholas Saputra
Sigh. Choices, choices.
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Where is George Takei?
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Nicholas Saputra would be getting way more votes if this photo had been used instead. He is definitely one of the best looking here:
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Its time for all you lurkers to vote and do the right thing, make Bruce Lee be the winner….
DO IT!!!
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Danny FTW
Kingfisher: Do the right thing!
Mel: you’ve got the right idea!
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What about Gackt?
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Alright. I’ve made up my mind. Oh Ji Ho, it is! Whew!
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Ohhhhhhhh Jiiiiiiiiiiiii Hooooooo!!!! 😀
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What about Gackt?
Forgot about him!
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@Natasha W
Nicholas Saputra would be getting way more votes if this photo had been used instead. He is definitely one of the best looking here:
Indeed. The guys looks great with longish hair. (Now, in my book all men look better with longish hair, but that’s just me).
So I’d like to suggest that women, not Abagond, should choose images for next “gorgeous men” poll. 😉
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Here from Jhameia’s journal. So many hawt men! Thanks for making this. 😀
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I know I am no good at choosing pictures of men, which is why in each case I used the first picture given for each man in the nomination thread.
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I can’t decide, but THANK YOU for something great to look at tonight!
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Where is Daniel Dae Kim?! From LOST. That man is fine as hell! Still plenty of cuties listed though.
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I know I am no good at choosing pictures of men, which is why in each case I used the first picture given for each man in the nomination thread.
Well, it’s all subjective, really. What I like another girl might not like. There are no general “rules”. For example, I’m not really crazy about the shirtless photos, and I went with those whose face I could see better.
That’s why I wrote women (plural) should choose the images. If several of us “approve” a photo, it can be used for a poll. 😀
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I can’t chose between Oh Ji-ho and Karl Yune. 😦 They are both so Super Kawaii!! 😀
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Russell Wong is just so masculine and yummy!
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I can’t chose between Oh Ji-ho and Karl Yune. 😦 They are both so Super Kawaii!! 😀
Cant chose between Oh Ji-ho and Karl Yune???? DONT pick Danny Henney!!!! FTW
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@RainaHavock:
Please allow me to “help” you with your decision making. 😛 😉
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And this person is the former; not the latter. 😀
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To me each and every one of these magnificient looking men on this list is a winner. But I can only choose one so I’m torn between Oh Ji ho and Daniel Henny.
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Gorgeous men, every one of them! I looked at google images for other pics of my top 5 to get a really good idea of how they look, since one photo can be misleading.
In the end, I had to pick Will Demps.
Oo-la-la!
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@Leaveumthinking:
My dear. I will gladly help you in any which way I can. 😉
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Dammit, if only I had my own Wikipedia entry…
Btw as the person who nominated Nicholas Saputra, I thought the photo of him with long hair was bit girly and made him look about 14 years old. The one I suggested (above) showed off his features better.
But I’m just a straight guy, so clearly I’m not the best arbiter of this kind of thing.
Anyway, based on the photos above, I’ll pick Johnny Tri Nguyen.
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i had a hard time voting on this one
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@Eurasian Sensation:
You have good taste, my friend. 😀
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My Asian love god. Can you guess? 😉
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Goodness…Daniel Henney. [Fans self.]
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I can’t decide! 😦
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Tony Leung Ka-fai is FINE! I wish I could walk up behind him and kiss him on his shoulder. WOOOOHOOO. I’m having naughty thoughts.lol
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As great as this list is, I have to go with the classic knockout, Bruce Lee. Handsome face and smile with the most amazing body to go with it.
John Cho and James Kyson Lee are a close second.
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@Leigh,
“Alright. I’ve made up my mind. Oh Ji Ho, it is! Whew!”
Suprise…. suurrprise.lol
It is so funny that everytime we have a “Most Gorgeous Men” post, lurkers and women come out of the woodwork.lol
Abagond, that is just more reason to engage in these discussions and posts more often.;)
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I am helpless against the hotness of Daniel Henney, so I’ll have to vote for him.
But my favorite East Asian man isn’t on the list and probably nobody else here would even recognize the name – Ronnie Abaldonado. He’s a world-famous bboy, insanely talented and totally gorgeous, and also a total sweetie (on the one occasion when I was lucky enough to meet him in real life, when he was on tour). ❤ He's a Red Bull spokesperson and I have a full-on squee any time I catch his commercial on TV. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOJybdNMQOc )
If Ronnie was on the list, he'd have my vote for sure. 🙂 But since he isn't, Daniel Henney it is!
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I haven’t heard of most of these men. i think will demps is hot but wouldn’t really count him as an asian man. I see him as black/mixed. I looked up the pictures on google and didn’t find most attractive. I thought however that daniel henney was a gorgeous man, so i picked him. you could also add keanu reeves (who i have never found hot, but i know women do) or rick yune to the list, also enrique iglisias is half filiipino. I generally find mixed with asian men more attractive than those that are fully asian. infact today i saw a very handsome man who was mixed white and asian.
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Eurasian Sensation,
“Btw as the person who nominated Nicholas Saputra, I thought the photo of him with long hair was bit girly and made him look about 14 years old. The one I suggested (above) showed off his features better.”
Dude… chicks dig guys with long hair. Fact. 🙂
“But I’m just a straight guy, so clearly I’m not the best arbiter of this kind of thing.”
It was a good pick, but maybe not the best picture. But yes, in general, heterosexual men have very different ideas from heterosexual women when it comes to what makes a man goodlooking.
Mira,
“Indeed. The guys looks great with longish hair. (Now, in my book all men look better with longish hair, but that’s just me).
So I’d like to suggest that women, not Abagond, should choose images for next “gorgeous men” poll…If several of us “approve” a photo, it can be used for a poll.”
Hear, hear!
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@ Jennifer
I find both mixed and fully Asian men hot.
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leigh204
@Leaveumthinking:
To me each and every one of these magnificient looking men on this list is a winner. But I can only choose one so I’m torn between Oh Ji ho and Daniel Henny.
My dear. I will gladly help you in any which way I can.
My vote went to Oh Ji ho just couldn’t resist that sexy smile of his.
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OK, I finally decided….and I went for Danny! Too damn fine!! Sorry Ken, I thought long and hard about who i really wanted to devour the most.
@ islandgirl
you’re right about lurkers and women posting on these topics, i’ve wanted to comment for a while and I just feel that this topic is a great way to dip my toe in.
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Mira,
“For example, I’m not really crazy about the shirtless photos, and I went with those whose face I could see better.”
Same! You and I have a similar approach to men. The way I see it, any man can get a great body by working out but a superb face is harder to come by. In addition, I’d rather a thin or average guy than a muscular one.
jennifer,
“I generally find mixed with asian men more attractive than those that are fully asian.”
…What do you think of Takeshi Kaneshiro? Technically he is mixed (Japanese and Taiwanese), but full Asian nonetheless.
I do think mixed Asian men can be very attractive (at least the ones in the media), but they do not hold a corner on hotness that full Asian men can’t touch.
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Daniel Henney is currently leading (not that I’m surprised since I chose the photo 🙂 )… I think it has to do with how Euro he looks from the profile vs. straight on. Would he be leading if this photo was used instead?
or this one?
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Natasha,
Oh, admit it! You’re trying to get people vote for Takeshi Kaneshiro!
As for Daniel Henney, the second photo you posted:
Is his best, IMO. Maybe the fact he looks like Johnny Depp there (a bit) helps. But he doesn’t look particularly “European” to me (but then again, Depp doesn’t look European to me and many people regard to him as simply “white”).
Same! You and I have a similar approach to men. The way I see it, any man can get a great body by working out but a superb face is harder to come by. In addition, I’d rather a thin or average guy than a muscular one.
True, true. Then again, I guess eyes and hair are more important to me than the six pack. Nothing against muscular guys, but I definitely paid more attention to those with portrait photos.
I do think mixed Asian men can be very attractive (at least the ones in the media), but they do not hold a corner on hotness that full Asian men can’t touch.
Let’s face it: any gene combination (and whatever we see as mixed or not) can be hot. I don’t think “mixed” guys are not allowed to appear on these lists, but I do know there are many attractive “pure” Asian men, and they deserve love too! If nothing else, they deserve people to know about them, and not to think that they need white blood to be attractive.
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Bae Yong Joon or bust!
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Mira,
“Oh, admit it! You’re trying to get people vote for Takeshi Kaneshiro!”
Lol. I do think Takeshi is the most gorgeous here, but I’ll be okay if he doesn’t get first place.
“As for Daniel Henney, the second photo you posted:
Is his best, IMO. Maybe the fact he looks like Johnny Depp there (a bit) helps. But he doesn’t look particularly “European” to me”
Johnny Depp… yuck. 🙂
But I do think if that picture would have been used instead, his votes would be less. I’ve noticed that those who look more Euro whether Asian, black, non-black Hispanic, etc, tend to be considered more attractive by the world at large. I think this occurs for two reasons (a) Eurocentric features act as a buffer zone of sorts due to colonialism and the high number of whites in the media and the U.S.(b) the aforementioned media prevalence tips the scales towards more Eurocentric equaling more attractive.
Herneith,
“Bae Yong Joon or bust!”
His outfit is awesome and I love that picture. I would vote for him just for that.
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Johnny Depp… yuck. 🙂
Wha… It looks like we don’t like the same type of men after all 😀
But I agree with:
I’ve noticed that those who look more Euro whether Asian, black, non-black Hispanic, etc, tend to be considered more attractive by the world at large. I think this occurs for two reasons (a) Eurocentric features act as a buffer zone of sorts due to colonialism and the high number of whites in the media and the U.S.(b) the aforementioned media prevalence tips the scales towards more Eurocentric equaling more attractive.
We’ll see what this poll results have to say. Personally, I find Daniel Henney better looking at the photo you posted than the one presented in the poll. Not sure whether he looks more Euro or not, but yes, I do agree that European features often help men to be seen as more attractive by many women.
This is a sad fact, because I know there are many women who don’t see things that way, and it’s simply isn’t true! I don’t think a man or a woman have to be mixed with white to be attractive- but I guess European look is more familiar to most of the people (even to non-whites), because we are all used to seeing white features in ads, movies, tv- whtie features presented as the most attractive, and it’s often (subtly or not) implied that, while non-white people can be attractive, they must be either mixed or have “European features” to be considered as such (in other words, they must be attractive in “usual”- read: white way).
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I noticed that the guy with the most Euro-Centric looks seem to be winning the poll.
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Hmmm… I honestly don’t see Daniel Henney as the “most European looking” here. If you ask me, the most European looking is Sam Milby. But that’s just me, I guess.
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^Sam Milby probably looks closer to Southern European (if at all Euro), but what is generally meant by Eurocentric is Northern European.
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Oh, well, my ideas of Europe are definitely different, lol. Southern European is the first thing that comes to mind when talking about Europe, really.
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Mira,
“Wha… It looks like we don’t like the same type of men after all”
Not when it comes to Depp (or Blair Underwood). He is simply not very appealing to me. The most overrated male celebrity of the last quarter century next to Brad Pitt.
But we agree that Nicholas Saputra, TJ Holmes, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Wentworth Miller, and Barack Obama are gorgeous, right? And Bruce Lee and Tyson Beckford are not?
What do you think of John Cho (last on the list)? And Adam Brody?
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I must be the lone woman who doesn’t like long hair on guys…Piolo FTW!
Daniel Henny doesn’t look European to me, he looks Asian (and HOT). Out of the pictures shown here, I would say James Kyson Lee (he’s fine, but does he remind anyone else of the cartoon character Doug)…
…looks the most “White”, followed by Phillip Moon.
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Jasmin, this Piolo Pascual?
😛
But wait. James Kyson Lee looks white??? Hmm… I wonder what white people you have known. He looks pretty clear-cut Korean to me.
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Glad to see my boy Danny is leading
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Natasha,
No! Not the long hair! That’s just wrong!
I don’t think James Kyson Lee looks “White” in that I’d ever mistake him for a White person, but I can see similarities between him and White guys I’ve known. I think it has something to do with the narrow face.
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Hey what about Tony Leung Cheu Wai? He might not have a six pack, but the man has got talent and charm in spades!
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@Mira
“So I’d like to suggest that women, not Abagond, should choose images for next “gorgeous men” poll.”
I agree, because some of the pics that have been linked are extra hot. Like Saputra with long hair?! ~swoon~
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BTW, some interesting points have been raised, most notably about perceptions of hotness relating to Euro-style features. No doubt due to being bombarded by mass media images of whiteness as beautiful, etc. but I won’t make any conclusions, just willing to explore the issue and learn more.
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I have to go with Daniel Henney. I used him as my hero prototype for my last novella featuring an AM/BW couple (unfortunately, the publisher couldn’t use him for the cover). He definitely inspired me during the love scenes.
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Natasha W
Not when it comes to Depp (or Blair Underwood). He is simply not very appealing to me. The most overrated male celebrity of the last quarter century next to Brad Pitt.
I had a Johnny Depp crush when I was 11. He visited Serbia and even played with a local rock band. The moment I saw this skinny guy with long hair and confused face I fell in love. I also liked his fashion style (he was dressed like a member of Seattle grunge band). Lol I was 11. I found his face to be “exotic” by my standards, not sure what. I thought he was part Native American or even Asian. I still don’t understand why he’s regarded as simply “white”.
On the other hand, I’m afraid I’ll have to agree on the overrated part. He’s not a bad actor, but the hype after “Pirates of the Caribbean” was way too much. He was better as an indie actor in weird roles than this super stardom type. It looks like he’s not trying anymore, and plus, the fact he’s considered on of the hottest people on Earth kind of spoiled my enthusiasm about the guy.
As for Blair, he has such beautiful eyes, and I could stare at them all day. Then again, I heard he’s considered more of a white women kind of a guy, not in real life, but as an actor; some people say he has more white female fans. Maybe that’s because of sex & city? I don’t know, but I know I like the guy.
But we agree that Nicholas Saputra, TJ Holmes, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Wentworth Miller, and Barack Obama are gorgeous, right? And Bruce Lee and Tyson Beckford are not?
True, but I’m not sure about Wentworth. He’s just ok.
What do you think of John Cho (last on the list)? And Adam Brody?
Hmmm… John Cho is in “ok” category, I guess, and I like Adam. I have no idea who this guy is, but I like his hair 😀
I agree with Jasmin on Daniel- he doesn’t look “European” to me at all. Same goes for Phillip Moon, though. I already said the most “European” to me is Sam Milby, but I understand what’s Jasmin talking about James Kyson Lee – he looks a bit like my white neighbor.
Jasmin
No! Not the long hair! That’s just wrong!
lol 😀 I think I already said that somewhere, but long hair can make any man more attractive in my book. I guess I just like beautiful hair on a man, the more the better.
ZC
I agree, because some of the pics that have been linked are extra hot. Like Saputra with long hair?! ~swoon~
Indeed. Saputra looks amazing with long hair, though I must admit it does make him look younger.
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Mira,
“He visited Serbia and even played with a local rock band .”
Oh, so you have personal experience. You get a pass then. : P
“I thought he was part Native American or even Asian. I still don’t understand why he’s regarded as simply “white”.
I think he is actually. I’ve read he has a mixed background that includes Native American.
“True, but I’m not sure about Wentworth. He’s just ok.”
I think it’s more of his personality. He has the kind of personality I love; he seems genuine and laidback.
“I like Adam. I have no idea who this guy is, but I like his hair”
His hair is great. I think he has a gorgeous face as well.
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kingfisher,
Well, welcome! I’m glad that these gorgeous men have made you come out of hiding.lol
Sharon Cullars,
Wow, your books look very… interesting! Romance novels from a (black?) woman’s perspective.
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And Mira, I have loved Johnny Depp since I was a kid. He is the main reason why I love dark hair and deep, dark eyes. And, he looks better as he gets older.
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islandgirl,
Don’t get me started with Johnny photos! lol I don’t want to steal Asian men show, but I’d really like to know if Abagond planned to do “gorgeous white men” poll (he already promised black men poll), so I could post more photos of Johnny. 😀
Meanwhile, I must note that only two men have more than 20 votes, so I guess the battle for 3-10 place would be more interesting.
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WRITE IN VOTE — daniel dae kim!
can’t believe he’s not on the list!!!!
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Mira,
As far as I’m concerned, Abagond could do a “Most Gorgeous” men poll for every single race/color/nationalilty. These are really enjoyable, obviously.
I would like to see a gallery of Johnny from when he first started up to now! Gorgeousness throughout the years.:)
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Mira,
“I think I already said that somewhere, but long hair can make any man more attractive in my book.”
I love longish hair, but some guys look better with it short. For example, I don’t think either Wentworth Miller or Barack Obama would look good with longer hair.
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Daniel may be hot, but his wiki picture totally turned me off. I’m voting for Harry Shum, Jr. Not only is he hot, but he speaks Spanish, and he’s on Glee. That’s a shoe-in for me.
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Hi Island Girl. Yes, my books tend to be WM/BW with the exception of GOLD MOUNTAIN which tells the story of a historical romance (19th century) between an Asian male working on the Transcontinental Railroad and a Black woman who has come west to find her fortune. It’s an erotic romance and again looking at pics of Daniel Henney helped me along mightily while writing the love scenes.
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@Leaveumthinking:
leigh204
My dear. I will gladly help you in any which way I can.
Hehe. I find his sexy smile quite captivating due to his nice teeth. I’m a teeth person and if a person’s teeth is jacked up, it just turns me off.
Btw, I thank you for voting for OJH and I’m sure OJH thanks you. lol! 😛
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@Natasha W & Mira:
Well, the reason why I put up shirtless photos of many of the Asian/half-Asian men I posted is to show that these guys are not the typical, dorky, scrawny looking guys you see in the media. That, and I find them abso-fcuking-lutely hot! Pardon my language.
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Hey, leigh, it’s not that I’m complaining! Shirtless photos are fine, nothing wrong with them! Still, I realized I was more interested in a guy’s face when deciding on who’s hotter.
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Ditto — leigh, I’m not complaining. And good strategy.
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It’s okay, ladies. Believe me when I say I find a guy’s face much more appealing than his body, but oh my goodness! Running my hands down a body like that…oooohhhh…it makes me drool. 😀
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OK, the lack of love for Wentworth Miller has got to stop! Y’all can’t talk about my man like that. 😉
Adam Brody seems like a guy I’d think was cute if I met him in class, but I wouldn’t do a double-take if I saw him on the street.
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@islandgirl: If you’re interested in AM/BW stories, you should check out Ankhesen Mié ( http://www.writerscafe.org/Ankhesen ) – she goes by Moi on some of the anti-racism blogs, and she’s a fantastic writer who works with AM/BW pairings.
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Danny eh *RUNS*
Oh Ji-Ho it is 😀
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Write-in vote for Chow Yun Fat!
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I don’t think Chow Yun Fat is exactly gorgeous but he’s got tremendous charisma and gravitas.
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@:RainaHavock
Yay! 😀 😀
@Eurasian Sensation:
And he kicks ass so well. 😉
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I have a question, why isn’t John Cho on the list? John Cho is the one of the most famous Asian male American actors in Hollywood. John is also gorgeous!
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He is on the list – the last one. I put him last because I forgot to add him before so he became a last-minute addition.
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Will Demps get my vote.
Second to Will is Russell Wong.
They are both fine Asian Men to me.
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You know what guys – the more I look at Piolo, the more I realize that he looks like my Dad (when he was his age, of coarse). Dang it!! How do I overcome this?!
He still has my vote, though.
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Islandgirl,
Whoo, your dad must be fine! 😉
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Oh Gosh, Making me choose. What a terrible thing to do.
Its a close tie between Steve seunguin and Daniel Henney
But Henney won me over.
But thanks for the morning eye-candy.
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Why hasn’t Abagond added Daniel Dae Kim?
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I voted for Daniel Henney! I want to vote for Will Demp and Johnny TRi Nguyen also! Oh Abagond, I wish I could vote 3 times instead of once! That was so hard to chose! But I have to admit that Daniel Henney is fine!
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Here is another picture of Jack Yang
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1380158720/nm1555268
How is it possible that he didn’t get any votes? He is extremely handsome! Oh, well.
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I’m amused that Daniel Henney is winning considering he’s only half Asian. So the most gorgeous asian man isn’t full Asian? wtf?
Just something to consider.
I do agree that he is very attractive, but I just asumed that people would choose a full Asian.
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I guess the two guys earlier where right about the most Euro guy winning.
Daniel is also the only person on here who isn’t full Asian like everyone else (unless someone else in the poll is mixed also and I am just no aware of it).
With him being outnumbered you would think that a full Asian would win, but that sadly isn’t the case.
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With regard to:
“I’m amused that Daniel Henney is winning considering he’s only half Asian. So the most gorgeous asian man isn’t full Asian? wtf?
Just something to consider.
I do agree that he is very attractive, but I just asumed that people would choose a full Asian.
Perhaps its because we are caught up in and with ‘Caucasian features’ as being ‘beautiful’, and we have difficulties assessing ‘Mongoloid features’ – if I am allowed to use that collective term – on its own merits??
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Bruce Lee was mixed, and so is Nicholas Saputra. I don’t know about the others, but I think there are other mixed celebrities on this list.
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@Sarah:
I think Daniel Henney is a goodlooking man, but I, too, was amazed that he’s been getting most of the votes.
Piolo Pascual, Sam Milby, Russell Wong, Will Demps, and Nicholas Saputra are the ones that are also mixed. Oh, and Takeshi Kaneshiro as well, however, he’s Japanese/Taiwanese.
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And Bruce Lee as Mira mentioned.
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@J:
I do agree that he is very attractive, but I just asumed that people would choose a full Asian.
Well, Takeshi Kaneshiro is full Asian and so is Oh Ji Ho. In fact, I thought Oh Ji Ho was half-Asian when I first saw him on tv, but he’s actually full.
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@ Sarah:
I agree its a bit problematic. I had the same issue with an earlier post about beautiful East Asian women – half of them were Eurasian. At the same time, I guess it is difficult to define exactly who fits into a racial definition and who doesnt. For example, if it was a poll about gorgeous black guys, would we consider African-Americans to be “pure” black? All of them have some degree of white genes.
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I just need to point out that “European features” (as well as any others) are subjective. Daniel Henney don’t look “European” at all. I understand I am alone in my thinking, but it’s all subjective. I’m just saying I don’t get the whole “Daniel Henney looks European” thing.
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I meant, Daniel doesn’t look European at all… to me.
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@ J:
“Perhaps its because we are caught up in and with ‘Caucasian features’ as being ‘beautiful’, and we have difficulties assessing ‘Mongoloid features’ – if I am allowed to use that collective term – on its own merits??”
Possibly, but I’m not necessarily sure that it’s all about Caucasian standards of beauty. There have been studies done that show a trend towards finding Eurasians better looking than both “pure” Asians AND Europeans.
I think partly it is also that mixed people are less common than “pure” Asians and thus look a little more exotic. And the combination of features might be more intriguing, because they are not fully one thing or the other.
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@Mira:
I think the comment regarding Daniel looking European means he appears more “white” looking.
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I think partly it is also that mixed people are less common than “pure” Asians and thus look a little more exotic. And the combination of features might be more intriguing, because they are not fully one thing or the other.
I think this might be the case, yes. As bad as being “exotic” sounds, many people are attracted to those who look “exotic”- whatever “looking exotic” means to them.
But the problem is the implications, the message that black and Asian people need whites to help them look attractive. Because nobody sees an attractive mixed person as a white who had a “help” of non-white blood to look good; it’s always the white blood that is considered attractive and the one that “helps” someone’s attractiveness.
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I think the comment regarding Daniel looking European means he appears more “white” looking.
Yes, I understand that. I’m just saying he doesn’t look white to me… At all.
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I don’t see it either. He still looks Asian to me, but less stereotypically Asian looking if that makes any sense.
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Well, I think we all agreed that there’s no such thing as a biological race so interpreting someone’s features is subjective, or at least cultural.
Like I said, the most European looking to me is Sam Milby, but when I wrote that people told me he looked “more Mediterranean” (which is still European looking to me). So I guess it’s all cultural.
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@Mira:
I see where you’re coming from. Sam Milby does appear European looking but I can also see the “more Mediterranean” look as well in this pic.
sidenote: another gratuitous topless photo 😛
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Oh, shoot! Wrong pic. Here is the correct pic! Again…topless photo. 😉
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Well, I was basically saying that Mediterranean = European in my book.
And yes, he is very handsome.
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More Sam Milby pics (topless, mind you) 😀
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“But the problem is the implications, the message that black and Asian people need whites to help them look attractive. Because nobody sees an attractive mixed person as a white who had a “help” of non-white blood to look good; it’s always the white blood that is considered attractive and the one that “helps” someone’s attractiveness.”
Not necessarily. It depends on what they look like. Some famous mixed people seem to be regarded as “exotic” whites. Keanu Reeves and (perhaps) Adriana Lima are good examples.
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For example, if it was a poll about gorgeous black guys, would we consider African-Americans to be “pure” black? All of them have some degree of white genes.
This is not true not all AA are mixed with white. I like a few other AA on this blog are pure black with no white genes. I hate with a passion when people assume that AA = unpure mixed with white.
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I’m amused that Daniel Henney is winning considering he’s only half Asian. So the most gorgeous asian man isn’t full Asian? wtf?
Just something to consider.
I do agree that he is very attractive, but I just amused that people would choose a full Asian.
Yeah I was torn abut voting for him because of that. It didn’t seem right voting for a 1/2 white guy as most beautiful Asian man… However in my eyes he look full Asian. I have seen other pictures of him and he looks full Asian to me. What is so “white” looking about him?
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Without looking at Daniel Henney’s name and whatever I would have assumed he is full Asian.
Anyway I voted for Will Demps and Rain
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It’s interesting that Daniel Henney pretty much looks Asian, but when I first found out about him, I felt he wasn’t fully Asian. I can’t explain it but more often than not, I could sense he was part white. I have relatives who are half whatever and some have this look like Daniel Henney’s.
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Eurasian Sensation,
“For example, if it was a poll about gorgeous black guys, would we consider African-Americans to be “pure” black? All of them have some degree of white genes.”
“This is not true not all AA are mixed with white. I like a few other AA on this blog are pure black with no white genes. I hate with a passion when people assume that AA = unpure mixed with white.”
Leaveumthinking is correct. I think the latest estimate was that around 60-70 percent of African Americans have Euro admixture. So at least a third do not.
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Daniel Henney looks pure Asian from the front, but from the profile (like the picture above), he appears partly white. Only his eyes give an indication that he is part Asian.
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@Natasha W:
There are some part-Asian stars in the Philippines and you wouldn’t be able to tell they were half.
Example:
Patrick Garcia and former gf (Jennylyn Mercado). He’s half Filipino while his ex-gf is full.
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leigh, I know (although the guy in the picture you posted looks part white to me).
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More Patrick Garcia
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@Natasha W:
You’re correct. He is.
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What I’m trying to say is that so-called Asian eyes aren’t always small, and single-lidded. Asian eyes also varies.
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With regard to:
“Possibly, but I’m not necessarily sure that it’s all about Caucasian standards of beauty. There have been studies done that show a trend towards finding Eurasians better looking than both “pure” Asians AND Europeans.
I think partly it is also that mixed people are less common than “pure” Asians and thus look a little more exotic. And the combination of features might be more intriguing, because they are not fully one thing or the other”.
Can I ask what studies are you referring to here? Also how would it tie into the skin-bleaching issue within S.E Asia and the removal of the epicanthic fold from the eyes, if at all, and/or is this a different phenomena at work??
Cheers
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Not necessarily. It depends on what they look like. Some famous mixed people seem to be regarded as “exotic” whites. Keanu Reeves and (perhaps) Adriana Lima are good examples.
I had no idea Keanu was considered white.
Adriana is still completely white to me, so I can’t speak about it.
Now, I get what you’re saying. To me, a guy like, say, Brandon Lee might be considered an “exotic” white (with a help of non-white blood), but I don’t know how people in the US view this matter. I thought that all the people who can’t pass for white and have a visible non-white ancestry are not considered white.
What I’m trying to say is that so-called Asian eyes aren’t always small, and single-lidded. Asian eyes also varies.
I agree. The “Asian” type of eyes might be frequent in Asia but of course not all Asians have identical eyes. The opposite is also true. You can have “Asian looking” eyes without being of Asian ancestry.
(There were a few people in my family with slightly “Asian looking” eyes and even when I was a baby my eyes looked Asian).
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“I had no idea Keanu was considered white.
Adriana is still completely white to me, so I can’t speak about it.
Now, I get what you’re saying. To me, a guy like, say, Brandon Lee might be considered an “exotic” white (with a help of non-white blood), but I don’t know how people in the US view this matter. I thought that all the people who can’t pass for white and have a visible non-white ancestry are not considered white. ”
Yep, Keanu seems to be regarded as white. He was cast as a stereotypical Gen-X white dude in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventures and Speed, and nobody batted an eye.
As I’m sure you know, in the US black ancestry is viewed as less compatible with white identity than other types of non-white ancestry. For that reason, people like Adriana are probably less likely to be viewed as white than Hapa’s of Keanu’s phenotype.
I think the rule is you can have visible non-white ancestry and still be considered white as long as it’s not obvious where that non-white ancestry originates.
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@Mira:
What I’m trying to say is that so-called Asian eyes aren’t always small, and single-lidded. Asian eyes also varies.
This is what I meant by some Asian eyes aren’t always small/single-lidded. The full Filipino actor on your right clearly has larger eyes than his co-star.
I do recall some American celebrities with the “Asian-looking” eyes…Brian Littrell (The Backstreet Boys) and country singer, Leann Rimes.
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@FG
Yep, Keanu seems to be regarded as white. He was cast as a stereotypical Gen-X white dude in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventures and Speed, and nobody batted an eye.
Well, for some reason I thought Keanu’s name was a clear indicator of his “exotic” (in lack of a better term) ancestry.
And I guess I was naive for thinking he was supposed to be mixed, like he is, in Bill & Ted and Speed. I mean I guess I was naive to think a mixed person can be cast in a general role. 😦
As I’m sure you know, in the US black ancestry is viewed as less compatible with white identity than other types of non-white ancestry.
Yes, I got that.
For that reason, people like Adriana are probably less likely to be viewed as white than Hapa’s of Keanu’s phenotype.
I get this, I’m just saying there’s nothing on Adriana that I don’t find white. I mean, I had no idea she wasn’t white until I read that here. This fact was never mentioned here, and Adriana is frequently mentioned because of her marriage and, before that, her good looks.
@Leight
This is what I meant by some Asian eyes aren’t always small/single-lidded. The full Filipino actor on your right clearly has larger eyes than his co-star.
You’re right, and this guy is clearly Asian.
To be honest, I didn’t know about the stereotype that Asian eyes were smaller (but I know about the stereotype they are “slanted”- sorry for using that term, I know it’s not a nice one but I don’t know how to explain it in English). I think I know what you mean by “single eyelid”, but I’m not sure. In any case, I never thought all Asians have “the same type of eyes”. This Filipino actor don’t have small or “almond” eyes and he’s clearly Asian. So it’s all down to the fact whites usually don’t pay much attention on the way non-whites look.
And you’re right, there are many whites with the “Asian looking” eyes, but I guess people in their minds don’t see it that way if they already decided the person is white.
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leigh204:
It’s interesting that Daniel Henney pretty much looks Asian, but when I first found out about him, I felt he wasn’t fully Asian. I can’t explain it but more often than not, I could sense he was part white. I have relatives who are half whatever and some have this look like Daniel Henney’s.
You know what it might be???? It could be his underlying facial structure. I have seen straight, blond haired blue eyed people that are part black. What “gave them away” was their bone structure. Maybe Daniel’s bone structure is more “Caucasian” that East Asian and its setting off your “part white” radar.
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About “Asian” eyes.
I am Nigerian and I know PLENTY of Nigerians with “Asian” eyes, my mother being one of them… These eyes are also very common in the Xhosa tribe of Southern Africa.
Anyways “Asian” eyes arent small perse, they are just not as round as Germanic or Almond shaped eyes. One thing I do often is observe different racial characteristics in humans. I have noticed time and time again that the majority of Asians have large eyes,,,the shape is just different that’s all. People mistake having slanted eyes with having small eyes. Having both slanted and large eyes is very common.
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Sorry for misspelling your name, Leigh!
Well, true, bone structure might be “it”. While it’s impossible to really tell the race based on bones alone, different human populations do have slightly different bone structure, namely, the skull. But I must repeat: these differences are not race specific in a way you are able to tell someone’s race based on skull alone (I’m talking about archaeological context now)!
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True, True
I was in an Anthropology class last year and the Prof explained that craniometrics as a means to determine race was pseudoscience because skulls differ in populations to. A cranium analyst could tell the difference between a white man that lived in Europe and on the lived in the US. They are still the same “race” but they dont have the same skull structure.
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Y,
I agree. The shape is different but that’s all. There are plenty of whites with small eyes. So I don’t think saying Asians have small or slanted eyes is ok (I mean, it’s not ok because it’s disrespectful, but even more it’s not ok because it’s not true).
(and what’s with all this bold text?)
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A cranium analyst could tell the difference between a white man that lived in Europe and on the lived in the US. They are still the same “race” but they dont have the same skull structure.
Exactly. Cranium measurements are important, but not for telling someone’s race… Because race as a biological fact doesn’t exist. So yes, two humans that we see as belonging to the same race can have different skulls.
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@Mira:
Asian stars with the single lids…also referred to as mono-lids. Please note the lack of a crease. That’s the difference between single lids and double lids.
Lee Junki
Gong Yoo
And here’s another Asian star with double lids.
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I have no idea about the bold text… On my screen my first comment today and down is all bold… its weird and I dont know how to change it!
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mm
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I get it now, leigh, thanks for explaining. I had no idea what it’s called. But I remember Asian celebrities with both “type” of the eyes (so to speak). So I guess we can safely assume “Asian eyes” it’s not some “definite” feature that is the same to all Asians or that only Asians can have eyes of “Asian” shape.
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Y,
It’s not our fault. Abagond (or someone) changed the style sheet for the website, and put bold text as default. I guess.
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@Y:
I hear ya. For example, actress Nia Long comes to mind. My sister introduced me to a friend of hers and I was awestruck how strongly she resembled Nia especially the eyes.
@Mira:
No problemo. 😀
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@Y:
leigh204:
It’s interesting that Daniel Henney pretty much looks Asian, but when I first found out about him, I felt he wasn’t fully Asian. I can’t explain it but more often than not, I could sense he was part white. I have relatives who are half whatever and some have this look like Daniel Henney’s.
I think you’re correct. I guess it’s due to having mixed relatives, I can usually, though not always accurately, pinpoint if someone is “part white”.
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@ Leavumthinking: apologies for my gross generalisation, I must have misinterpreted the stats I saw.
@ J: here’s a study about Eurasian faces compared to white and Asian faces. http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/she-got-the-look/2005/06/24/1119321909631.html. To be honest, the methodology sounds a bit dubious.
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leigh,
“What I’m trying to say is that so-called Asian eyes aren’t always small, and single-lidded. Asian eyes also varies.”
I’m aware of that. Although I think the percentage was about 1/2 of Asians have epicanthic folds, with an even higher percentage amongst East Asians. So a much greater percentage than any other group.
“I do recall some American celebrities with the “Asian-looking” eyes…Brian Littrell (The Backstreet Boys) and country singer, Leann Rimes.”
They might have Asian ancestry, but there are a few European ethnic groups with large to slight epicanthic folds. Most notably the Sami people of Scandinavia (think Renee Zellweger), although genetic studies have linked them to western Asians.
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Y,
“I am Nigerian and I know PLENTY of Nigerians with “Asian” eyes, my mother being one of them…”
Which group would this be?
AFAIK, there are no Nigerian groups have epicanthic folds, although some have almond-shaped/small eyes. This is not the same thing as “Asian” eyes.
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Regarding “Asian” eyes:
John Legend is another black man who has this feature.
The Khoisan (bushmen) of Southern Africa tend to have epicanthic folds. While the Khoisan people have dwindled in number, many people throughout the region would have some Khoisan genes.
By contrast, Austronesian people (Indonesians, Malays, Filipinos, Pacific Islanders) tend NOT to have this feature to any great degree. It is also much less common in mainland SE Asia than it is in NE Asia.
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What I don’t understand is why epicanthic folds are considered “bad’ to many Asians? This isn’t the first time I’ve seen Asian people continuously say that not all Asians have epicanthal folds and other people do too (as if this isn’t obvious). No offense, but this issue to me seems comparable to the light skin/dark skin issue with black people.
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They might have Asian ancestry, but there are a few European ethnic groups with large to slight epicanthic folds. Most notably the Sami people of Scandinavia (think Renee Zellweger), although genetic studies have linked them to western Asians.
I am not sure what epicanthic folds are: are they what gives Asian eyes “Asian” shape, or mono-lids.
There are many European groups that can be linked to, let’s call it, non-European eye shape. It is believed that these genes, indeed, come from the East. There were many Asian peoples coming to Europe at several points in history, so maybe it shows in European people’s genes. But I don’t think it’s enough to call such Europeans “mixed race”, but whites who carry this gene.
There are some people in my country (and on the Balkans) that have slightly “Asian eyes” ( think it’s due to central Asia genes, to call it like that). They are not really Asian-shaped, but not round either. I I am one of them. I wear glasses so people usually don’t notice (and not that it’s particularly noticeable). Still,
I’ll be bold enough and post one of my pictures, hope it’s clear enough.
Serbian tennis player Jelena Jankovic is also one of them.
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@Eurasian Sensation:
Yes. As I’ve stated a couple of times on here, I’m Filipino. Throughout my life, I’ve had fellow Filipinos come up to me and asked if I was Chinese. I would respond with a no, but they seemed to not believe me. 😉 I would always say, “Why?” And they would say, “Ohh, you just look Chinese. It’s your eyes.” The funny thing is, the Chinese people I’ve come across said I looked Filipino because of my eyes and skin color. lol! Go figure! 😀
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Cheers for the link Eurasian Sensation.
I think I understand what you mean about the nature of the research etc.
I think what I would say is that for me Michelle Lee, in that link at least, looks ‘more ‘Caucasoid’ than ‘Mongoloid’, in features, even though you could probably hazard a guess of some admixture.
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Mira,
“I am not sure what epicanthic folds are: are they what gives Asian eyes “Asian” shape, or mono-lids.”
I believe “monolids” are epicanthal folds.
“There are many European groups that can be linked to, let’s call it, non-European eye shape. It is believed that these genes, indeed, come from the East. There were many Asian peoples coming to Europe at several points in history, so maybe it shows in European people’s genes.”
Right. I think it’s a relic of sorts.
“But I don’t think it’s enough to call such Europeans “mixed race”, but whites who carry this gene.”
If they were black, people would be calling them “mixed.” 😀
“They are not really Asian-shaped, but not round either. I I am one of them. I wear glasses so people usually don’t notice (and not that it’s particularly noticeable). Still,
I’ll be bold enough and post one of my pictures, hope it’s clear enough.
http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/73/m_b9c820eb61f50b90fdb9424e9cfc48ed“
I can’t see your eyes that clearly, but again, you look like a baby. 🙂
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@ Natasha W:
What I don’t understand is why epicanthic folds are considered “bad’ to many Asians? This isn’t the first time I’ve seen Asian people continuously say that not all Asians have epicanthal folds and other people do too (as if this isn’t obvious). No offense, but this issue to me seems comparable to the light skin/dark skin issue with black people.
Pointing out that not all Asians have those eyes and that some others do is not a sign of disdain for that feature. You may see it as obvious, but to a lot of people it’s not. Not everyone here has the same experiences and knowledge of different ethnicities.
To many, Asian = “slanty” eyes, and “slanty” eyes = Asian. Lots of people think that the only “real” Asians are those with the Chinese/Japanese type look. Likewise, when it comes to black people with almond eyes, lots of people assume they must have some Asian blood.
When Europeans first discovered the Khoisan, many believed they were a lost tribe of Chinamen, since they couldn’t fathom that epicanthic folds might independently evolve in two different places.
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@Natasha W:
I can only speak for myself, but I know of double-lidded Asians and they have told me how tiresome it is to hear how Asians are supposed to look a certain way by non-Asians. It’s not that it’s a “bad” thing per se, but from what I know, the Asians with the double lids naturally are accused of having plastic surgery when it couldn’t be further from the truth.
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I think some people use “Asian eyes” to describe people’s eyes that get smaller when they smile or laugh (I think some people call them half moons?) Some people have seriously believed my youngest sister is part Asian because her eyes get like that when she laughs or smiles. (Somehow she even got the nickname “China” from some people at school? I don’t really know that whole story…)What’s odd is that she’s a multiple, and the other ones don’t get that, and neither do me or any of my other sisters (except for this one time when my friend, a Japanese major, said I looked “very Japanese”–I still haven’t figured out what she meant, since I looked like I always look).
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With regard to:
“They might have Asian ancestry, but there are a few European ethnic groups with large to slight epicanthic folds. Most notably the Sami people of Scandinavia”
Personally I have always classified the Sami people as ‘Mongoloid’ residing within Europe, which at times can prove problematic to schoars.
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@Jasmin:
You’re right. They’re called moon eyes. When you smile/laugh, the eyes look like crescent moons. They’re considered cute in parts of Asia.
An example of moon eyes.
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@Jasmin:
Your friend meant you looked cute. 😀
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Eurasian Sensation,
“Pointing out that not all Asians have those eyes and that some others do is not a sign of disdain for that feature. You may see it as obvious, but to a lot of people it’s not. Not everyone here has the same experiences and knowledge of different ethnicities.”
I don’t know: it’s just the insistence that Asians don’t have epicanthal folds that makes it seem like it is viewed as less desirable amongst Asians.
leigh,
“I can only speak for myself, but I know of double-lidded Asians and they have told me how tiresome it is to hear how Asians are supposed to look a certain way by non-Asians. It’s not that it’s a “bad” thing per se, but from what I know, the Asians with the double lids naturally are accused of having plastic surgery when it couldn’t be further from the truth.”
People that assume that all Asians have epicanthal folds are the same people that assume other ignorant things (i.e. lighter skinned blacks are “mixed”), so I mainly just ignore these people unless they are persistent. But I gotcha. 😉
J,
“Personally I have always classified the Sami people as ‘Mongoloid’ residing within Europe, which at times can prove problematic to schoars.”
I tried discussing this with some guys of Sami descent, but they were ready to kill me over saying that the Sami have Asian origins. Anyway, I wouldn’t classify the Sami s “Asian/Mongloid” because if you go back far enough, everyone originated from somewhere.
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Cheers Natasha!
I can understand their ‘vehemence’ and you can see this with many other different groups across the world.
However, I think when you find this type of reaction it is usually based on a sort of ‘disdain’ as opposed to what the ‘facts’ actually indicate.
The Mongloid presence across the world is far and enompasing from Central Asia, Americas (Arawaks, Caribs, Natve American), Hungary, Turkey and so forth
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I think it’s important to talk about physical features stereotypically associated with one race and offering “exceptions to the rule” so the people realize there’s no one right way Asian eyes can look, or European, etc. Or any other feature.
Genes do exist and certain genes come from certain parts of the world, but that certainly doesn’t make the race.
If they were black, people would be calling them “mixed.”
Even if mixing occurred centuries ago?
I can’t see your eyes that clearly, but again, you look like a baby.
Lol. I was 25 when the photo was taken.
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@ Natasha W
Not any particular group… Just individuals with those eyes. I was Cali for a conference and one of the women there (a Nigerian) had mono-lid eyes. I swear if she had very light skin and straight hair instead of an Afro she could easily pass as East Asian.
If they were black, people would be calling them “mixed.”
True, not to get off topic but when blacks have a traits associated with non-blacks or mixed race there is a rush to label those individuals as “mixed” rather than blacks with X trait.
@ Eurasian Sensation, J
Yeah good link. However I agree with J that chick looks more White than anything else. Sometimes I wonder about the “mixed race is deemed more attractive than their individual races”. How much of that has to do with Asians picking her over a monoracial white and/or whites picking her over monoracial Asians???
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@Mira:
You do look very youthful. It’s a good thing. Oh, and you’re also quite pretty. 😀
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Thanks for the compliment leigh! Yes, I do look younger, and my fashion sense (being a tomboy) helps.
True, not to get off topic but when blacks have a traits associated with non-blacks or mixed race there is a rush to label those individuals as “mixed” rather than blacks with X trait.
Even if the said trait appeared in genes pool centuries ago?
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Even if the said trait appeared in genes pool centuries ago?
Yes. Im sorry but I dont consider someone with admixture that happened 100 years ago “mixed” unless they are multi-generational mixes similar to what goes on in Brazil, Puerto Rico and various parts of Middle America/the Caribbean.
A black person that had one white great, great, great grandfather is not “mixed” in my eyes.
For instance, some people think I have non-black admixture based on my hair type. I have afro textured hair but its not the kinkiest of hair and it has a defined spiral curl. Now, as far as I know I dont have a non-black ancestry, my family is from a midsized village in the Northern Nigeria. I dont think it is appropriate for me to go around and speculate and insinuate that I have a non-black ancestor based on my hair type. Its silly to me. I have dark-skin, kinky enough hair, and West African features. I am black, there is no need for me to attribute a looser curl pattern to an ancestor I dont even know about.
I feel like a lot of POC especially blacks have a habit of attribute “ethnic abnormalities” to being mixed. As far as Im concerned Im but a black person with a slightly looser curl pattern, nothing else.
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Same goes for Horn Africans.
Many of them have keen features and silky hair. There is evidence of distant(very distant) admixture with Arabs and Greeks in some cases. I recently read that on average the Horn Africans have 5% non-African genes…
In my book thats not enough to consider them “mixed race” and many of them would agree with me. Most Horners I know consider themselves black African…
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Yes. Im sorry but I dont consider someone with admixture that happened 100 years ago “mixed”
Same here. That’s what I was saying concerning the “Asian” eyes in European populations. Even if those genes entered the gene pool from Asia it is silly to me to call today’s people “mixed” because of that… Because frankly, we all came from Africa and we are could all be considered mixed in that sense.
For instance, some people think I have non-black admixture based on my hair type. I have afro textured hair but its not the kinkiest of hair and it has a defined spiral curl. Now, as far as I know I dont have a non-black ancestry, my family is from a midsized village in the Northern Nigeria. I dont think it is appropriate for me to go around and speculate and insinuate that I have a non-black ancestor based on my hair type.
Well, even if you did have one non-black ancestor centuries ago or something that would not make you mixed. That sort of thinking (pure blacks have kinky hair and really dark skin, pure whites have round eyes and pinkish skin, pure Asians have mono-eyelids etc etc) is very harmful because it’s about pseudo-science serving racial prejudice. There’s no reason, genetically, for a fully black woman to have the “kinkiest of hair”.
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Exactly Mira
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With regard to:
“In my book thats not enough to consider them “mixed race” and many of them would agree with me. Most Horners I know consider themselves black African…”
Agreed, but there are many in the past and present who would make reference to ‘Eur-asian’ and ‘Caucasoid’ gene and/or peoples – but not Black/African.
And in a way this brings us back full circle on stereotypical features of a race and Sarah’s initial comments.
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Leigh,
Lol, that’s exactly how my sister and my cousin look when they smile. I have a Coolpix camera, and it always says “Someone may have blinked” and highlights one of their faces after I take a picture. But I find it weird that someone would see that and think “Asian” just because seeing Black people with Black parents makes me think “Black”. But every person in my family gets mistaken for something else, so I don’t know what it would take for people to accept that we are Black! Given that no Asian person has said my sisters look like some other Asian person they know, I’ll withhold judgment for now. 🙂
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Y,
I agree. Last year I was in my school’s Black pageant and one of the contestants was Creole. (I’m really good friends with her sister, and both of their parents are full Creole, though her mom looks brown-skinned Black, her dad looks light-skinned Black, and my friend can easily pass for White.) During the talent portion, the girl decided to give a cooking demonstration of red beans and rice since she likes to cook traditional Creole food. Suddenly the rest of the contestants, the other Black girl in particular, decided to share all of these random anecdotes about “how Creole” they were, and I thought it was really awkward–it was like a competition to be the “least Black” in a Black pageant! I think people’s family trees are interesting (I have some funny stories about mine), but I don’t want to talk about it in some color contest. But given how many girls at school talk about how “good” my hair is, I’d say my university is rife with color problems, not a good thing at a small-ish school that’s only 2% Black.
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Jasmin,
I know what you mean. Its annoying and all sorts of tacky! “Who ever is less black wins!”…so stupid..
Dont get me started on the good hair! Right before my senior year of high school I was at work talking with my boss and another co-worker. My boss said to me “Oh you dont have to do much for the first day of school, you have good hair. You could relax it or just use a hot comb.” Then she turns to my co-worker and says “You dont have that kind of hair, you need to go to the beauty shop and have them fix it”
WOW can you say awkward????
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@ J:
I don’t think the Sami could really be considered Mongoloid – they are clearly more Caucasian than anything else. However, their origins are in the Ural region, and the ancestral Uralic type is generally thought to have be a mix of both. So having moved into Europe they would have mixed to some degree with more Caucasian-looking peoples. Even more so for the Hungarians and Finns who are also Uralic but bear far less physical trace of their Siberian/Central Asian origins.
@ Y:
I’ve read some sources that say people in the Horn of Africa are closer to 20-50% Caucasian, due to the close proximity of Arabs and other groups. I’m no expert to say whether this is true or not; in any case, the mixing goes back a very long way. Ethiopians can be resentful of this idea, which they see as an implication that they are not truly African. On the other hand, many Somalis claim Arab ancestry from the Prophet Muhammad, although whether there is much truth to that is another question.
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@ Jasmin:
it was like a competition to be the “least Black”
There’s a bit of this stuff going on with North Indian and Pakistani people too. I’ve heard a lot of people from that region claiming ancestry from Persia and the Middle East. Certainly that will be true to a certain extent, but part of it seems to be a desire among some to distance themselves from the darker people of Southern India, and to associate themselves with what they see as the great civilisations to the West of the subcontinent.
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Y,
Oh my goodness, that poor girl! The irony is that faced with that sort of criticism some people take measures that leave them looking ridiculous, like relaxing their hair to the point they have no edges, just to get some “good” hair” when caring for the natural hair would’ve worked out much better. Who hasn’t seen the girl with the relaxed hair slicked back into a ponytail with ends so broken there are 5 scrunchies and no actual length? Why would you keep relaxing at that point?
ES,
I find that so interesting (in all cultures) given the simultaneous distancing and exoticization in minority populations. Persians are thought of as exotic, sensual women, but only if they fit a White bread mold. I think it’s similar to how the stereotypes of “hot Latinas” are segmented. No one’s holding up indigenous or darker-skinned women as the ideal Latina. Until I started studying Spanish, I had no idea what the real color distribution of Central and South America was like. TV would have you thinking Jessica Alba is as dark as it gets.
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PS. Y, I need to pick your brain–speaking of hair, my hair is transitioning, and I think we have similar textures so I need your advice! I’ll probably blog about it soon (and stalk yours for tips). 🙂
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I don’t think the Sami could really be considered Mongoloid – they are clearly more Caucasian than anything else. However, their origins are in the Ural region, and the ancestral Uralic type is generally thought to have be a mix of both. So having moved into Europe they would have mixed to some degree with more Caucasian-looking peoples. Even more so for the Hungarians and Finns who are also Uralic but bear far less physical trace of their Siberian/Central Asian origins.
I don’t know what Sami want to be called, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong in “admitting” you have “central Asian” (let’s call it like that) genes in your gene pool.
You’re right about Finns and Hungarians- they have Asian genes, but it doesn’t really “show”.
I find that so interesting (in all cultures) given the simultaneous distancing and exoticization in minority populations.
Is it possible to distance AND exoticize the same minority population? I was under the impression nobody wants to “claim” the “unpopular” minority. For example, you get so many white celebrities that claim Native American ancestry (“my great great great grandmother was Native”), but I don’t hear many white celebrities claiming black ancestry (“my great great great grandmother was black”). This make me think blacks are not seen as exotic or as a tool to spice up your ancestry a bit, but Natives are.*
*I’m not saying Natives get good treatment in the US society, just that they are exoticized (which is not a positive thing).
And I have to say this: I still don’t get what’s considered so ugly/wrong about natural African hair. I mean, I don’t want to force my culture on people here, but I must say it sounds really, really strange when you look at that issue outside the US culture (it’s just a US thing, right? Wrong?)
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With regard to:
“I don’t think the Sami could really be considered Mongoloid – they are clearly more Caucasian than anything else. However, their origins are in the Ural region, and the ancestral Uralic type is generally thought to have be a mix of both. So having moved into Europe they would have mixed to some degree with more Caucasian-looking peoples. Even more so for the Hungarians and Finns who are also Uralic but bear far less physical trace of their Siberian/Central Asian origins”.
I think you have highlighted the ‘facts’ correctly.
So I think the issue that we are discussing here is the ‘perspective[s]’.
We have to try and remember that culture/history is a moving phenomenon. So to all intense and purposes many of the Sami may look ‘Caucasoid’ now but this was not alays the case, nor does it necessarily give a correct reflection of what the ‘facts’ are for a larger part of history.
We can also see a similar example with another branch of ‘Mongoloids’ like the Maoris (New Zealand) and Native American (United Satates) whose pheneotype’ has changed quite considerably in a very short space of time ie 500 years.
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With regard to:
“I find that so interesting (in all cultures) given the simultaneous distancing and exoticization in minority populations. Persians are thought of as exotic, sensual women, but only if they fit a White bread mold. I think it’s similar to how the stereotypes of “hot Latinas” are segmented. No one’s holding up indigenous or darker-skinned women as the ideal Latina”
This is a very important comment and I have to agree with it (and it can also be applied to the Indian sub-continent also).
The aforesaid comment agin brings us back round to Sarah comment, that perhaps it is the ‘White ideal’ in the ‘Asian’ that we are in fact rating rather than the ‘beauty of Asian on its own merit’
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The aforesaid comment agin brings us back round to Sarah comment, that perhaps it is the ‘White ideal’ in the ‘Asian’ that we are in fact rating rather than the ‘beauty of Asian on its own merit’
Yes, but the problem is, what is “Asian” (or any other race) beauty on its own merit? That kind of thinking can quickly lead to the racial stereotypes about the only “pure” features (the only way Asian eyes should look like, the only way African hair should look like, the only way European nose should look like, etc etc).
I mean, even if we exclude all the biracials and leave “pure” Asians, we still can’t prevent (wo)men from voting for a guy who has the most “European” features, if that is, indeed, what is considered the most attractive.
The thing is, there’s nothing we here can do. People all over the world should be “bombarded”, so to speak, with images of attractive Asians or blacks to change the view of white beauty being the only beauty on Earth. One movie or a TV show can do wonders, since it’s a great source of propaganda. The problem is, we are not producers or studio executives and those who are in charge for these matters are… Well, white in most of the cases. Why would they even bother?
(I’m not saying they don’t want to promote “other kinds” of beauty, or even that there is a conspiracy… I just think they don’t even care, and they promote the kind of beauty they find attractive).
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With regard to:
With regard to:
“Yes, but the problem is, what is “Asian” (or any other race) beauty on its own merit? That kind of thinking can quickly lead to the racial stereotypes about the only “pure” features (the only way Asian eyes should look like, the only way African hair should look like, the only way European nose should look like, etc etc).
It always interest me when talk of ‘race pride’ and in this instance ‘assessing Asian beauty on its own merits can fall into ‘pure features’, and possibly leads us back to ‘Hitlerian thinking’…It need not be so!
If Sarah’s contention is correct that we are analyzing ‘Asian beauty hrough a ‘White spectacle’ then that is something that has to be assessed and looked at and corrected accordingly.
What I would say is whatever the ideal of beauty is in a given society is going be ‘unfair’ and exclude a section of the population anyway.
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I’m just saying there’s no typical way a member of one race can or should look (because races don’t exist biologically) and that enforcing “pure (insert race) beauty” is not a good thing.
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I think you may well be conflating the issues, but we will leave it there.
All I would say if we are being ‘consistent’ (utilising your reasoning) it also has to follow then having ‘beauty ideals’ in a given society is not a good thing either??
All beauty ideals in one way or another will ‘exclude’ perhaps the majority of a given population within society
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I see this post has kinda gone of topic!
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Sorry, I will hold up my hand and take my share of responsibility he he he he….As I revert back to ‘contriteness’
However, I do think Sarah’s point is relevant viz. What is the
motivation behind the voting??
Unless you were alluding to something else here off course
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I don’t mind if Daniel wins the man is as fine as all outdoors but I hope people are voting for him based on said fineness and not because he is half white.
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I voted for him because he is fine as all get out. I didnt have know he was 1/2 white until I did research on him.
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J,
Unless someone admits to voting for someone based on the social concept of their Whiteness, I don’t think we can really make a judgment as to whether European features are being prized here. I think someone before Sarah said the most European-looking person was getting the most votes, but that’s his opinion. I mentioned the 2 most European-looking guys to me and didn’t vote for either of them. (In fact, I came into the poll wanting to vote for James Kyson Lee but that picture changed my mind, because he looks more “White” in it to me.) So, a disparity between who you (the general you) judge as the most White-looking and who you vote for would suggest that you aren’t just looking for European features. I guess Abagond could’ve excluded biracials from the poll, but since many people didn’t know some guys were biracial until they researched after the nominations were in, I don’t think there was a concerted effort to suggest a bunch of biracial guys.
Mira,
Well I’m talking about exoticization of minority women and their attractiveness, and in that case I think there is priority placed on being “Black, but not too Black”–like Beyonce for instance. And it’s not just skin color–even Gabrielle Union tends to be ascribed traits that are supposed to distance her from “just” Black (hair, eye shape, etc.) In terms of claiming heritage, I think people do it to “spice up” their background and to make a point, i.e., I can’t be racist because I have X blood. They want to distance themselves from the “bad” sides of Whiteness.
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With regard to:
“Unless someone admits to voting for someone based on the social concept of their Whiteness, I don’t think we can really make a judgment as to whether European features are being prized here”
Forgive me, I am still having difficulty letting go of what Sarah is intimating:
“I’m amused that Daniel Henney is winning considering he’s only half Asian. So the most gorgeous asian man isn’t full Asian? wtf?
Just something to consider!”
Personally I do not think it should matter whether someone is bi-racial or not, but whether he can fit into the ‘Asian category’ – whatever that may be.
For a long time I had thought Bruce Lee was ‘full’ Chinese, only to find out later that was not the case. Even though I now know this fact and probably can see the ‘European’ influence (probably not really – but only imagining it) within him. I would classify him as being ‘Asian’ as if he was a ‘full’ Chinese.
This is something that can be controlled for in a Psychology experiment but not not here on the web
I do not know much about these guys in the poll, but reading Sarah’s comment seemed to suggest that ‘something else’was taking place in this voting poll, rather than the subjective assesment of who is the most gorgeous East Asian man’ (ie extraneous variable, even Eurasian Sensation alludes to it and Natasha W even suggests it before Sarah)
As a topic of discussion, I think it is a fair point.
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@ Jasmin:
since many people didn’t know some guys were biracial until they researched after the nominations were in, I don’t think there was a concerted effort to suggest a bunch of biracial guys.
One might argue that while no one is deliberately suggesting biracial guys just because they are biracial, this preference might be more on a subconscious level.
While you might not be able to pick Daniel Henney as having obvious non-Asian features, it is possible that those features are what many people are instinctively appreciating in him.
(While I can tell he is Eurasian, I agree that he tends more towards the Asian side.)
Personally I find Russell Wong, Will Demps and Daniel Henney to be the best-looking men in the list. And all of them are mixed – that kind of bothers me a bit. I didn’t vote for them though, on those grounds (I went for Takeshi).
In terms of what I tend to appreciate in men’s looks (in a detached hetero way, of course) I tend to find mixed guys better looking than pure Asians; but by the same token, I find mixed guys better looking than pure whites as well.
So based on that, I wonder if the appeal of the biracial guys is more because they stand out from the purely Asian guys as different (rather than preference for whiteness).
In Asia, Eurasians disproportionally dominate the modelling and entertainment industries. And while I don’t doubt that some of it relates to influence from Western beauty standards, I’d wager that a big part of it is the “exotic” factor.
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Takeshi ALL THE WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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ES,
I know I’m bad at picking out who’s biracial and who’s not. When I was a research assistant in a study that needed only Asian and European participants, my friend (who’s from Hong Kong) was easily able to pick out the mixed people and inform them they wouldn’t be able to participate (since we were looking at acculturation from parents). I don’t know what gave them away, since most of them looked Asian to me.
I think the catch-22 of the biracial/full Asian issue is that we are privileging “Whiteness” as the end-all-be-all of features. So “Asian features” fit into this narrow box, and everything else gets to be White. With those standards, no one (not even monoracial Asians) is exempt, because any features that aren’t (stereotypically) “Asian” automatically get tossed in the White category. There are probably full Asians who look like Daniel, Piolo, etc. (Will Demps is too pretty for me, so he gets no mention. :-P), and they obviously don’t have “White” features, by definition, so what to do?
I think the best thing to do for the poll is to create a list in which all of the men “look” Asian. (Which is what Abagond did I think, since there was some talk in the nomination thread about not including Asians who “look” White, like Brandon Lee.) Even that’s subject to Abagond’s definition of what “Asian” looks like, but since every guy on the list “looks Asian” to me (except Will Demps, but I’ve already admitted I’m not in to him, and the Black thing makes a difference), I’ll see the winner (Piolo FTW!) as the best looking Asian man*, whether he’s biracial or not.
*Speaking of this, these are supposed to be the best looking “East Asian” men–the Philippines counts as part of East Asia? Who knew?
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@ Jasmin:
these are supposed to be the best looking “East Asian” men–the Philippines counts as part of East Asia? Who knew?
I knew… where else would you place it?
When speaking of broad racial categories (a flawed concept to begin with, but anyway…), the most basic division is between the “Mongoloid” peoples and the South Asian type. East Asian is probably a nicer term than mongoloid.
You can divide East Asia up into NE and SE, but they tend to be more similar to each other than to anyone else.
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Forgive me, for the use of the term ‘Mongoloid’
Then you have the types from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan etc, not sure how they may or may not fit into US racial perceptions??
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Then you have the types from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan etc, not sure how they may or may not fit into US racial perceptions??
They are central Asians. How would they fit into US racial system is a mystery to me.
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Mira,
“Even if mixing occurred centuries ago?”
See the debate I am having with Agree to Disagree on the post “The most beautiful black women according to white people” for the answer to that.
But the thing is, since race is a social construct and not a biological reality, there are many people that naturally have features that do not fit into their “race.” These people do not have to be “mixed;” phenotypic diversity is naturally occurring.
Y,
“For instance, some people think I have non-black admixture based on my hair type. I have afro textured hair but its not the kinkiest of hair and it has a defined spiral curl. Now, as far as I know I dont have a non-black ancestry, my family is from a midsized village in the Northern Nigeria. I dont think it is appropriate for me to go around and speculate and insinuate that I have a non-black ancestor based on my hair type. Its silly to me. I have dark-skin, kinky enough hair, and West African features. I am black, there is no need for me to attribute a looser curl pattern to an ancestor I dont even know about.”
My mother has similar texture of hair as yours, tan skin, and “non-African” features. Try telling her she is not African… actually, when people say that, she is just confused because no one in my family decides who is ‘really” black and who is not based on the texture of hair and shape of nose. My parents already remarked on how obsessed Americans seem to be with others’ ancestries.
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ES,
I knew the Philippines were part of “Southeast Asia”, but I thought that was a subcategory of South, not East. Probably because the media paints East Asia as Japan/China/Korea with no brown-skinned folks.
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I think in America, some people make the distinction in describing different geographic areas of Asia
East Asian (Korea, Japan, China), South Asian (India) and SouthEast Asian (Phillippines, Indonesia, etc)
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My man is of East Asian descent (Korean) and I can tell you his family wasn’t too happy that he’s with a SE Asian woman (Filipina me). I’ve had some friends of East Asian backgrounds, and while most are pretty cool, they mention how upsetting it is when non-Asians compare them to SE Asians.
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Leigh,
Why is it upsetting to them?
When I was growing up, we pretty much learned in school that “Asian” meant Chinese or Japanese. (Odd, given that there’s a good number of Koreans in Chicago.) Indians were “Indian”, Filipinos were “Filipino”, but never “Asian”. I don’t know when I figured out that Indians were Asian too–it was completely contrary to what I’d been exposed to as a kid.
My man is of East Asian descent (Korean)
You go girl! I know some really fine Korean men. 😉
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@Jasmin:
They’ve admitted that they were raised to believe SE Asians are poor and uncultured. One mentioned the skin color issue – being tanned/dark.
I’ve been to many Asian forums and there is always a debate regarding Filipinos being Asian or not Asian. I would always shake my head in disbelief that many, not all, Asian ethnicities regard Filipinos as not being Asian enough due to colonization. The Philippines have had so many influences throughout the centuries so that’s where the confusion lies. Anyway, the issue of Filipinos being not Asian doesn’t make any sense. Through non-Asian eyes, Filipinos would be considered Asian.
I know! That’s why I posted pics of some really fine Korean men in this post. 😀
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Re: Filipinos being Asian;
It’s insane but there really is debate on that issue. I’ve never heard anyone in Australia arguing that Filipinos are anything other than Asian, and I wonder if it is only in North America that people make an issue out of it.
Part of it is NE Asians seeing themselves as superior and different to the darker folk from the tropics. On the flipside, I think some Filipinos don’t want to be lumped in with the rest of Asia (perhaps feeling that their Spanish, Americans and Pacific Island influences make them special and set them apart from those on the continent).
Also, as has been discussed here, there is the idea that “Asian” entails a certain look – straight black hair, pale “yellow” skin and slanted eyes. Filipinos and other SE Asians do not necessarily look that way.
I guess it shows that “Asian” means different things to different people. In the UK, it refers to people from South Asia and even Middle Easterners; I believe East Asians are commonly referred to as “Oriental” Asian (something Asian Americans would find offensive).
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@Eurasian Sensation:
I think you’re right about that. My relatives in the Philippines say it’s a US/Canadian thing.
When I was in elementary school, my a Chinese friend invited me to her house to play. Her parents saw me, yelled at my friend in Chinese, and her folks kicked me out of the house.
The Filipinos I’ve talked to don’t want to be regarded as Asian, but as Pacific Islanders since Philippines is located in the Pacific. Another thing, before Spanish colonization in the early 1500’s, the Filipinos were culturally more like Pacific Islanders. Personally, I believe Filipinos are Asian. Look at me. You’d never mistake me for anything else but Asian. 😉
True. I’ve met other SE Asians and they don’t usually have that NE Asian appearance. However, the same can be said of NE Asians. I thought one friend was Filipino when I met her, but she’s Chinese.
I would. When I think of “Oriental”, I think of an object such as an oriental rug, not a person.
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I think the first thing I consider is the territory. South-East Asia is located in Asia, so I guess I never thought differently about it.
The truth is, most of the (white?) people see Asians as “those with Asian eyes”, and completely forget about anybody that doesn’t fit the stereotypical appearance of NE Asian. Also, are we completely sure an average western Joe knows where some of the “less popular”(in media sense) countries really are located?
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@ Leigh204:
“The Filipinos I’ve talked to don’t want to be regarded as Asian, but as Pacific Islanders since Philippines is located in the Pacific. Another thing, before Spanish colonization in the early 1500′s, the Filipinos were culturally more like Pacific Islanders.”
I’ve argued about this with a Filipino guy (via the internet) before. The idea that Filipinos are Pacific Islanders rather than Asians is false, yet in a way it is sort of correct.
You’d never get Indonesians claiming to be Pacific Islanders (except perhaps those from the very East of the country who are racially Melanesian). We very much see ourselves as Asian, yet we are related to Islanders just as much as Filipinos are.
Polynesians and Micronesians are basically SE Asian people who have migrated eastward, absorbing a bit of Papuan DNA on the way, and undergone substantial evolutionary change within maybe 3000 years.
So while Filipinos are most definitely Asian, their Pacific Island brothers have moved away and become less Asian.
Perhaps a worthwhile question might not be “Are Filipinos are Asians or Pacific Islanders?”, but “Are Pacific Islanders Asian?”. They are non-Asian in a geographical sense, but would still be considered “Mongoloid” just as Native Americans would.
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Sorry to interupt here…
Can you kindly explain again why Filipinos can be considered Pacific Islanders – and btw what and/where are the Pacific Islanders, since I do not quite understand??
Cheers!!
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@ J:
Pacific Islanders include Polynesians (Samoa, Hawaii, New Zealand, Tonga), Melanesians (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Fiji) and Micronesians (Guam, Palau, Kiribati).
Obviously there is a lot of blurring at the edges; Eastern Indonesia is the transitional zone from SE Asians to Melanesians, and Western Micronesia has a strong influence from the neighbouring Philippines.
Pacific Islanders, along with Indonesians, Filipinos, Malays, Madagascans and native Taiwanese, constitute the linguistic and cultural group known as Austronesian. They all originated in Taiwan (via Southern China) between 6000 and 8000 years ago and spread out through the Philippines, to Indonesia, Malaysia and out into the Pacific. The people of Madagascar are also part of this group, and are a hybrid of Indonesians and Africans.
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I see…Thanks
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@Eurasian Sensation:
I mentioned earlier that there is a debate regarding whether Filipinos are Asian or not Asian. It has to be a North American thing because my cousins from the States think they’re Pacific Islanders. On the other hand, my relatives in the Philippines strongly disagree and think of themselves as Asians. It’s interesting because other Asians, particularly the NE Asians, don’t regard Filipinos as “Asian” enough because we don’t use chopsticks as utensils and are thought of as backwards because we use our hands/fingers to eat.
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^ I wonder if that has anything to do with how those racial identities have been constructed in the States. Asian men have long been stereotyped as uncool, nerdy and less masculine, while the Pacific Islander stereotype (laid back island mentality, strong and manly) might seem more appealing.
It’s interesting because other Asians, particularly the NE Asians, don’t regard Filipinos as “Asian” enough because we don’t use chopsticks as utensils and are thought of as backwards because we use our hands/fingers to eat.
Of all the ways to draw distinctions between NE and SE Asians, the use of chopsticks seems the most ridiculous!
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@Eurasian Sensation:
Well, from what my cousins in the States have told me, they say the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans they’ve encountered scoff at the mere notion of Filipinos being Asian. My cousins don’t want to be lumped in with NE Asians because they feel many NE Asians are racist. I don’t know if you’ve heard/seen this before but I’ve met some people in real life call Filipinos the black Asians.
Indeed.
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@Eurasian Sensation:
Check this guy’s response to the “Are Filipinos Really Asian” debate.
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I have read some of the comments and a few people have remarked that it is strange or sad that a full Asian man didn’t get the most votes. I voted for Daniel Henney but I had NO IDEA that he was part Asian. He looks full Asian to me. To me, Daniel Henney and Johnny Tri Nguyen were both equally gorgeous but I could only choose one, so I chose the first guy I thought was attractive. I didn’t know until I read his article on wikipedia that he was half Asian. I was shocked. He has Asian features to me, so if there are people who are voting for him because he is half Asian, I am not one of them. It is just like the case with Meylissa Ford. She is half black but she looks like a full blooded black woman to me. I never would have guessed she was mixed.I think some of the people who voted for Daniel Henney were like me. They didn’t know he was part Asian. As for those who did know about his background, I hope they didn’t vote for him just because he was mixed. To me, that ruins the whole point of voting for a gorgeous East Asian man.
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@ Jeri:
I don’t think there is any suggestion that anyone would vote for Henney BECAUSE he is half Asian. I think the point being made by a few people earlier was that subconsciously, many of us may be finding Caucasian features more attractive.
Btw, doesn’t the surname Henney indicate to people that he probably would have Western parentage?
@ leigh204: thanks for posting the video; I have some bandwidth problems right now so I’ll have to watch it some other time unfortunately.
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I have just had this random thought.
Here is something for you Eurasian Sensation and alsoLeigh 2004, and it would be interesting to hear your thoughts.
It is often said that many Asians look the ‘same’. I wonder if this (leaving aside the racist element of this statement) may also have some impact. Do you think this would also have a bearing on the outcome, viz people not being able to ‘differentiate’ and then possibly, ifthis is so then moving ‘unconsciously’ to anything ‘Western’ (including name)??
Or is this sheer nonsense??
ha ha
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I am looking forward to a post about the winner. Could we do South East Asian (Indian) next? I like discussing cultures who rarely are discussed. I would have never known of any of these gorgeous East Asian men (in particular Piolo) if it had not been for this discussion.
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Ooh, I second islandgirl’s suggestion! I’d love to see some SE Asian hotties.
I’ve been watching the discussion about Filipino identification (Asian/not Asian/etc) with interest, since it never would have occurred to me to think of Filipinos as anything other than Asian. But it also wouldn’t have occurred to me to think of Pacific Islanders as not being Asian. I’d always thought of Asian as a huge umbrella that covered Islanders, Indians, and Filipinos, as well as the ethnicities that aren’t in dispute (Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, etc). It’s an eye-opener for me to realize that some (many?) people don’t agree with that, and that some (many?) of the people that disagree are from those ethnicities themselves. I fully support someone’s right to self-identification and to decide for themselves where they belong, so I’ll need to revise my thoughts in light of this new information. 🙂
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This would be very interesting an South Indian poll (or just ‘Asian’ in the UK), considering that the population range of diversity is probably even more on the Indian sub-continent than for the category ‘East Asian’ in this instance.
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These men are gorgeous, but I’m annoyed by how people of color-ESPECIALLY Asian men- that are considered attractive have to look like Ken dolls with black hair and slanted eyes. Their attractiveness is almost generic!
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Well, from what my cousins in the States have told me, they say the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans they’ve encountered scoff at the mere notion of Filipinos being Asian. My cousins don’t want to be lumped in with NE Asians because they feel many NE Asians are racist. I don’t know if you’ve heard/seen this before but I’ve met some people in real life call Filipinos the black Asians.
Hate to say this but I have heard this multiple times. I have heard NE Asians come out of their mouth and call Filipinos the n*ggers of Asia. I know…its horrible!
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@ Robin:
“But it also wouldn’t have occurred to me to think of Pacific Islanders as not being Asian”
That’s quite interesting. As I understand it, Americans often categorise Pacific Islanders and Asians together.
I’m from Australia, and there would be absolutely no one here who would even think to categorise the two groups together, including members of either group.
While they are certainly related genetically, they often look very different physically, and culturally and behaviourally do not seem similar, at least on the surface.
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@Eurasian Sensation
So you think that Henney received all those votes because of subconscious beliefs concerning beauty? Or you are saying that was what others were suggesting? Like I said before, I think Henney looks full Asian not mixed. Henney and Johnny Tri Nguyen look similar to me in features but Tri Nguyen is full Asian. I would have never guessed that Henney was half Asian although I will admit I am not an expert on Asian features, if there is such a thing. The point I am making is how can it be a subconcious decision when the man looks primarily Asian. I don’t why Henney received so many votes but sometimes I think that people believe that in order to be attractive, one must have “white blood” or be mixed. It is possible that those people who voted for Henney already knew he was mixed and that could have influenced their decisions. I could be wrong. But alot of people believe that mixed race people are prettier. I know this belief is prevalent among African Americans and I believe the media has alot to do with how people perceive beauty. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have a problem with mixed race people being appreciated. It is just I would have hoped that more full blooded Asian men would have been selected, especially in the top 5.
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@Eurasian Sensation: I was raised in the U.S., no surprise there. (I’m in Canada now, although I can’t say I find much difference here in terms of racial perception.) The cultural perception here of Pacific Islanders as versus NE Asians is different too – I was discussing Pacific Islanders with a Canadian-Korean friend a few months back, wondering if they get the same “model minority” stereotyping that NE Asians get. She said that no, Pacific Islanders have a lot more in common (in terms of public perception of them) with Hawaiians and aborigines, in that they’re perceived as troublemakers, etc. (As I wrote that out just now, I see that was an odd way for her to put it, since Hawaiians are Pacific Islanders too. But I didn’t think to comment on it at the time, because I didn’t think anything of it; it’s only at this moment that I realize I don’t think of Hawaiians as either Pacific Islanders or Asians – I think of them as Hawaiians, end of, as if Hawaiians are a group completely unrelated to any other ethnicity or race. I’ll have to puzzle that out, because it doesn’t seem to make any logical sense.)
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@ Jeri:
It’s hard to answer that. Personally, while I think Henney is one of the best looking guys there, I didn’t vote for him specifically because it didn’t feel right to me to vote for for a half-Asian in this particular context.
Attraction, or appreciation of beauty, is not really something that we choose, and it works on many levels including the subconscious. While I appreciate people of all races, I think I tend to find mixed people slightly better looking than the unmixed. I’m not sure why that is.
Often it’s hard to put a finger on what exactly makes someone good-looking. So I don’t think anyone here would be looking at Henney and thinking “I’m voting because of his Caucasian-looking nose” or anything like that. But I’m wondering, when people are drawn to that “certain something” that makes him so appealing, it might be somehow related to his hint of Caucasian-ness. Because white Western culture is so dominant in the world, most people are influenced by its beauty standards, even if not consciously.
So even if someone thought he was purely Asian, those subconscious influences could still be at play.
This is just conjecture and of course I am in no position to say why you personally found him to be good-looking. But I think it’s a worthwhile question to ponder for all of us.
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@ islandgirl:
“Could we do South East Asian (Indian) next?”
I think you might mean South Asian.
South East Asians were covered under “East Asian” here – it refers to people from the countries east of India and south of China. While they are a bit different from North East Asians (China, Japan, Korea), they still would be considered East Asian rather than South.
South Asian tends to refer to India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Anyway, I’m also looking forward to it! South Asian beauty is not as often discussed as the other races, particularly in regard to South Asian men.
Abagond, take the hint!
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@Y:
Well, from what my cousins in the States have told me, they say the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans they’ve encountered scoff at the mere notion of Filipinos being Asian. My cousins don’t want to be lumped in with NE Asians because they feel many NE Asians are racist. I don’t know if you’ve heard/seen this before but I’ve met some people in real life call Filipinos the black Asians.
Oh, you’ve heard it as well? It’s horrible, I agree. I can understand, to a certain degree, my cousins’ reasoning for not wanting to be placed in the same category with NE Asians. My cousins feel that NE Asians are cold, unwelcoming, and have a superiority complex. And why would they want to associate with such people who say awful things about them.
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This is really terrible. I don’t get it. If I really have to go with generalizations, I’d say SE Asians look more attractive to me (at least the famous SE Asians), because they are not as pale as East Asians. Yes, I might be a colourist.
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I mean, I’m not saying there should be some hierarchy and that SE Asians should be considered superior, I’m just surprised with this kind of thinking. I guess it has a lot to do with the economy. Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t East Asian countries richer than SE Asian ones?
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@Mira:
As I’ve mentioned every now and then, I’m Filipino. You can look at me and see an Asian face. I don’t look the “typical” Filipino. There is a look I can’t describe. However, I’m not kidding when I say Filipinos or other SE Asians (Malaysians, Laotian, Vietnamese, etc.) are looked down upon because of our skin color. And it’s really ridiculous.
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@Mira:
Yes, much richer. SE Asian countries such as the Philippines are third-world.
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I don’t really know what is a typical Filipino look, and I must admit I am unable to tell the difference in typical looks of various East and South East Asian ethnicities (nor white or black ethnicities for that matter). I did notice, however, that many times when I see an attractive Asian celebrity (be it a guy or a girl- I’m straight, but I have an idea of what’s a pretty woman to me)- it turns he or she is Filipino (the last being Mariqueen Manding). I don’t know if the skin shade has something to do with it.
However, I’m not kidding when I say Filipinos or other SE Asians (Malaysians, Laotian, Vietnamese, etc.) are looked down upon because of our skin color. And it’s really ridiculous.
I know you’re not kidding. 😦
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Mariqueen Maandig, sorry for the typos.
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“I mean, I’m not saying there should be some hierarchy and that SE Asians should be considered superior, I’m just surprised with this kind of thinking. I guess it has a lot to do with the economy. Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t East Asian countries richer than SE Asian ones?”
There are a number of reasons for NE Asian prejudice against SE Asians. Part of it is skin colour. Part of it is economy and development, since most SE Asian countries are less advanced in many ways.
Also because China has traditionally been the dominant cultural force in East Asia, SE Asian countries have absorbed so much from China (and India as well), that some Chinese and Indians tend to regard SE Asians as having no real culture of their own.
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Thanks for the explanation!
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@ Mira:
I concur. Personally I’ve always found Filipino women the most beautiful of all. Not any particular celebrities, just in general.
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Well, I don’t know any non-celebrity Filipino (or Asian) people, so I have to stick with celebrities. 😉
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Yep, what Eurasian said is absolutely correct.
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I meant I agree with Eurasian Sensation on this:
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@ Mira:
“Well, I don’t know any non-celebrity Filipino (or Asian) people, so I have to stick with celebrities.”
Leigh204 is a hot Filipina non-celebrity! 😉
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@Eurasian Sensation
What a nice thing to say about Filipino women. 😀 I’ve heard lots of negativity regarding Filipino women especially the stereotypes that we’re loose, even ugly.
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@Eurasian Sensation
Ohhhhh, you! Go on! *blushes* 😉
Seriously, I mean…please do go on! 😛
Thank you, Eurasian. 😀
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Count me in as thinking Filipino women are gorgeous.
I played a few Filipino weddings when I lived in New York and the women who would be in attendance were strickingly beautiful……like Leigh
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Oh, you guys! If you keep this up, I’m going to get a swelled head. 😛
Thank you, too, B.R. 😀
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ES,
I think it could be possible that some people voted for Daniel Henney because subconsciously his “Western” features were attractive, but the only problem is that presupposes he has features that can/should be labeled “Western”. Being biracial genetically doesn’t necessarily translate to being “biracial” phenotypically (whatever that means), so it seems like it’d be pigeonholing to exclude DH (or any other biracial celebrity) on the basis of someone labelling some of his features “White features”. I think the example Jeri gave was a good one–would a biracial person who looks “just Black” (I think Black/White mixes are most easily segregated into “Black features” and “White features” based on stereotypes) be allowed to be in a “best-looking” poll while a light-skinned biracial person wouldn’t? I think this conversation is an important one, but we may inadvertently end up stereotyping “White” vs. “other” features even as we try to uphold the idea that the “other” features are great on their own.
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The question I have is will Daniel Henny (who is half white) be fairly included into the most gorgeous white men’s poll or will only “pure” looking white men be allowed? I agree that he should be included in the gorgeous Asian man’s list because he is half but I believe that same logic should be applied to the most gorgeous white men’s post also.
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The photos are too small and does not feature the best of these men …I had to waste more time googling them all lol but at least it was fun!
I think one of the reasons why Daniel Henney is winning is because his photo on this poll is the best IMO …but I voted for Johnny Tri Nguyen …I also really liked Takeshi Kaneshiro. Though Takeshi is beautiful Johnny won me over with his sex appeal 😛
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This is an interesting question:
“The question I have is will Daniel Henny (who is half white) be fairly included into the most gorgeous white men’s poll or will only “pure” looking white men be allowed? I agree that he should be included in the gorgeous Asian man’s list because he is half but I believe that same logic should be applied to the most gorgeous white men’s post also”
I think Henny is in the East Asian poll because categorically he looks ‘East Asian’ phenotypically.
However, he does not look White, and for this reason I would be surprised, if most would not object if he did not fit into a White poll.
With regard to:
“I think this conversation is an important one, but we may inadvertently end up stereotyping “White” vs. “other” features even as we try to uphold the idea that the “other” features are great on their own.”
I would say when we judge any form of beauty at a more fundamental level there is already a pre-judgement on this issue.
I think and it is a point alluded to by ES that many of us have already notions of what Western/Caucasian features are.
So this is why for instance we can speak of Indians from India having Caucasian features, Ethiopians and a host of other groups who are not White per se.
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I think Henny is in the East Asian poll because categorically he looks ‘East Asian’ phenotypically.
However, he does not look White, and for this reason I would be surprised, if most would not object if he did not fit into a White poll.
I thought we were going by what they are by blood. While I agree Daniel Henny “looks” mostly Asian I can very well see white also. Why is Will Demps (who to me looks more black than Asian) allowed to be on both the most gorgeous Asian men’s list and I’m sure he will be in the most gorgeous black men’s list. But Daniel Henny cannot be on a white list when he is half white by blood just because he does not “look” all the way white. Will Demps don’t “look” all the way Asian. Why are different rules applied for whites?
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correction * Why are the rules applied differently when it comes to who can be on the white poll?
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with regard to
“Why are the rules applied differently when it comes to who can be on the white poll?
I seem to recall that there was controversy about the most beautiful white people lists that had mixed people like Yasmeen Ghauri and Ann Curry.
I think this whole thing says a lot about the ways in which we categorise people, and how much difficulty we seem to have dealing with the concept of someone who does not clearly fit into a neatly defined box.
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With regard to:
“I thought we were going by what they are by blood.”
I have only been part-following this poll. I thought the poll was constructed by Asian phenotype and judged accordingly by that same category.
No???
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@ leigh204:
Finally got around to watching that video you posted. That guy makes some good points. I was not able to see the vid of the guy he’s responding to, but the arguments he’s responding to seem pretty dumb.
Btw, since this is a discussion about good-looking Asian men, I thought that Filipino dude was quite fine!
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@Eurasian Sensation
Leigh204 is a hot Filipina non-celebrity! 😉
Indeed, Leigh is really beautiful! And I bet she has a great smile! 🙂
Something is wrong with the sound on my computer (when it comes to youtube) so I have no idea what he was talking about. But he’s really handsome, imo.
Now, as for gorgeous white men poll, I think J, Jasmin, Leaveumthinking and Eurasian Sensation raised some good points: how to decide who’s white and who isn’t?
Since race as a biological category doesn’t exist, we can’t use any “objective” parameters here. Being a son of an interracial couple is obviously not enough- your phenotype must match voters’ cultural idea of what’s white and what isn’t. Personally, I don’t care what white Americans see as white- but I think Abagond’s readers and voters must decide who goes on which list. Since most of the people here are not white Americans, our idea of white might a bit different.
I’d say white list should be formed the same way with the other lists: by all means, allow biracial men, but only if their phenotype is closest to the white phenotype*- whatever that means to most of the people here.
*But please, please note that white isn’t the same as “Aryan”. I don’t think we need a separate list for Mediaterranean men (or whatever they are called).
Personally, I wouldn’t put Wentworth Miller on gorgeous black men list, he belongs to the white one. Same for Brandon Lee and Keanu Reeves.
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Valid points Mira!!
Just one minor point, I was not clear about.
What did you mean by:
‘But please, please note that white isn’t the same as “Aryan” ‘??
Cheers
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“Aryan”, as a popular term means people who have really light phenotype: pale skin, blond or light brown hair, blue or green eyes. Maybe “Nordic” or “Germanic” were better terms.
Most of the Scandinavians fit this phenotype, but for some reason Germans and English are also seen as such, despite the fact there are many of them whose eyes and hair are darker.
However, there are whites with darker hair, darker eyes and darker skin. Ok, I understand that we have to exclude darker Caucasians (Middle Eastern, Indian) from the list because they are not seen as white in America, but I wanted to include at least the people who look like Southern Europeans (Italians, Greeks) or the list won’t make any sense. Well, to me at least.
I mean, do Johnny Depp and Keanu Reeves belong to white men list? Oh, ok, they are “mixed” so they are “questionable”. But what about people such as Sakis Rouvas? He is fully European (and not even dark eyed, but ok) and white, so I just wanted guys with this phenotype to be included.
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I always thought that Aryans were from the region of India, or referred to as a language group. It later was co-opted by nationalists and white supremacist as a descriptor for blond, blue eyed people. I also thought it referred to language and geographical areas in parts of Asia.
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I think you are correct Her(e)-neith
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Cheers Mira,
Just one more little thing,
However, if we/Abagond understand that there are ‘darker Caucasians’ (Middle Eastern, Indian) then why could they be not included in the poll especially if they look Caucasian??
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Herneith was talking about the correct definition. I just went with the popular meaning of the word.
However, if we/Abagond understand that there are ‘darker Caucasians’ (Middle Eastern, Indian) then why could they be not included in the poll especially if they look Caucasian??
I would include them because if we do separate humans into races (and we do), and there is ONE race called Caucasian (white) race, ALL people of said race should be considered white.
But as I understand they are not regarded as such in the US, while South Europeans are.
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ES,
Thanks for the correction. That’s what I meant.
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@ Mira I have spoken to many people of Indian/Middle Eastern descent, and, here in Canada they are offended if you call them white. The politically correct term is “brown”.
@Herneith I think you are right in your comment. The Germans stole a lot from India. For instance, I believe the swastika is a symbol of Hinduism.
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@ Mira I have spoken to many people of Indian/Middle Eastern descent, and, here in Canada they are offended if you call them white. The politically correct term is “brown”.
I guess it’s logical, given the fact they are not seen as white by whites. But if we, indeed, want to separate people into races, the term “Caucasian” must not exist anymore. What does it mean, in terms of race, if it’s not used to label ONE race but TWO (white and brown).
It all goes back to how white westerners will see you. If they say you’re white, you are. If not, you’re not.
PS-People in my country just take for granted that we are white (we are). However, the term doesn’t have the same connotation as on the west, especially in America (or Canada) because we certainly don’t think we have anything in common with imperialists of the western Europe who took slaves and such.
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Re: Indians as Caucasian…
As I understand it, the term “Caucasian” was chosen because the Caucasus mountains was the midpoint in the geographical range of this race of people – from India and Central Asia to Western Europe and North Africa. So technically, many Indians do qualify as Caucasian, and many could pass for Southern European.
India is a very diverse place, however, and Caucasian is only one element in the melting pot. People from Pakistan and NW India tend to look more Caucasian, while it would be questionable whether most Southern Indians (Tamils, etc) would truly be considered Caucasian (although South Indians certainly do have some Caucasian genetic input). NE India is a whole different proposition – people from there tend towards the Tibetan/Burmese phenotype. I met a guy from there who I thought was Korean until he started speaking Hindi.
Btw, for North Indians, the ideal skin colour is a light beige, or the colour of wheat. So you will sometimes hear people described as “wheatish”, often as a selling point for arranging prospective marriage partners.
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Btw I just noticed that Wu Chun looks exactly like Frodo Baggins.
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Thanks for the info!
I was using generalizations, of course, because, what’s race if not a huge generalization (and it’s impossible to draw a clear line between races anyway). I just wanted to point out the hypocrisy behind Caucasian race- if not all Caucasian people are seen as members of ONE race, does said race exist at all?*
*As a social construct, we know races don’t exist biologically
Furthermore, if Caucasians can be divided into two races (white and brown), where to draw the line? Ok, Scandinavians are white, Indians are brown. But what about the others? Southern Europeans, for example? See the problem?
Now, I don’t understand the problem some people had with “most beautiful white women” article. Who said mixed women or darker whites are not allowed? Abagond is clearly not into blondes, so what did they expect? Why a mixed person with more of a white phenotype (a thing that is tricky to define, I know) or a darker white can’t be seen as white? Who had the problem with mixed women on the list? So many questions.
Btw I just noticed that Wu Chun looks exactly like Frodo Baggins.
Real Frodo, or Peter Jackson’s idea of him? 😀
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Leaveumthinking,
“Why is Will Demps (who to me looks more black than Asian) allowed to be on both the most gorgeous Asian men’s list and I’m sure he will be in the most gorgeous black men’s list. But Daniel Henny cannot be on a white list when he is half white by blood just because he does not “look” all the way white. Will Demps don’t “look” all the way Asian. Why are the rules applied differently when it comes to who can be on the white poll?”
I agree.
Since the trend was already started to include those who are at least half by ancestry in the Most Gorgeous ____ Men lists, half white men should be included in the list concerning white men. Whether they look “white” or not.
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I didn’t understand whether it was ok to include Will Demps or not, but I forgot to ask. I mean, he does look more black to me. But nevermind.
I agree about mixed guys, but does that mean they are eligible for both of the lists? Is Will Demps “allowed” to appear on most gorgeous black men list? How about Wentworth Miller?
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With regard to Indians (from the Indian sub-continent), Caucasians etc.
I had always been under the impression from living here (UK)
that ‘Caucasian’ would apply to those who would look ‘White’
on the Indian sub-continet.
Whist academically a wide variety of people could be classified as ‘Caucasoid’ by the changing the human construct of race from the phenotype to the genetics.
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Will Demps looks part Asian (i.e. he has features which are commonly found amongst full Asians). The only reason he looks more black to many people is because we have accepted “black” as representing a broader range of phenotypes. Whereas “white” has probably the smallest range.
“I agree about mixed guys, but does that mean they are eligible for both of the lists? Is Will Demps “allowed” to appear on most gorgeous black men list? How about Wentworth Miller?”
Abagond allowed half Asian men to be nominated for this poll. So it wouldn’t be consistent nor fair to change the rules for other races/ethnicities. So yes, Will Demps and Wentworth Miller should be allowed to be nominated for the black men list.
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I do hope we’ll get those polls and lists. He promised! (Well, he promised gorgeous black men, but I assume white men would follow. Right?)
So, you’re saying we should decide based on ancestry (parents races) and not phenotype? It does make sense, but I am not sure if people would accept Obama on white men list 🙂
You’re right about the range… I used to think “white” is a very diverse group (not saying other races aren’t). But what I learned in school about races is that “whites” are everybody from Scandinavia to India, all Caucasians. Only here I learned people who are clearly white to me (Italians, Greeks) are considered “bordeline cases” so to speak, in a way they are accepted as white in the US today, but more as “ethnic whites” or whatever is called… What I’m saying, even their “typical” phenotype is questioned whether is truly white or not. Which is interesting, because “germanic” and “nordic” phenotypes are just the lightest of white phenotypes and not the norm. Most of the Caucasians don’t look like that. A typical Caucasian has dark hair, brown eyes and skin closer to olive than pink.
Sorry for the rant. What I’m saying is, it’s interesting to see how culture influence our views on race.
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With regard to:
“Only here I learned people who are clearly white to me (Italians, Greeks) are considered “bordeline cases” so to speak, in a way they are accepted as white in the US today, but more as “ethnic whites” or whatever is called… What I’m saying, even their “typical” phenotype is questioned whether is truly white or not”
This is not the case in the UK, which has a different understanding of race/politics.
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This is not the case in the UK, which has a different understanding of race/politics.
I understand that, that’s why I mentioned US only. What’s situation in the UK?
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They are White/Caucasians just as you would describe them back home in Serbia
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Mira,
“So, you’re saying we should decide based on ancestry (parents races) and not phenotype?
No, I’m saying that this is the way abagond began it, so that is the way it should continue.
“It does make sense, but I am not sure if people would accept Obama on white men list 🙂 “
Lol, you’re right about that. Well, tough luck I say. 😛
As an aside, I have met many people (mainly whites, but some others) who tend to think Obama is more white than black or biracial rather than strictly black. They even say he looks more white, so you never know. My SO thinks of Obama as biracial rather than black, so he would probably protest Obama on a black men list. People can never be satisfied!
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Ok, thanks. That’s what I thought. The whole race debate/issues is different in Europe, I think. Not as much for non-white people (since racism is pretty strong), but it is for whites. But that’s another story.
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My previous comment was a reply to J.
@Natasha
Well, we don’t have “biracial” list so there must be a way to sort biracials on other lists. The only fair/objective thing would be to make them eligible for both lists (black/white, asian/black, asian/white etc). But then again we have “Brandon Lee” problem- if we use this lists to celebrate various forms of attractiveness and gorgeousness, isn’t it a bit unfair if we have so many white-looking men on all of the lists?
As an aside, I have met many people (mainly whites, but some others) who tend to think Obama is more white than black or biracial rather than strictly black. They even say he looks more white, so you never know. My SO thinks of Obama as biracial rather than black, so he would probably protest Obama on a black men list. People can never be satisfied!
I see him as biracial.
It has nothing to do with how he looks; he has one black and one white parent, and that is enough for me. However, before I learned about his mother, I thought he was black.
Now, I do think he looks more like his mother’s family. His maternal grandfather to be exact. I didn’t see many pictures of his father, and the ones I saw were with him wearing glasses so you can’t tell, but Obama looks more like his mother’s family to me. (I noticed that often happens, for male kids to resemble their mother’s family members and female kids to resemble their father’s. It happens so often here. I look like my dad and my husband looks like his mother. And his sister looks like their father. I’m not saying there’s any genetic rule (how could it be?), but it happens fairy often).
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Mira,
“Well, we don’t have “biracial” list so there must be a way to sort biracials on other lists. The only fair/objective thing would be to make them eligible for both lists (black/white, asian/black, asian/white etc). But then again we have “Brandon Lee” problem- if we use this lists to celebrate various forms of attractiveness and gorgeousness, isn’t it a bit unfair if we have so many white-looking men on all of the lists?”
I would have a biracial list, but alas, this is not my blog.
Yes, the issue with including those who are only half a race/ethnicity is that there is nothing stopping people from voting for all/mostly half ____ men. Which kind of defeats the purpose in my view, especially if they are not representative in their appearance of a large portion of people of that ethnicity.
“I see him as biracial.
It has nothing to do with how he looks; he has one black and one white parent, and that is enough for me. However, before I learned about his mother, I thought he was black.”
I thought Obama was full black too. But my SO thinks he looks biracial (although I think he only believes that because he knows he is biracial).
“Now, I do think he looks more like his mother’s family. His maternal grandfather to be exact. I didn’t see many pictures of his father, and the ones I saw were with him wearing glasses so you can’t tell, but Obama looks more like his mother’s family to me.”
You and I really do have a similar “eye,” because I think Obama looks like his maternal grandfather as well. They have the same eye area, face shape, nose to mouth creases. The similarity is striking. He doesn’t really look much at all like his father’s side of the family.
“I noticed that often happens, for male kids to resemble their mother’s family members and female kids to resemble their father’s. It happens so often here.”
I noticed that happens often too. I’m unsure why exactly that is. But my brother looks almost exactly like my mother, and I look very much like my father (although people say the opposite because I am lighter-skinned like my mother and my brother is darker-skinned like my father). My sister looks like my maternal grandmother though. Same thing happened with my SO’s family.
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To me, Obama looks like a light skinned black man. His coloring (parton the comparision) is very simliar to Farakkan or any light skinned man I see.
Same with Malcom X and Bob Marley. Did not know that they were biracial.
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Wasn’t Farrakhan’s mother bi-racial??
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With regard to:
“Ok, thanks. That’s what I thought. The whole race debate/issues is different in Europe, I think. Not as much for non-white people (since racism is pretty strong), but it is for whites. But that’s another story”.
I think – and perhaps you may want to correct me here – that what has happened in Europe is ethnic and/or nation clashes rather than ‘race’, unless one wishes to classify
Romas and Jews as members of a different race.
Hmmm!!
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Abagond allowed half Asian men to be nominated for this poll. So it wouldn’t be consistent nor fair to change the rules for other races/ethnicities. So yes, Will Demps and Wentworth Miller should be allowed to be nominated for the black men list.
I agree.
Whereas “white” has probably the smallest range.
I’m glad you mentioned this. It seems like the rules are stricter when it comes to who is white. I see Daniel as both White and Asian, but I feel that some see him as an Asian man who is half white but never as a White man who is half Asian (not saying that he should be seen as either of these examples). While I do believe Daniel Henney is a goodlooking guy, his good looks do little to discredit those who seem to believe that Asians and Blacks need “help” from whites in order to look like something.
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“So yes, Will Demps and Wentworth Miller should be allowed to be nominated for the black men list.”
How black is Wentworth Miller, really? As I understand it, his father is half-black, so I guess Wentworth is 1/4 black. Does that qualify him as black by the rules of these polls? If so, it would seem the one-drop rule is in full effect!
Clearly, he looks sufficiently white enough for the producers of Prison Break to cast a white Australian actor as his brother.
To have him on any poll for the best looking black man would be ridiculous, and I would imagine an affront to black people.
Will Demps on the other hand could be described as black without too much controversy.
What about Jennifer Beals? Rashida Jones? Are they black or white?
Black, in the American context, is a pretty broad term.
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I don’t care what you guys say about Will Demps, Whatever he is, black…asian…he’s too fiiiine! 😀
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Eurasian Sensation says,
Clearly, he looks sufficiently white enough for the producers of Prison Break to cast a white Australian actor as his brother.
-To have him on any poll for the best looking black man would be ridiculous, and I would imagine an affront to black people.
-Will Demps on the other hand could be described as black without too much controversy.
-What about Jennifer Beals? Rashida Jones? Are they black or white?
-Black, in the American context, is a pretty broad term.
laromana says,
If someone is part Black they shouldn’t have to fit a STEREOTYPE of what OTHERS think a Black person “looks like” to classify themselves as part Black.
Rashida Jones “looks” White but her Father is Quincy Jones and if you’ve seen him, you know he “looks”/and is Black.
Victoria Rowell’s daughter also “looks” White but Victoria “looks” Black/and is part Black.
Do you think that because Rashida Jones and Victoria Rowells daughter “look” White (like Wentworth Miller) that it “would be ridiculous, and an affront to Black people” for them to classify themselves as Black (or even part Black).
Racial classifications should be based on an individual’s ACTUAL RACIAL ancestry and not on STEREOTYPES/OTHER’S PERCEPTIONS of what race they “think” that individual’s race is/should be.
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@J
I think – and perhaps you may want to correct me here – that what has happened in Europe is ethnic and/or nation clashes rather than ‘race’
You are correct. In Europe, you can be seen as white, but discriminated if you happen to be of a different (“enemy” ethnicity).
@Eurasian Sensation
Will Demps on the other hand could be described as black without too much controversy.
I need to clarify this. I didn’t mention Will Demps and Wentworth Miller for the same reasons. I mentioned Wentworth because of his phenotype (which is not “particularly African”- the same sort of example would be Barack Obama for white men list).
I mentioned Will Demps for a different reason- to ask whether the same person should be eligible to appear on different lists (in his case, both black and Asian).
I like discussing these issues because they show, in simple form, the obstacles and problems people face when trying to define someone’s race- another proof that race is not absolute, and it’s not a biological reality.
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@laromana
I’m risking to sound way too much like Thad, but… What does “actual racial ancestry” mean? Of course, having one white and one black parent is an indicator. However, like you said, there’s no one way a biracial (black and white) child can look like.
So, in making lists like this, what does “most gorgeous (insert race) men” list really means? If we can include all men with one black grandparent, no matter if they look black or not. Of course, what “looks black” (or whatever race) is subjective, but still, what would celebrating black men attractiveness mean, if most of the men on the list look like Wenthworth Miller?
Also, I guess you would agree with Obama on most gorgeous white men list. Do you think people, in general, would do the same?
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I definately don’t look at Wentworth Miller as black but because of his background I do see him as a man of mixed heritage. Jennifer Beals and Rashida Jones are not black but biracial.
If so, it would seem the one-drop rule is in full effect!
Um wasn’t Will Demps and Daniel Henney being one dropped when we placed them on the Asian list. Unless we make a list strictly for mixed race/ biracial individuals they are going to be one dropped on way or another. Thats why I suggested that they be on both lists.
Black, in the American context, is a pretty broad term.
It will continue to be a broad term until White Americans get rid of the one drop rule and black people stop going with the flow by enforcing it in their own communities. I don’t agree with the one drop rule.
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I agree Leaveumthinking, it’s best to put these guys on both lists, it’s the only fair thing. Still, Will Demps and Daniel Henney are not, in my opinion, the same examples as Barack Obama and Wentworth Miller. Maybe it’s just me, and I understand other people have their idea of who looks black and who looks white. But since races, in context of beauty are all about phenotype and not ancestry, I am not sure how many people would see Obama as white and Wentworth as black for these lists.
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@ laromana:
I’m only talking about whether these people are black for the purposes of the polls on this site. In any other context, I’m certainly in no position to comment on whether they are black – that’s up to them, really.
The “affront to black people” thing requires a bit of explanation. (I realise I have no place speaking for black people btw, but anyway…)
Given that every woman I know seems to think Wentworth is the greatest looking guy in the world, what happens if we have a poll for “The most gorgeous black man in the world” and the winner is Wentworth Miller? A guy who no one would know is black unless they were told so? What would that say about black beauty?
It’s the same reason I find it a little fishy that the lists of the best looking East Asian men and women on this site are so dominated by Eurasians. I certainly can’t say that Daniel Henney or Will Demps aren’t hot, and you could certainly argue that they are the best looking men on this list. But it’s a bit problematic labelling them the best looking East Asian men.
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Given that every woman I know seems to think Wentworth is the greatest looking guy in the world
I don’t. 😛
what happens if we have a poll for “The most gorgeous black man in the world” and the winner is Wentworth Miller? A guy who no one would know is black unless they were told so? What would that say about black beauty?
My thoughts exactly. Wentworth, hot or not, doesn’t really represent a typical black man. I am aware there’s no such thing as a “typical member of a race”, but let’s face it people, his phenotype is much closer to what most consider white than black. So, no matter on his ancestry, could we take Wentworth as an example of an attractive black man? Wouldn’t that be some sort of a slap in the face for all the black men out there? Or anybody for that matter.
I certainly can’t say that Daniel Henney or Will Demps aren’t hot, and you could certainly argue that they are the best looking men on this list.
Don’t forget about Takeshi!
But I get what you’re saying, and I agree.
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Eurasian Sensation,
I’m not saying anything about who looks black, who qualifies as black, and why. I’m only saying that since abagond began his lists that way, he should be consistent and continue that way. I personally did not agree with allowing half Asian men to be nominated; I would have had a separate list for biracial/mixed men. But this is not my blog.
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The problem with mixed/biracial list is that you have to make separate lists for all of the combinations (white/black, black/asian, white/asian, etc). 😛
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^I don’t think there are enough famous biracial/mixed people to have a separate list for each combination.
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^ You’d be suprised how many famous mixed people there are. I think with the combined brainpower of all the commenters on here, we could assemble an impressive list in no time.
I think Leigh204 could do it by herself, her brain seems to be a veritable encyclopaedia of hot people.
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@Eurasian Sensation:
Thanks for the vote of confidence. 😉
If there was such a post made, I would be more than happy to provide input. 😀
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Eurasian Sensation, I don’t think I would. Even if we could think of 30 or so names for the poll, what about the nominations? We need to have a large group of men to choose from.
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I am sure we could name plenty of mixed celebrities for making one or several lists. However, I am not sure if we could name so many in order to have decent nominations.
Also, we’ll still have the “what’s mixed, exactly” problem.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d like to participate in this list making, picture searching task 🙂
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Why have racially stratified beauty lists in the first place? That’s a more basic question than on which list mixed celebrities should be placed.
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BTW, I’m sure there are plenty of mixed people to create a list from considering that the majority of Latin Americans are mixed race.
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Mira says,
But since races, in context of beauty are all about phenotype and not ancestry, I am not sure how many people would see Obama as white and Wentworth as black for these lists.
laromana says,
I think this is my MAIN disagreement with you (others who view a person’s racial identity on the basis of “phenotype”/”perceptions”). Basing racial identity on “phenotype”/”perceptions” IS SUBJECTIVE because any person can “appear” to be from ANY RACE (even when they are not a member of that racial group).
The race you “APPEAR” to be is NOT necessarily the race you ACTUALLY ARE.
I DON’T believe that a person’s racial identity is SUBJECTIVE because I don’t believe racial identity is based on “phenotype”. Each person comes from two parents with SPECIFIC racial ancestry/tries. I think the confusion comes from RACISTS who don’t want individuals to be “allowed” to include ALL of their racial ancestries as part of their racial identity (eg. one drop rule).
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“I DON’T believe that a person’s racial identity is SUBJECTIVE because I don’t believe racial identity is based on “phenotype”. Each person comes from two parents with SPECIFIC racial ancestry/tries. I think the confusion comes from RACISTS who don’t want individuals to be “allowed” to include ALL of their racial ancestries as part of their racial identity (eg. one drop rule).”
I agree. Discrimination tends to be based just on phenotype, but discrimination doesn’t have to totally define you. Even though much of the world may see someone like Obama as simply black does not mean he shouldn’t honor his European side as well. The same goes for the Wentworth Miller types and their African ancestry.
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I love Daniel Henney, i actually love Asian men, li ove looking at their eyes and that is something I can do and be contented doing so and do nothing even for the whole night.
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@FG
Why have racially stratified beauty lists in the first place?
I don’t know. You should ask Abagond about it; he started these lists for women and now we built it for men. Since lists are generated using Abagond’s voters and appear on his blog, I guess that’s why they follow his rules.
Personally, I’d make only one list, the most gorgeous men in the world. And maybe one for women. End of story.
@laromana
Basing racial identity on “phenotype”/”perceptions” IS SUBJECTIVE because any person can “appear” to be from ANY RACE (even when they are not a member of that racial group).
The race you “APPEAR” to be is NOT necessarily the race you ACTUALLY ARE.
What I’m trying to say is that there are no races per se; there are no “objective” races as facts. Race is cultural, not a biological fact. And since is cultural, it’s always subjective. In that sense, biracial (white and black) person is not someone whose one parent is white and other one is black- it is a person whose one parent is seen as white and other one as black.
What I’m saying is, race is always subjective and it’s never absolute. It is always based on perceptions, if not about the person in question, then about his parents- because how can we determine someone’s actual race, if race as a biological category doesn’t exist?
For example, what race is Adriana Lima? What is her “real” race? And what does “real” race even mean, if her culture sees her in one way, American culture in another, and my culture in the third way?
I am not attacking you, I’m just trying to point out the problems we encounter if we try to treat race as a fact and not a social construct as it is. The discussion about biracials here is a good example of the problems we encounter if we try to define race in any objective terms.
So yes, Wentworth is eligible for hottest black men list and Brad Pitt isn’t, and Obama is eligible for hottest white men list and Blair Underwood isn’t*. But, what does that say about celebrating various types of male hotness?
*If Brad and Blair are mixed replace them with more appropriate examples- I must admit I don’t really know much about who is mixed and who isn’t.
What I’m saying is, there is no such thing as “typical white man hotness” or “typical black man hotness”. But if we, indeed, make these lists we judge their physical appearance (and phenotype is physical). So all in all, isn’t- like Eurasian Sensation said- a bit pointless to put Wentworth Miller on a hottest black men list, if nobody would see him as a black guy?
I understand what you’re saying, laromana,- he is biracial, and I don’t want to deny his black ancestry. Also, you are right when you say people don’t need to fit anyone’s idea of a black, white, or Asian person. Still, race IS SUBJECTIVE. If your phenotype is such that nobody sees you as a black man, does your hotness belong to “hot black men” list? What does “hottest black men list” mean in these conditions, exactly? I’ll tell you- it means nothing. Which is precisely the point, and the proof that races don’t exist as biological facts.
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@Laromana
I DON’T believe that a person’s racial identity is SUBJECTIVE because I don’t believe racial identity is based on “phenotype”. Each person comes from two parents with SPECIFIC racial ancestry/tries. I think the confusion comes from RACISTS who don’t want individuals to be “allowed” to include ALL of their racial ancestries as part of their racial identity (eg. one drop rule).
Racial identity is an identity; and like any other identity, is subjective. It is not a fact. It is not a fact even for things that, unlike race, are biological facts. Identities are built and learned, and we are not born with them. We choose to identify.
And while we are free to identify with whatever we want (I can identify as being a Native American- why not, after all?), I can’t do it alone, because I need others to confirm my identity. If nobody sees me as a Native American I can’t claim that identity the way I would if everybody else saw me as such.
Also, I may choose not to identify with my race, gender, nationality or ethnic group.
In that sense, nobody is really black or really white. You identify as being of a particular race because a) that how you see yourself and b) that’s how others see you. If how you see yourself is different that how others see you, you have a problem (and it happens often). FG might be one example.
@FG
I agree. Discrimination tends to be based just on phenotype, but discrimination doesn’t have to totally define you.
Of course it’s about phenotype, what else would it be? There are stereotypes about race and if you don’t fit the stereotype, people would try to deny you your race or claim you as a members of their race (even if none of your parents is of a given race). You know why? Because race is not an absolute, it is subjective.
But I’ll repeat what I always tell you, FG: building an identity is a two way street. You can see yourself as X, but you can’t be recognized as such if everybody see you as Y.
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“Personally, I’d make only one list, the most gorgeous men in the world. And maybe one for women. End of story. ”
I think that it is preferable to do “categories” because it gives everyone a fair chance. For example, I (and probably several others) would have never been introduced to the Asian men on this post. Because everyone tends to focus on either black or white, few people know of races of men. Also, I really enjoy as many subjects regarding gorgeous men as possible.;)
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@Mira,
“Of course it’s about phenotype, what else would it be? There are stereotypes about race and if you don’t fit the stereotype, people would try to deny you your race or claim you as a members of their race (even if none of your parents is of a given race). You know why? Because race is not an absolute, it is subjective. ”
The US has a history of discrimination based purely on ancestry. During the Jim Crow era, people who were phenotypically white but of known African descent were segregated along with those of visible African ancestry. However, in ealier periods of American history, racial status was determined by phenotype rather than ancestry.
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“But I’ll repeat what I always tell you, FG: building an identity is a two way street. You can see yourself as X, but you can’t be recognized as such if everybody see you as Y.”
Identity is a complex topic. You’re right that the more substantive forms of identity depend on how others perceive you. However, there are lesser, “optional” identities that people often subscribe to even though these are not socially significant. For example, O’ Dochartaigh celebrates his Celtic roots even though Celtic ancestry in itself (as opposed to being white) is not considered that important in American society.
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I know about discrimination and one drop rule in the Jim Crow era. I was, however, under the impression today’s situation is more about your phenotype. If it isn’t, then I am sorry for writing nonsense.
PS-Do you think Obama would be seen the same way if he looked like Wentworth Miller?
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@FG
I second your notion about the complexity of perception, reality.
I just finished reading an article about Wentworth Miller getting in a sticky situation and a Black professor playing the Race card against him. (thinking Wentworth was just another White prejudiced student) Ironically, the incidence parallels in a certain irony the movie that helped launch Wentworth’s career, “The Human Stain”. If you want to read the article, check out the link towards the bottom of the suggestion thread.
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Well, identity IS, first and foremost, about someone’s personal choice. You may choose to identify with whatever you want. It can be something personal, or collective, like race or ethnicity. However, it still needs “confirmation” of come sorts- if you want to be seen as something or a member of a group, you must be recognized as a member of that group.
In O’ Dochartaigh’s case, he can see himself any way he wants, but I am not sure what a) Irish people would think about him identifying with Celts and b) what would actual Celts think about it.
@islandgirl
I think that it is preferable to do “categories” because it gives everyone a fair chance. For example, I (and probably several others) would have never been introduced to the Asian men on this post. Because everyone tends to focus on either black or white, few people know of races of men. Also, I really enjoy as many subjects regarding gorgeous men as possible.;)
I hear you. I agree: making these lists and being introduced to more gorgeous celebrities (outside the usual Hollywood/mainstream circle) is a good thing. Maybe I’m just way too subjective, because I don’t usually like celebrities who are presented as the hottest men on Earth, so it’s refreshing to see men who are, in my opinion, more gorgeous than those.
Still, dividing into racial categories is never a good thing, because defining race is an impossible task altogether. Maybe if we sorted them out by continents? (most gorgeous European, North American, Asian, etc. men?)
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“I know about discrimination and one drop rule in the Jim Crow era. I was, however, under the impression today’s situation is more about your phenotype. If it isn’t, then I am sorry for writing nonsense.”
I think it is primarily about phenotype these days.
“PS-Do you think Obama would be seen the same way if he looked like Wentworth Miller?”
I doubt it. I bet the racism being directed against the White House would be a bit less intense.
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@islandgirl:
“Personally, I’d make only one list, the most gorgeous men in the world. And maybe one for women. End of story. ”
Exactly! That’s why I was quite glad this particular post was created because I was so tired of seeing the stereotypes of my Asian brothers as four-eyed, nerdy, effeminate weaklings. I know there are gorgeous-looking/hot Asian guys out there and I was given the opportunity to post many of them for you all. And I was especially thrilled I could post them…hehe…shirtless. 😉
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“PS-Do you think Obama would be seen the same way if he looked like Wentworth Miller?”
No. But given that his name would still be Barack Hussein Obama, I think you’d still see most of the same garbage being thrown his way.
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Mira says,
What I’m trying to say is that there are no races per se; there are no “objective” races as facts. Race is cultural, not a biological fact. And since is cultural, it’s always subjective. In that sense, biracial (white and black) person is not someone whose one parent is white and other one is black- it is a person whose one parent is seen as white and other one as black.
laromana says,
I can agree with your statement above to a certain extent because “race”, as a general concept” has historically been used in a subjective manner in American society (eg. Irish/Italians not being considered “White”at one time).
I will agree to disagree with you when it comes to how an INDIVIDUAL defines their own racial identity in relation to their parent’s racial ancestry vs. having OUTSIDERS define him on the basis of “PERCEIVED PHENOTYPE” (regardless of how large/influential this group of OUTSIDERS may be).
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laromana,
I am not saying race isn’t real, just that isn’t a biological fact. That makes it free to interpretation, so to speak (Italians and Irish are a good example, and also is the ways different cultures perceive race).
But let’s just say races do exist. In that case, it would be 100% possible to determine someone’s race based on person’s ancestry. After all, it works like this in reality, even if races don’t exist biologically.
Still, someone’s ancestry is not the same as identity. A person can choose to identify with their parent’s group(s) or not. Or to identify with another group, or not to identify with any group at all.
Also, other people may perceive this person in a way that can be different than what this person wants to be seen, and also different than his/her ancestry.
All I’m saying is, ancestry is not the same as identity. For example, what can stop me to identify myself as black? What can force me to identify as a Serb? Etc, etc.
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But by all means, I don’t think any group of outsiders know someone’s ancestry better than this person herself/himself OR that outsiders know better what a person of a certain ancestry or ethnic group should like OR that all people of the said ethnic group/race look the same.
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Pssst, Natives aren’t Mongoloid. That’s using the outdated three race classification scheme. It’s been updated. Try Amerindian.
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To me, most of these guys only look gorgeous because of lighting and photoshop… I’m sure they look good in real life, but not to the extent that these pictures would lead one to believe. Besides that, most of the ones getting the top votes don’t even look very asian too me, and some of the others look like women. O_O
I voted for Bruce Lee, because he’s really the real deal – naturally handsome, intelligent, and charismatic – his personality is just as attractive as his physical body (which is, of course, VERY attractive). 😛
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I am stunned. I am seriously hoping that all the azn bois will be nice about this, but it was a tuff choice… I’m bi-racial, and have an Azn boyfriend, so it’s him I love the most, but…. GADDAMM, have you guys all gotta be so hot? A while back, all I heard was Azn bois bitchin’ that even their own women weren’t into them. Huh?! I can’t believe how many beautiful men have pics here, and there are even more who aren’t here; you know, there’s beauty everywhere, and it is long past time these beautiful men were allowed to shine. LOVE ABOVE ALL!
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Can I add one quick thing? My BF is Chinese, and a total sweetheart, but he does sometimes feel that he’s not given a chance to show his abilities, because he’s Azn. I’d tell him to take a seat, except, I’ve seen it happen to him, so it happens, and it never feels good, to anyone.. Racism blows, in every respect,& usually not the one that gets you off. Every single guy you posted is totally hot! Given that I love an Azn man, I wanna give props to the the other Azn guys on this site. Yr kewl, yr loved, be nice 2 all. Nobody deserves hate or racism. Let that end, please.
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Yumm, I think Karl Yune is the hottest on this list!!!
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kenichi matsuyama
don’t care if he’s japanese, english, french or venusian.
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I wonder how they came about these gorgeous people. Is there an opinion poll that says these are the really most gorgeous people available? Is it possible that some people are gorgeous but not in a location, or have the connection, to make it to this list
Anthony
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Yeeeeyyy, i love Si Woonnn, DaNIel Henney, Wu chun, Nicolas saputraaa, ssluuurrrpppp…
=^.^=
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… a year too late but I needed to put my two cents in….
No doubt,
Kenichi Matsuyama (I adore him since he played L) and if I’d get a second vote Daniel Henney.
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If this i about East dian men, then Piolo Pascual, Victor Basa and Sam Milby are not included. They are Filipinos (Souteast Asian) 🙂
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@ Richmond:
The two major racial divisions among those we consider Asians are South Asia and East Asia. Southeast Asians are generally considered to cluster together with East Asians. And some of the Southeast Asian guys here (Johnny Tri Nguyen, Victor Basa) could easily pass for Chinese or Japanese, so it seems silly to have to put them in a different category.
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Hello asian boys OMG that my topic… From the list o would vote for Harry Shum and Danniel Hanney. But i have to say that there are some guys missed in this list such as: Gong Yoo, Lee min Ho, Kim hyun Joon, Park Jae Jung and the 2pm members Chan sung, Taecyeon, Woo Young, Nickhum. look for them and enjoy the view.
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Takeshi Kaneshiro.. I’ll marry you one day, watch. Haha
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Vote for Nicholas Saputra…The Coolest man,,,
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Li Jun Ki looks like a maid. And why isn’t Akihiro Sato in this list?
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HARRY SHUM JR ❤
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I find it interesting how many people devolved the discussion into whether someone “looks” Asian or not to determine whether or not they should be in this poll. But that is very subjective.
I do believe that the vast majority of East Asians would identify Daniel Henney as “mixed” or part-Caucasian instantly. To East Asians, he looks part Caucasian. They would tend to see their “foreign” features first. The reverse happens to people who have seen Caucasians more often than Asians, as is the case in Europe and America and Australia. They often see the “foreign” features first (in this case, their Asian ancestry).
I know many Eurasians that encountered this very phenomenon. Asians think they look like a Westerner. Caucasians think they look Asian. It is a case of being perceived as a perpetual foreigner on both sides.
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Baron Chen is the hottest
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